Wow. City Paper Endorses Fenty

[Anonymous]

You know, given that the CP has been an unrelentingly negative voice against the Fenty administration, I'm a little shocked that they gave him the nomination.

Their argument was, essentially, "He may be an asshole, but he's *our* asshole.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/39709/2010-endorsements/

[Anonymous]

An excerpt:

Anonymous wrote:The “yeah, but...” strategy is especially pronounced on education: Gray wants school reform, he says. “Aggressive reform,” even! But when it comes to school closings and teacher firings—“aggressive” in action—he is Mr. Passive. Contrast his rare shots at DCPS’s status quo ante with the ample time he’s spent on pusillanimous process questions about Rhee’s personnel decisions.

When Gray came to visit, he extended his noncommittal approach beyond policy questions. Who, we asked, did Gray think was the best mayor D.C. has had under Home Rule? They’d all done some good things, he said. Who was the worst? “I’m curious as to why you even ask that question,” he said.

Well, Vince, we’ll tell you. For a dozen years, D.C.’s government has generally, if imperfectly, gotten better at doing its job. There are a bunch of reasons for this, but the biggest one may be the way two successive mayors made it clear to employees that a sword of Damocles hung over them. Fuck up, and you just might get fired. This wasn’t true under Marion Barry, who’s endorsed you, or Sharon Pratt, who first brought you to government. So, yeah, it’d be nice to know just who you admire.

When people evoke Washington’s bad old days, they don’t just mean mayoral drug arrests. For locals, the strongest memories are of smaller ignominies at the hands of a nincompoop government—one that screwed up minor DMV tasks and major social-services responsibilities alike. One Gray supporter lamely told us that bureaucratic competence was now “baked into the cake.” People once said the same about incompetence! Campaigning on his style, Gray hasn’t proved he’ll watchdog against revived ineptitude—especially if watchdogging means acting like… a jerk.

Gray is a decent man, someone who won’t embarrass via personal escapades and won’t stoop to Barry-style race-baiting. He holds himself to high standards—higher, often, than Fenty. But until we hear him explain how he’ll hold others to those same standards—and until he demonstrates that he has whatever combination of managerial toughness, personal ruthlessness and out-and-out misanthropy it takes to exorcise those who don’t measure up—he ain’t our guy.

Vote Adrian Fenty. He’s a jerk. But he’s your jerk.

[Anonymous]

Of course they did. Even with their prior badmouthing they realize that it's a no-brainer. I'm telling you man, Gray is going to be a train wreck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course they did. Even with their prior badmouthing they realize that it's a no-brainer. I'm telling you man, Gray is going to be a train wreck.

I agree. However it's too late. The unions and ultra-leftists in this city combined with the AA population have propelled Gray to victory. Sit back and hold your breath for 4yrs.

[Anonymous]

I am so pissed at Fenty for blowing this. He came to visit my child's school three years ago and it was like a rock star was in the building. He did so much good but he blew it with his arrogance and corruption. (And please Fenty supporters do not excuse his corruption by what I call the lowdown standard, as if it's okay because he wasn't as corrupt as Marion Barry. I actually had several Fenty supporters tell me that!)

[Anonymous]

The Examiner endorsed him, as well. That was pretty surprising to me.

[Anonymous]

You mean the only paper that is quote-worthy of Steele and the rest of DCUM brigade endorsed Fenty? Now which paper to quote now????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course they did. Even with their prior badmouthing they realize that it's a no-brainer. I'm telling you man, Gray is going to be a train wreck.

No, he's not going to be a train-wreck.

Because on November 2, we are going to elect Adrian Fenty as our Mayor.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:You mean the only paper that is quote-worthy of Steele and the rest of DCUM brigade endorsed Fenty? Now which paper to quote now????

Still the City Paper:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2010/09/13/the-decided-its-grays-day/

Jason Cherkis endorsed Gray. He makes a number of really important points in this article and I suggest that everyone read it. Here is a snippet:

"I think about Bill Slover, or the two arson investigators turned whistleblowers whom Nickles took time out of his busy schedule to personally slam (“It’s quite an effort that these two guys are making, giving TV interviews, filing complaints. We dispute almost everything they claim, including that they are individuals of distinction”), Pershing Park, and the contempt Nickles had for the Children’s Rights lawyers in the CFSA case. Fenty and Nickles even managed to turn Cora Masters Barry into a sympathetic figure.

"And then there’s the overall feeling that Fenty can never just shoot straight. During our interview with him, the mayor actually played up his administration’s response to FOIAs. If there’s any group of people that know better, it’s us. Fenty also suggested that his response to homelessness had been a national model. Really? Maybe he needs to consult D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute’s stats on affordable housing, or read the latest testimony from the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Fenty also played up the Fire Department’s accomplishments. He needs to talk to Mendo, stat! I could go on, but you get the point."

[Anonymous]

Gray supporter here. Interestingly enough I found the City Paper's endorsement of Fenty to be one of the few arguments in his favor that was actually convincing -- because they pointed to specific administrative changes rather than leaning entirely on the old boogey man "return to the status quo" which so many Fenty supporters have done.

However, I found Cherkis's misgivings about Fenty's slick and superficial responses to genuine policy concerns (see jsteele above) to be quite convincing as well. I think this is an aspect of Fenty's governance which has not received adequate attention. As a citizen and taxpayer of the District, I would like the mayor to just "shoot straight" about these areas where his administration has been less than successful.

Anyway, if Fenty's supporters had spent more time making the kind of argument for him that the WCP did and less time screaming that Marion Barry's ghost would drag us all back to the 80s, he might have been confident of re-election today. Unfortunately, his failure to anticipate his current difficulties are reflective of the dynamic that Cherkis describes -- saying something is "so" doesn't mean it is "so" and/or isn't enough to convince people that it is and that you were responsible for making it "so."

Maybe Fenty needs to realize that the failure to communicate his effectiveness is his failure to do it adequately, not our failure to listen.

[Anonymous]

Oh, jeez. Surely you must realize by now that any political discussion in 21st century America quickly becomes a mud-slinging fest. There were plenty of on-the-fence Fenty supporters making just the points the CP covered. They were quickly drowned out by the back and forth between the "Gray is Barry" crowd, and the "Fenty and Rhee are Lovers" gang.

The "Oh, if only Fenty's supporters had been more in pursuading *me* personally, all this unpleasantness could've been avoided!" stuff is a bit purple, don't you think?

[Anonymous]

"...been more effective in pursuading..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course they did. Even with their prior badmouthing they realize that it's a no-brainer. I'm telling you man, Gray is going to be a train wreck.

No, he's not going to be a train-wreck.

Because on November 2, we are going to elect Adrian Fenty as our Mayor.

I was the pp and my fingers are crossed. Love your attitude