You think, if there was one candidate last year with contender status exploring the mayoral landscape that Anthony Williams eventually would abandon, Vincent Orange was the man.
The Ward 5 D.C. Council member had an impressive record of delivering to his constituents. Yes, you know the executive branch drops off the bags of groceries; the council knows the route and may suggest a change or two. Ultimately, however, the prime responsibility falls to the mayor and his minions. But Orange had been a more active player than many of his wannabe colleagues.
He was no slouch when it came to economic development. You believed the man with the accounting and law degrees could legitimately take some credit for the arrival of Home Depot, a huge Giant supermarket, construction of McKinley Technology campus, and the proposed development of McMillan Reservoir and “New Town” in his ward.
If politics is the art of packaging, Orange had done enough when he announced his candidacy last year to fashion a smart, sophisticated wrapper.
So what happened? Why is the man many believed would be at the head of the pack during the final stretch of the D.C. Democratic primary sinking?
Blame it on trinkets, jingles, ego and a campaign operation that has managed the candidate as if he were a Chihuahua with bulldog dreams. And you can’t forget the council member’s contribution: He has taken the lyrics “send in the clowns, there ought to be clowns” much too literally.
The trouble started, you think, during the spat over whether exploratory committees should reveal the names of their donors. Orange fought against changing the law; his supporters were individuals who didn’t want the mayor to know they had taken sides even before he announced his plans. When Orange and others lost that battle and were required to disclose donors, the council member was forced to return money to those still unwilling to publicly saddle up with him.
Additionally, Orange chose as his campaign manager a former television cameraman who lived in Maryland and lacked essential political skills and instincts. Not surprisingly, the campaign became a badly produced infomercial, replete with the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” as its soundtrack.
Then there were the three E’s. Where people often complain that politicians don’t speak to the issue, Orange has been on message so consistently that he has become an automaton. Too often his predictable responses elicit eye-rolling or laughs.
Orange is next to last among the top five candidates in the amount of money he raised during the past three months. Not good.
None of this means that Orange is destined to lose. If he reshapes his campaign operation, rescues his original intentions, rediscovers and re-presents himself to voters, he still has a chance. Short of that, you think he may want to consider the at-large council race as an immediate option.
Jonetta Rose Barras is the political analyst for WAMU radio’s “D.C. Politics Hour with Kojo and Jonetta.” She can be reached at [email protected]
