Fenty = Embarrassment

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[Post New]08/27/2008 19:18
jsteele
Site Admin Online

With all the national politics going on, its easy to lose track of local political developments. Nevertheless, its worth pointing out that our young mayor has been seriously dropping the ball. Here is a partial list of his doings while in Denver:

1) While the entire DC delegation stayed in one hotel, Fenty choose stay separately in another;

2) Fenty failed to show up on the convention floor for Mark Warner's keynote and Hillary Clinton's speech;

3) Fenty showed up late for a DC voting rights protest, and then spoke for only 1 minute before trotting off to speak to reporters down the block;

4) Tonight, Fenty was supposed to announce the DC delegate tally from the convention floor during the roll call. He never showed up and Eleanor Holmes Norton had to compose remarks five minutes before filling in for him.

On top of that, labor unions are threatening to begin picketing Fenty at future national appearances and are already raising a fuss in Denver.

Why did this guy even bother to go to Denver if he's not going to show up for anything?


[Post New]08/27/2008 20:39
Anonymous
Wow, that's disturbing.
[Post New]08/27/2008 20:45
Anonymous
If he's not doing any of these things, what the h-e-double hockey sticks is he doing? I've always thought he was shady since I first watched him on public access years ago. My husband, of course, thinks I'm crazy.

In any event, this is obviously not the kind of representation we need in Denver. When we're already starting from behind, the face of our city needs to be uber-impressive and ultra-visible. Sometimes being a DC resident makes me feel like a member of the Bad News Bears.
[Post New]08/27/2008 23:14
Anonymous
Huh? He might have well stayed here for school openings. But apparently Rhee was in Denver as well. Everybody knows DC is Obamatown anyway. Obama will be right down the street in a few months if Fenty needs to schmooze. Getting a fed assisgnment might take the heat off his school choice.

Thank goodness for Eleanor. (She's been great on the Colbert Report.)
[Post New]08/28/2008 00:31
Anonymous
I second the sparkles for Eleanor. She's one of a kind.
[Post New]08/28/2008 07:32
Anonymous
I don't know if this info is true or not, there are no sources listed and I haven't seen it anywhere else (yet). I am also not a huge Fenty fan.

That said, the important things that happen at political conventions are not the things that happen publicly. I would be more interested in knowing where he really was, rather than where he wasn't. If he was off on his bike it was deplorable. If he was meeting with top congressional leaders, Obama, or other power players, then he was probably doing a better job for the city than if he showed up to read the DC delegate votes. I'm don't know where he really was, but it is important to remember the nature of political conventions and where the work really gets done.
[Post New]08/28/2008 08:14
jsteele
Site Admin Online
Anonymous wrote:I don't know if this info is true or not, there are no sources listed and I haven't seen it anywhere else (yet). I am also not a huge Fenty fan.


The original source which I should have mentioned (but was rushing to get to dinner) was the Washington City Paper's City Desk blog:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/

The info is scattered across several articles.

However, almost every point is also included in David Nakamura's article in today's Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082703760.html

Note this paragraph, for instance:

"Even D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) appeared preoccupied, arriving 15 minutes late. He is staying at a different hotel from the rest of the city's delegation and spent the morning on a 45-minute bike ride, angering some delegates when he failed to show up at their planning breakfast"

Fenty's missing the roll call vote was also covered by DCist.

Fenty has been closed-mouth about what he is doing with his time. However, he definitely was not meeting with Obama given that Obama was not there until late last night. Also, why go to Denver to meet with Congressional figures who spend most of their time right here in DC?

The roll call vote is one of the few opportunities where a DC political leader can get a few seconds of national exposure. Fenty should have been there to make a pitch for DC voting rights before giving the delegate tally.

By all appearances, Fenty is not in Denver on behalf of a DC agenda, but rather a Fenty agenda.


[Post New]08/28/2008 11:22
Rich
Member Offline
jsteele wrote:Fenty has been closed-mouth about what he is doing with his time. However, he definitely was not meeting with Obama given that Obama was not there until late last night. Also, why go to Denver to meet with Congressional figures who spend most of their time right here in DC?

