Photo by M.V. JantzenA wide range of District political candidates gathered at One Judiciary Square last night to make their case to members of D.C. for Democracy why the organization should support their candidacies in the September Democratic primary. Everyone from the mayor to would-be shadow representatives showed up to make their case. Endorsements should be handed down in the coming weeks.
While it’d be impossible to do a full play-by-play account, I’ve boiled down some highlights into bite-size form. All in all, the event was pretty cut and dry, but there were some moments of high political art.
MAYOR: Incumbent Adrian Fenty touted four straight years of balanced budgets, development projects galore all over town and the raising of the city’s bond rating. “Yes, the city has a long, long way to go,” the mayor said, but life in D.C. is pretty good. “It’s hard to find a [D.C.] agency that isn’t being competently run.”
Former newsman Leo Alexander regularly cited the phrase “generational poverty.” The reason why he jumped into the race? He was on a trip abroad and someone told him what was going on back home in the District: “Your council and your mayor are arguing about baseball tickets.” Alexander, who said undocumented workers are to blame for some of the city’s ailments, also has a totally random idea for Metro: Seniors should ride for free during rush hour, just like in Scandinavia!
D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray cited a statistic that is quite interesting. The D.C. Council has a 57 percent approval rating, the highest of any legislative body in the nation. Gray stuck mainly to talking points and presented himself in the even-tempered, measured manner you’re accustomed to seeing on Channel 13.
The most memorable line came from the mayor, who said: “If we were electing a chief critic for the District of Columbia, I would probably recommend either of them. But we are electing a chief executive officer and that means we need someone who can get things done.” Zinger!
WaPo’s Tim Craig has more at D.C. Wire.
