Reply to Opinions on adrian fenty and why he didn't get re-elected

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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]Blacks last stand. With the changing demographics of the city and his visions Adrian represented the total loss of power to those who wanted the Old DC. The Barry DC. There is a post article of the AAs in W4 who were upset that he didn't give more posts in the government to blacks. They mobilized and AAs came to defeat him. They got what they wanted with Gray. Incompetent, slow, stuck in the 1960s style mayor. Kudos.[/quote]

I think that if you removed race from your analysis, you would have a stronger and more accurate argument. I live in Ward 4 and I'm fairly active in Ward politics. The "Blacks" in Ward 4 are well-educated, middle or upper middle (and even sometimes upper) class folks with deep roots in the city. Their socio-economic status, education, and ties to the city are all more important than their race. This group was strongly supportive of Fenty, supporting him as their Council Member and in his mayoral bid. They did not turn against him because he didn't hand them all patronage jobs.

There is no single issue why Ward 4 had a change of heart about Fenty (Gray won Ward 4 in the primary). Rather, it was a series of things. The guy who had earned his reputation by wearing holes in his shoes going door to door all of a sudden didn't have time for normal people anymore. Fenty repeatedly put the interests of developers ahead of average residents. Too little was done to address economic development in Ward 4. And, as other posters have pointed out, schools were a big issue. The educated, long-time residents of Ward 4 are deeply committed to the public school system. Yet, nothing Michelle Rhee did helped improve the schools in the Ward. Even today, Coolidge and Roosevelt High Schools are nearly ruins, McFarland Middle School is a disgrace. It goes on and on. In a nutshell, the community perceived that Fenty was not serving their interests. I don't mean "interests" in the very narrow sense of not hiring them or creating handouts for them. I mean "interests" as in improving the community, fighting crime, improving the economy, and improving the schools. People really felt betrayed by Fenty because they had so strongly believed in him. I was really shocked to see the transformation of hardcore Fenty activists into Gray supporters.

To say that "they got what they wanted with Gray" is also wrong. Gray has also lost significant support in the Ward and there is tremendous disappointment with him.  I doubt Gray could get elected dog catcher in Ward 4 at this point.
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