A retraction, sort of
After attending tonight’s mayoral form, I realized some of my earlier comments regarding the mayor may have been a bit harsh. Going to a Toby Keith concert is still a stupid thing to do, obviously, but I was impressed with the way he handled himself at the debate. Given what we’ve got to choose from, he’s the city’s best bet. (Or one could write in one’s favorite city councilman.)
Tony Oliva (no, not that one), the Libertarian candidate, felt a little philosophically inconsistent and soft on the issues. But he was always ready to offer up an answer to any question that was thrown his way. Points to him for that. Plus, in the course of about 10 minutes, he mentioned litter, better music venues, passenger rail, and how neighborhood redevelopment could lead to better transit options. It’s nice to know someone else cares about this kind of stuff.
I really wanted to find some common ground with the Socialist Workers Party’s candidate, Ryan Scott, but his constant refusal to directly address nearly any question posed to him grew tiresome after a while. Because the editorial panel failed to rein him in, a lot of his answers did give the debate an interesting tinge of absurdity, though. I would have liked to see the questioners and some of the audience (particularly the old lady behind me) treat him with more respect. It takes some balls to get up and rail against things as he did.
And although I tried to go into the forum with an open mind, the Republican candidate, Mark DeSantis, failed to impress. After reminding everyone several times in the first 10 minutes how “old” he felt up on stage, he proceeded to slip in snarky, and downright mean, comments at the mayor the rest of the night. Way to keep the asshole businessman stereotype alive.
