James Hahn becomes mayor of Los Angeles.......

Great Debates
1

…with about as much legitimacy as GB becoming President of the US.

Well, OK, more legitimacy, because at least Jim got more votes than the other guy.

But it’s the sordid, dirty way in which he got those votes that has me seeing red. I guess the real comparison is with Bush Sr., not Bush Jr.

Like W’s daddy, Jim closed the gap and overtook his opponent with a series of smear ads. Bush the Elder had his Willie Horton ads, Jimmy Junior had his crack-pipe ads.

(Note: Jim Hahn’s opponent, Antonio Villaraigosa, really did ask President Clinton to consider commuting a drug-dealer’s sentence. So did Archbishop Mahony and a passel of local politicians. Good for them! I’m against the drug war and mandatory sentences anyway.)

The dirty campaign tactic that most people don’t know about was when Jimmy sent a flyer to white voters in the San Fernando Valley that had a photo of Antonio standing next to the Watts Towers. Now, that’s rich. At the same time Jimmy is going all-out for African-American votes, he’s playing “scare politics,” threatening white voters with African-American imagery.

I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow. I’d show up at Jimmy’s inauguration with a sign saying, “Congratulations, Mayor Crack-Pipe!” I’m a home-town boy – anytime this guy gets close to me in the next four years, I’m going to yell, “Hey, Mayor Crack-Pipe, are you proud of yourself?”

Jimmy Crack-Pipe, and I don’t care.

Fellow Angelenos: your postings?

2

I voted for Villaragosa. I hated Hahn’s attack ads and was glad to see the Anthony didn’t follow suit. But seeing as how Anthony got his ass kicked(actually, it was a pretty close race), I don’t see how anybody can take the high road into office.
Thanks a heap, Jimmy-boy! :mad::mad:

3

I voted for Villagrosa to protest the “cocaine” smear commercial, too. Though I’m willing to give Hahn a chance to prove himself; as the OP noted, at least he won his election legitimately.

4

I liked Villaraigosa (he’s so handsome! :wink: ) but the thing I remember from the news stories and the smear ads was that Villaraigosa at first denied that he’d written the letter. (Am I remembering this correctly? I believe the ads quoted an LA Times article.) I always suspected that the reason why the smear ads worked was because it looked like Villaraigosa basically lied about the letter, and the smear ads highlighted this. The fact that he wrote it in the first place could have been explained away, (IMO) since the Archbishop had written a simular letter, etc. etc. But it was the initial denial that he’d written the letter at all that did him in.

Too bad, I’m sure he would have been a good mayor. Though, I never had anything against Hahn, and remember how well-liked his father was.

5

You’re right, Villaraigosa did deny the letter. I wonder how things might have turned out if he had just said, “Yeh, I wrote it, so what.”

But Hahn also denied things, like his campaign’s connection to a smear ad campaign by the Morongo Indians. I guess there isn’t a 100% honest politician in the world, they’ll all deny embarrassing truths, but some of them can get away with it better than others.

What also made me see red was Hahn showing entirely the wrong kind of chutzpah, refusing to back off on the ads even when Villaraigosa’s kids were being teased about their “drug dealer” father.

MAYOR CRACK-PIPE!!!