This is what we wrote last week in reference to the 2006 mayoral race, which started in earnest this month:

But beyond the daily duties of writing, debating, and passing laws, the City Council may well become a bit of a battleground between those seeking higher political office next year…There is little doubt that the council’s mayoral candidates will use their positions to make populist-inspired speeches and put forth legislation that makes expansive promises on anything from affordable housing to schools — whether or not those proposals stand a chance of passing or not. And once one candidate does so, the others will be forced to raise the ante and respond in kind, resulting in a vicious circle where rhetoric takes primacy over results.

This is what happened yesterday, as reported by the Post:

Anyone questioning whether the District mayor’s race is in full swing need only to have witnessed yesterday’s D.C. Council meeting. The three mayoral candidates on the council used rising gasoline prices to try to score political points with voters and to take some shots at one another.

It is going to be a looooooong campaign.