For a brief time this summer, Kwame Brown’s political future seemed a sure bet. The current At-Large Councilmember was the front-runner for the nomination for Council chair, and most observers didn’t give Vincent Orange much of a chance. The only real contender, as conventional wisdom said, would have been Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who declined to challenge Brown. But now, less than sixty days until the primary, Brown’s future is in doubt. Recent revelations about personal debt have left politicians, journalists and voters scratching their heads. Tom Sherwood at NBC4 initially broke the news that Brown was being sued by three credit card companies, and this weekend Mike DeBonis at the Washington Post writes that the candidate’s personal debt is nearly $700,000.
To be fair, the picture painted by DeBonis of Brown is not immediately troubling. The circumstances that led to this situation are not uncommon, Brown got caught up in real estate speculation and borrowed huge sums of money to live a lifestyle beyond his means. This isn’t an unusual story in 2010 America, millions are suffering a similar hangover from over-borrowing and over-spending. We learn that Kwame Brown is upside down on the mortgage for his Hillcrest home, and that he is trying to sell his boat. He openly admits that he got carried away, telling the Post, “[w]e were spending like we had no kids, and we had two [kids and] one income. I’ve accepted full responsibility, and we’ve made arrangements to make sure it gets taken care of.”
The facts that have been reported make this a hard explanation for many to swallow. Brown still has open lawsuits against him from multiple creditors, and his ‘arrangements’ at this point consist of a $500 per month payment on a $24,000 balance. While it may be a good soundbite to say he’s accepted “full responsibility,” there wasn’t much of a choice. Other than bankruptcy, accepting “partial responsibility” isn’t exactly an option.
Add in the fact that Brown still owes money to the State of Maryland from traffic offenses in the early 90’s, and this goes from a quick news blurb to an all-out nightmare for a candidate. Tom Sherwood hints there may be more news out there, and at this point every journalist who covers D.C. politics will be sniffing. Even if the other shoe doesn’t drop, even if there isn’t anything else out there, these are some real questions whose hard answers could result in a Vincent Orange upset.
Voters love to talk about personal responsibility, and people often get up-in-arms when a public official abuses authority or fails to play by the rules. Just four months ago Brown made the news because his car was towed. Many heaped praise on him for pledging to pay his $100 traffic ticket, even if Councilmembers are exempt from parking fines. How would we have felt if we knew he probably didn’t even have $100 to pay that fine? Or that he’d charge it to a maxed out credit card?
Vincent Orange is hitting back against Brown, saying that Brown can’t be taken seriously by Wall Street or Congress. That message may not resonate, it doesn’t quite capture what’s really on everyone’s mind. How could this happen? How could someone earning $122,530 per year as a Councilmember let things get this far? I’d take a guess that most of us in the District have debt. For many, unfortunately, it’s a fact of life. However, you have to work hard at ignoring creditors to end up in a courtroom. You don’t end up in court because you were late on a payment or two. What we’re all left asking is how someone with such political aspirations could be so reckless. I hate to join the chorus, but how can someone hope to lead the city out of a budget crisis when they are just now figuring out how to live on a budget. Perhaps most people should not be judged professionally for their personal finance habits, but most people aren’t running for the second most powerful office in the District.
