Seriously, nation, as Stephen Colbert might say, is there any doubt that Vincent Gray will win the general election today and morph from presumptive mayor to mayor elect?
That David Catania will win reelection to his at-large council seat?
And that Kwame Brown will win the general election for council chair?
Neither Catania nor Brown faces any serious challenger. Today’s vote is an afterthought to the Democratic primary. It is a mere formality; in effect, a coronation.
Nation! This is a travesty, a perversion of democracy, more Soviet than American. Once again we are reminded that the capital of the most powerful democratic nation on the globe is a one party town: Democrats rule, by outnumbering Republicans 10-1 in registered voters.
Where’s the Tea Party when you need one? Why can’t we have a serious, loyal opposition in the District? Across the line in Maryland, voters will choose today between Martin O’Mally, the incumbent Democrat, and Robert Ehrlich, the re-incumbent Republican. What a luxury. Why can’t we have a real race?
I know, I know — voters have alternatives, but are they real and attractive?
Of course voters can write in Adrian Fenty’s name for mayor. And perhaps a few thousand might cast protest votes against Vince Gray. But this write-in effort is underfunded and disorganized. Heck — the candidate hasn’t even endorsed it. Or said he would serve if elected.
Word in the back rooms of Upper Caucasia is that Boy Mayor Adrian is planning to spend the next few years reflecting and retooling for another mayoral run in 2014 — as an adult! Wishful thinking, perhaps, but you heard it here first.
And God love the Statehood Green Party. Great ideas, thin candidate corps, little traction in these parts.
For those of us who cling to the two-party system, I see hope in the D.C. Republican Party. The local GOP chose not to run a candidate for mayor, in part because Fenty was so Republican. Likewise, it chose to sit out the races for council chair and at-large.
But serious and attractive Republicans are campaigning against incumbent Democrats in the four ward races: 1, 3, 5 and 6.
“It’s the most competitive we’ve ever been since Home Rule,” says Paul Craney, the party’s executive director. “Obviously, it would be nice to win an election.”
Carol Schwartz remains the one and only true Republican who could win a local race, but she lost her council seat two years ago, in part because the GOP and businessmen ate their own — and knocked her off.
The GOP’s best chance for a win will be in Ward 3, where Dana Hedgepeth is aiming to dethrone incumbent Mary Cheh. Hedgepeth is a long shot, but Cheh bucked her constituents and backed Gray rather than the beloved Fenty.
“There’s a perfect storm brewing in Ward 3,” Craney says.
No storm can keep me from the polls. The choices may be few, but I rarely fail to exercise my basic right. And I certainly want to cast a ballot for an elected attorney general.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
