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We might not have Joe the Plumber or $150,000 in stylish threads, but the final days before a number of local races are decided have gotten plenty exciting. There's internal fighting, a second-time-around endorsement and a drunk-driving charge.
Council Divides Over Brown and Schwartz: Not wanting to sit out the increasingly close battle for non-Democratic At-Large seat that's up for grabs, this week members of the D.C. Council started throwing their weight behind either Independent-Democrat Michael Brown or write-in Republican Carol Schwartz. Council chair Vincent Gray, Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) and Marrion Barry (D-Ward 8) came out for Brown, followed shortly by a flip-flopping Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7). Schwartz claimed the late-week support of Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) and Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), while Republican Patrick Mara has enjoyed the endorsement of David Catania (I-At Large). Everyone else on the council has wisely chosen to sit this one out, knowing of the potential awkwardness that council endorsers risk should their endorsee lose.
Post Gets Defensive with Third Mara Endorsement: Mara must be feeling the Post love these days. After an initial endorsement before the September primary that derided incumbent Carol Schwartz for being "unrelentingly negative," the District's newspaper of record re-endorsed Mara for the general election by lamely citing the importance of giving one of the At-Large seats to a reliable Republican. That logic apparently didn't seem to square with anyone, so today the Post has re-re-endorsed Mara in a full editorial in which they applaud his support for Mayor Adrian Fenty's school reform plans and his willingness to buck his own party on social issues like gay marriage. The City Paper's Loose Lips, on the other hand, this week came out for Schwartz.
Strauss Drunk-Driving Arrest Makes News: Paul Strauss has served as the District's unpaid and under-appreciated shadow senator for 12 full years, and he's seems to love the futility of the job enough to want to go for six more. But the battle for what is usually a barely-contested seat has gotten heated, with recent revelations about Strauss sure to hurt his chances. The City Paper's Mike DeBonis has landed some serious scoops, including a recent report from the D.C. Inspector General that criticized Strauss' tenure on the Board of Real Property Assessment Appeals. Even more politically damaging might be today's revelation that Strauss was busted for driving drunk on October 1, and the news never saw the light of day because his last name was misspelled in court filings. Well, the news is out now, and something tells us that we'll soon be getting press releases from the D.C. Republican Party criticizing Strass and promoting challenger Nelson Rimensnyder. Oh wait, we just got it, and they're asking Strauss to resign. Ouch.
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Drunk driving? Isn't that what senators do? I guess most are good enough at it not to get caught.
District's newspaper of record re-endorsed Mara for the general election by lamely citing the importance of giving one of the At-Large seats to a reliable Republican.
That's a misrepresentation of the endorsement, which actually reads "Patrick Mara...is without question the best choice for the second seat, which, by virtue of the Home Rule Charter, must be filled by someone who is not a member of the majority party."
Nowhere does it "cite" the importance of giving one of the seats to a "reliable Republican." It only cites the Home Rule Charter's requirement.
Strauss should have just drank in the shadows.
republican for shadow senator? ha.
wow, the statehood green guy is the guy who owns the green store on church between 14th and 15th. interesting point apropos of nothing today.
Ooh, I didn't much care for Strauss to begin with, and this certainly doesn't help. But having a Republican "representing" DC feels wrong somehow.
What to do, what to do...
Ooh, I didn't much care for Strauss to begin with, and this certainly doesn't help. But having a Republican "representing" DC feels wrong somehow.
What to do, what to do...
I feel it's relevant here to point out that the only Libertarian on the ballot in DC, Lincoln Ober, is running against Strauss. Ober's relatively sane and moderate as Libertarians go, and although I don't see him coming anywhere close to winning he might conceivably get enough votes for the Libertarians to get recognition as an official party.
Is it just me, or does DCist always seem to de-italicize the last paragraph of a multiple-paragraph block of italicized text, no matter where the close tag is?
cminus: i've always had trouble with blockquotes and italics - only the first paragraph gets the treatment even though i pinky swear the closing tag is in the right place.
also, can you convince me that ober isn't running as a joke? b/c improv me sees his campaign as one big meta-funny. which is fine, i just hate being confused.
Is there a site that I can go to that will tell me where these candidates stand?
The futility of Strauss's job?!?
How else is a hirsute, portly little man going to surround himself with young, nubile Eastern European girls? (Disounting any situations that involve massage oil, that is.)
Frankly, you could make an argument that all things being equal, DC would be better off having a Republican as Shadow Senator. Since the sole responsibility of a Shadow Senator is to advance the statehood cause, and since it would probably help the statehood cause if it weren't perceived as simply a Democratic cause, then if all other things were equal, we'd be better off with a Republican Shadow Senator.
Of course, that assumes that the Republican would advance the Statehood cause as diligently as the Democrat. But it's not like Paul Strauss has been nearly the statehood warrior that Mike Pannetta has been.
Deep and others: You can check out the District of Columbia Voter's Guide, published by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, to read about all of the candidates on the ballot.
http://www.dcboee.org/election_info/election_year2008/
can you convince me that ober isn't running as a joke?
Isn't any third-party candidacy pretty much by definition a joke? I merely said he was "relatively sane and moderate as Libertarians go", and I stand by that statement.
You see, it doesn't matter whether he's kidding or not when his campaign website releases a breaking story about "a resurgent Virginia Militia repelling DC forces and eventually taking back this entire area of southern Arlington"; whatever the answer, is he really any less tuned into consensus reality than, say, Bob Barr?
Can we talk about Michael Brown? Other than his famous Dad, what has he got. A few appointments thanks to his connections (DC Boxing and Wrestling Commission - awesome!)
He's for Fenty's education program after he was against it.
One of his biggest complaints about the baseball stadium is it doesn't have enough parking. He "told one group he wouldn't favor a moratorium on charter schools while telling another he would."
Seriously, the guy is a politically craven climber using his dad's name to get into ANY office. He's proven that - as a lobbyist - he can raise a lot of money, but he lacks the intellectual heft or local passion to be a district council member. Don't let him buy this election. But that's just my opinion.
I'm voting for Carol Schwartz's necklaces.
washcycle: here's what you need to do with michael brown. call the bastard back.
IMGoph:
Update on Roco-Call abuser Michael Brown. Robo-Call Revenge works!
Hey a lot of Republicans live in Northwest Washington. Shouldn't they have a voice too?