Monday, April 22, 2013

Please Vote Tomorrow!

I have generally tried to steer clear of covering elections that are not Ward 5/6 specific. But I had a few readers email me, and several others ask me, about the special election. I'm very concerned that people are not following the candidates. So, what follows is just sort of a link round-up that I originally put together for an email. It is in no way comprehensive, and should be treated as merely a springboard for further exploration.  Read the the candidate sites, read the media endorsements, read the debate transcripts, make a choice. And please remember to vote tomorrow.

Essentially, this race is down to three candidates (the others polled way too low to possibly win). A recent poll put Anita Bonds at 19%, with Elissa Silverman  and Patrick Mara tied at 13%. In a race with such low turnout, this could be anyone's game.

Please note that this poll was conducted April 10-11th on 1,621 registered voters (not likely voters). Also, 43% of voters said they were undecided.

Let's Choose DC has some good info on the candidates.

Read the transcripts from the Kojo Show's At-Large Candidate debate:
Part 1
Part 2

Among Bonds' endorsements: Vincent Orange, Jack Evans, Muriel Bowser, Yvette Alexander, Kenyan McDuffie, Marion Barry, and a couple of unions.

There was a bit of a scandal recently over some comments she made during the Kojo Nnamdi Show.  "The majority of the District of Columbia is African American. . . . There is a natural tendency to want your own." Followed by repeatedly reminding listeners that she is African American.

She also just sounded incoherent when discussing transportation during the same show:
"Now, we're saying we're also going to start and have street cars, and now there are questions about where do the cars park. We already have the issue of where do the cars park when we have churches on Sunday. So we are becoming a very densely populated community, and I'm not sure that Washington DC, the streets of this nation's capital, the street of the District of Columbia, are really designed for these many modes of transportation which seem to be needed."

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Among Mara's endorsements: the Washington Post, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the DC Chamber of Commerce.

Mara is the Republican in the race, and that could give him a solid base, but could also turn off many potential voters.

The Washington Post ran a story recently about how Patrick Mara may have violated the law with his fundraising efforts.

Apparently the Office of Campaign Finance is now investigating.
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The Washington City Paper endorsed Elissa Silverman.

Greater Greater Washington endorsed Elissa Silverman

Among Silverman's endorsements: Councilmember David Grosso, a local union, and former Ward 6 Councilmember Sharon Ambrose.

The Washington Post ran a story in which another candidate, Mark Frumin, claimed that Silverman agreed to support him in a future race to defeat Mary Cheh if he would drop out and support Silverman now.

But, then the Post ran another story that included the emails from Silverman to Frumin, and they don't say anything close to what Frumin claimed that they said. In fact, they sound totally innocent, and don't even hint at any sort of quid pro quo.

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I hope people find the information about to be useful. In case you are curious, I plan to vote for Silverman tomorrow.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This seems like an attempt to frame one of the candidates as a racist.

inked said...

2:41,
Those are Bonds' own words. Take from them what you will.

Ann said...

Thanks for the info! I know a few people who just learned there was an election. (Maybe with so many special elections--and signs that never seem to get taken down--campaign signs are just part of the everyday landscape now.)

Also, remember that the voting center for southern Trinidad (precinct 77) is now Joe Cole, not the Delta Towers.

Unknown said...

This write up is slanted some, but this is a blog and not journalism. So like Mr. King, or the editorial page of the WSJ, the blogger has the right to their opinion. The purpose of the excerpt was to call Ms. Bonds racist, well at least overly racial. These days if a candidate brings up race as a factor, the neuvo-progressives seem to respond with a call towards race bating. Was Ms. Bonds race baiting, who knows? Was Ms. Silverman trying to strike a back-room deal, who knows? All we do know is every candidate in this race has had ineloquent moments. Is Ms. Bonds’ concern about a Council that is mostly white not based in concerns of the electorate, yes they are. Over the weekend I had a conversation about the word majority, I remembered the glee that a lot of white friends, neighbors and colleagues had when the census data came out. It was like there was a celebration that the so call Chocolate City was more a mocha. The funny thing is, their very tracking that piece of data so hard amplified the point Ms. Bonds clumsily was trying to make. Race matters, and to bring it up doesn't make one racist, but Ms. Bonds, if racist, is no more racist than any of the people who took glee that DC is less black. Why on earth would it matter, if we are in fact trying to be progressive. The truth is we're not trying to be progressive. DC isn't getting mocha, it's actually getting to be checkered. It's not a blend, where instead, the boundaries and walls are rising. To some that's a call to ensure the black voice isn't lost. Despite the merits, or lack thereof, of that argument, the argument isn't squarely racist. I wonder why a Latino isn't on the council or an Asian, a deaf person, etc. To ignore however, the city and the nation's history, and particularly DC’s unique nature of being one of the few cities run by black people (with good or bad results) is to not fully comprehend why the demographic resetting is difficult for some. To make fun of Ms. Bonds without context cheapens the conversation. It is a very dishonest and very devious way of shuttering a needed exchange of ideas. Albeit true however, the blogger has the right to run their ship, but that doesn’t mean the direction is true.