We’re talking apples and oranges here. The people who live in any other city in the United States that is not a territory has a voting representative in Congress. The people who live in DC have no voting representation in Congress. That’s what CookingWithGas was saying.
No state, territorial, county, or city government has representation in Congress, period. Nor is that what advocates of DC voting representation are asking for. People who advocate that position do not believe that the DC city government should have a voting seat in Congress, they think that the people who live in DC should have such a representative.
More or less, that is what I was saying. Having a rep makes DC different than a city, but OTOH residents of DC have no voting representation, which makes them much different than a state.
In addition to what you mentioned, there is also the issue of the stadium. I know of several Barra Brava members that have made it their goal to ensure he does not get re-elected. Also, there is the recent issue of him allegedly buying votes. Although I have never really been a fan of his or Michelle Rhee, I was on the fence until a couple of days ago. I think I will vote for Gray; or rather against Fenty. His approach to governing just rubs me the wrong way.
Part of the reason for Fenty’s unpopularity that the other candidate for the Democratic nomination for mayor is Vincent Gray. Gray is a good politician. He has been in city politics for a long time. He knows everybody of any importance. He knows how to get along with everyone. Fenty, on the other hand, has made a lot of enemies. He apparently irritates most of the people that he works with.
The question is not what policies the two men advocate. They aren’t really that different in political views. The problem is Fenty’s ineptness in dealing with people. Fenty had little political experience when he became mayor. He could have learned if he had tried. He wouldn’t have had to do anything different policy-wise. He could have learned to be polite to the people he had to work with. He is too arrogant to do that though.
I’m kind of glad that the District didn’t rush in and build them a stadium like they did for the Nationals. I think that taxpayer money for Nationals Stadium was a waste and I don’t think that building a soccer stadium in Poplar Point is necessarily a better deal.
I’d be more comfortable with Gray if I knew what policies he was going to implement and which of Fenty’s policies he intended to keep. Gray also tried to kill the streetcar program for H Street so I am biased against him because of that.
His appointment of Rhee as school chancellor has been a highly divisive issue. She’s made huge, sweeping changes but doesn’t give a rat’s ass about communicating with the teachers and badmouths them to the media.
I’m a MD resident, but if I were casting the ballot in DC this year, it would be a toss-up between Gray and Fenty for me.
Well the city now owns a stadium that will likely bring in money for years to come. Although the cost was high, I think it was worth it in the long run. Plus, the money did not come from the general fund, and should not be considered “tax-payer money” unless you are considering the resultant tax on large businesses used to supplement the rent paid by the Nationals
Fair point. But, like someone else said, they are likely pretty close on most of the major issues. Either way, the streetcar on H St. is a waste of money. Please tell me why H St. of all places needs a streetcar?
BTW, did anyone else miss the fact the Michelle Rhee is marrying former NBA star, and current Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson? Does that mean she plans to move to CA?
Except that stadiums generally don’t generate enough money to pay for themselves for the city. Anyhow that levy may not have come out of our pockets directly, but it surely was passed along to the consumer.
Selfish Answer: Because I live there. Better Answer: It is a fairly built up area that really doesn’t have any public transport options. The X2 which runs down H Street gets incredibly crowded during rush hour. The streetcars have a larger carrying capacity than the x2 so they should be more comfortable. The Streetcar will run down H street and Benning Road which should spur development in those areas.
I’m not sure how Rhee and her new husband will make it work if they are both living on different coasts. I suspect she will move there.
BTW, is anyone else surprised at the volume of campaign mail they are getting? I don’t remember getting this much in the last two elections.
From a D.C.-area non-Doper friend of mine re: Fenty’s problems:
He’s pretty far behind, according to the polls.
Well, he’s doing a good job in the macro-sense, but he’s blundered on a number of fronts. He’s picked some pretty stupid fights with the city council over minor issues; has been amazingly arrogant (refusing to tell people when he’s on vacation out of town–in a couple of cases, out of the country); hasn’t spent much time sucking up to various “leaders” in the city, and has been in constant trouble for low level misuse of city assets (closing streets for him and his buddies to cycle and stuff like that). I think what really has gotten him in trouble is that he’s for attracting more middle class people to the city…
It’s really unfortunate, because I’m afraid that the likely winner will go back to DC “business as usual”. Fenty has been making significant progress on school reform–of course, that has enraged a lot of vested interests, including the teacher’s union–and on other fronts.
A bit depressing. He’s kind of a jerk, but an effective one. I’d vote for him…
I don’t think that we will go back to the days of Barry’s cronyism. There is a lot of demand for city services to get more efficient, and in my opinion, Fenty was continuing a lot of the policies of his predecessor. Remember, that Fenty also gave sweetheart deals to his buddies as well.
I think that Fenty was his own worst enemy. 18 months ago, he had a huge war chest ready and was considered to be unbeatable. I think that he was going to upset a lot of people with his plans, but he could have handled things better and done more not to piss off the City Council.
Knowing that this is starting to head toward the Election 2010 forum type of comments, It’s not cronyism I’m worried about, it’s incompetence.
Grey ran the Department of Human Services for the disastrous Sharon Pratt Kelly mayorship. Even the mostly-charitable Washington Post story essentially describes him as a do-nothing in a position that needed strong leadership to make big changes. In fact, that led to court receivership of a number of services.
If this were a time when things were rolling along pretty well and a caretaker mayor couldn’t screw things up, then Gray might not be a bad guy. But his entire career in DC government, and his campaign slogan for this run, is consistent with his record: Let’s not move too fast, let’s move more carefully, let’s not do anything rash. Slow and deliberate reform isn’t what DC needs.
The Washington Post did an article on why Fenty lost.
What Gray will do is a mystery since he never had to articulate a platform. He really was elected because he wasn’t Fenty. It looks like Fenty even lost his home ward.