Mayoral hopeful Linda Cropp, struggling to make up ground in the polls, was slated to meet her most important supporter at noon Wednesday at the Cheesecake Factory in Friendship Heights for an afternoon of meet and greets.

But Mayor Anthony Williams didn’t show up. And after an awkward 30 minutes of standing on the sidewalk greeting the occasional D.C. voter, Cropp’s staff finally called the meeting off. Williams, reporters were told, was caught up at a Congressional Black Caucus event downtown.