Candidates, Schools, Baseball

I hope you watched the second DC Mayoral Debate on 9 News this past Wednesday. It aired at 9am but you can still watch it right here on your computer; here’s my take! The five major Democratic Candidates have squared off more than twenty times and their performances show it. They are polished, well informed on the issues and know what their opponents are going to say; privately everyone is saying it’s still Adrian Fenty’s race to lose! He leads Cropp by single percentages in the polls. If that’s true Fenty didn’t hurt himself and his opponents failed to lay a big glove on him in the one hour broadcast. Linda Cropp appears to be the establishment candidate whether she wants to or not; getting Mayor Tony William’s endorsement only drives the point home. It both helps and hurts; but she’s right when she says that any of these candidates would have quickly accepted such an anointment from the Mayor. During the debate Cropp seems to have too many facts. Viewers get lost in the many programs, dates and dollar amounts. Privately I’m told the Council Chairman is conducting her own poll and should know the results fairly soon. Michael Brown and Marie Johns continue to impress; but the question everyone continues to ask is can they win? Same for Vincent Orange who is emerging as the on camera candidate with the best lines and most energy!

The next most sought after endorsement? Would you believe …Marion Barry?

On a baseball matter. Marion Barry and other losing council members raised a lot of questions about how little money the minority partners put up to become part of the winning Ted Lerner team. My sources say in some instances the amount was a mere $100,000!

On the DC schools? What’s the talk about turning the sometimes troubled Ballou Senior High in Southeast DC over to a private entity without public debate?