It’s early enough in the 2006 mayoral campaign season that candidates can get away with mouthing applause-inducing platitudes about what’s gone wrong, what’s gone right, how they’ll right the wrong, and how they were probably responsible for the right. But now that the race has all but been called a two-way contest between Council-member Adrian Fenty (D-Ward 4) and Council Chair Linda Cropp — the Post and NBC 4’s Tom Sherwood have termed it “Future Vs. Familiar” — the candidates will have to start outlining exactly what it is they will do, how they plan on doing it, and why their way of doing is better than their opponent’s.

A few months back, we guessed that the state of the city’s schools would be one of the main issues mayoral candidates tackled. Today, we add to that list the issue of affordable housing. This issue affords candidates the opportunity to attract large numbers of voters who have felt left out of the city booming real estate and development market, but may also present challenges as they fight to balance populist instincts with sound financial management.