The roll call vote is one of the few opportunities where a DC political leader can get a few seconds of national exposure. Fenty should have been there to make a pitch for DC voting rights before giving the delegate tally.

By all appearances, Fenty is not in Denver on behalf of a DC agenda, but rather a Fenty agenda.

Playing devil's advocate, I tried to come up with a plausible explanation for this. The most attractive is that Fenty was talking to Obama's campaign people about appearing onstage at the stadium today to make an appeal for DC voting rights. The bad thing about this explanation is that I have absolutely no factual basis for it. The good thing is that we'll find out soon whether it has any truth.
[Post New]08/28/2008 12:30
Anonymous
Rich wrote:Playing devil's advocate, I tried to come up with a plausible explanation for this. The most attractive is that Fenty was talking to Obama's campaign people about appearing onstage at the stadium today to make an appeal for DC voting rights. The bad thing about this explanation is that I have absolutely no factual basis for it. The good thing is that we'll find out soon whether it has any truth.


Could you imagine seeing two tall, young, clean, articulate black guys (with white moms and high power lawyer wives, imagine!) on the podium at the same time? All those blue collar/color white folks will be confused and vote for the wrinkly old guy and that polygamist billionaire dude.

(Don't flame. This is a swipe at the media. I'm black, but it seems like the media is stereotyping working class whites as somehow all bumpkins and racists. )

Ahem, hellooooo Adrian. How about we start with preventing some of the incompetence in critical services that leads to his appointees resigning every few months.

Jeff, guess you and I are off Fenty's christmas card list.
[Post New]08/28/2008 13:02
Anonymous
Rich wrote:
jsteele wrote:Fenty has been closed-mouth about what he is doing with his time. However, he definitely was not meeting with Obama given that Obama was not there until late last night. Also, why go to Denver to meet with Congressional figures who spend most of their time right here in DC?

The roll call vote is one of the few opportunities where a DC political leader can get a few seconds of national exposure. Fenty should have been there to make a pitch for DC voting rights before giving the delegate tally.

By all appearances, Fenty is not in Denver on behalf of a DC agenda, but rather a Fenty agenda.

Playing devil's advocate, I tried to come up with a plausible explanation for this. The most attractive is that Fenty was talking to Obama's campaign people about appearing onstage at the stadium today to make an appeal for DC voting rights. The bad thing about this explanation is that I have absolutely no factual basis for it. The good thing is that we'll find out soon whether it has any truth.


Maybe he's sharpening his teeth and saber for the 2016 nominations.
[Post New]08/28/2008 14:14
jsteele
Site Admin Online
According to Mike DeBonis, Fenty was again a no show at the DC delegation's breakfast this morning. He had been scheduled to speak.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2008/08/28/6529/

I wonder if he will make it to Obama's speech tonight?


[Post New]08/28/2008 14:16
Anonymous
Fenty wants to be a national political player. But he's not. And he should remember the old political adage: "Dance with the one that brung you." If he's not careful, he'll have a lot more time to ride his bike in a couple of years.
[Post New]08/28/2008 14:27
Anonymous
Fenty and his administration have been a serious disappointment to me. He is the worst kind of politician--who wants the job because he likes being a politician and is ambitious not because he cares. He also never struck me as all that bright.
[Post New]08/28/2008 14:45
jsteele
Site Admin Online
Well, now I know why he didn't make breakfast this morning:

"D.C. Wire noticed the mayor's political adviser John Falcicchio at a late night concert by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx that began at 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Although the Wire did not see the mayor in the crowded nightclub, a District resident who was there reported running into Fenty."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/08/frustration_with_fenty_grows_a.html

Its been a long time since I attended a concert that "started" at 12:30 am, but as I recall, it generally made waking up in time for breakfast rather difficult.


[Post New]08/28/2008 15:06
Anonymous
jsteele wrote:
I wonder if he will make it to Obama's speech tonight?


Oh, he'll make it to Obama's speech. He's much more interested in hitching his wagon to Obama's star than he is in representing the people of the District.
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