Photo by AlephNull.

It’s a question that we’ve all asked: what’s up with Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large)?

He’s spent but $16,000 on his re-election campaign, while challenger Clark Ray has put in over $90,000. Ray is experienced and amiable, and has aggressively worked to promote himself since declaring his candidacy a year ago. Yet Mendelson remains a formidable presence, winning key endorsements and straw polls, and likely working his way to a fourth term. (Mendelson’s path to a third term was similarly low-key, as he easily dispatched a well-funded and aggressive competitor in A. Scott Bolden.)

The City Paper’s Loose Lips shared a theory last week on Mendelson’s electoral successes and what has made unseating him so damn hard — his “boring ways are part of his appeal.”

That much was clear during a debate this morning on TBD TV, moderated by Bruce DePuyt. Mendelson highlighted his role on the D.C. Council, stressing that he both stood up to Mayor Adrian Fenty when it was needed (Attorney General Peter Nickles’ nomination, the parks and rec contract controversy), while remaining busy on important matters from his perch on the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary. Even when faced with a tough question — Greater Greater Washington’s David Alpert asked him about his skepticism on streetcars — Mendelson’s notorious wonkiness proved disarming. While sharing the enthusiasm over the economic development the streetcars could bring, Mendelson said the project had been “boot-strapped” and was being implemented in a piecemeal fashion. He pointed out what many have noticed — the H Street NE streetcar tracks abruptly end at 3rd Street, since they don’t yet have a way to connect to Union Station.