Even from Heaven, Bud Doggett’s hand is reaching down to keep his home town on a coherent — one might say business-friendly — path.
The parking magnate passed away in August 2008, but if you look closely at who’s sponsoring the new TV ads aimed at keeping D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson in office, you will see BUD’SPAC. Bud as in Bud Doggett. His political arm has shown up infrequently, only when Bud — through his widow, Cherrie — thinks the city is about to take a wrong turn.
So far, it has been startlingly effective.
The ads for Mendelson were scheduled to begin Monday and carry through to the Sept. 14 primary. They feature at-large Council Member Michael A. Brown saying: “I am not on the ballot.” He then holds up a photo of the guy who is running: Michael D. Brown, D.C.’s shadow senator. Michael Arrington Brown, the sitting council member on TV is black; Michael Donald Brown is white.
Polls have shown that Michael D. Brown could trounce Mendelson because of voter confusion. Many black Democrats think they are voting for Michael A. Brown. In this case, race is not a factor: both Michael D. Brown and Mendelson are white, but that hasn’t stopped plenty of D.C. voters from planning to vote for the black guy — who is not on the ballot.
Confused? Or just perplexed, as am I, about lack of awareness displayed by too many voters.
Phil Mendelson is a dedicated, veteran member of the city council. Though I have criticized him relentlessly on positions he has taken — or not — as chairman of the judiciary committee, I have never doubted his intelligence or his commitment to making D.C. a better place to live.
Heck, even the police union endorsed Phil! He seemed to be cruising to re-election when Michael Donald Brown entered the race. Brown’s a nice guy, but he’s not council member material. And he certainly should not be elected because voters think he’s a black man.
Enter BUD’SPAC. Run by Cherrie Doggett and developer Michele Hagans, it paid for a “DC Voter Alert” which will bombard cable channels. Why? Neither Doggett nor Hagans would explain, but my guess it’s because Mendelson has listened to the business community and often voted with them.
It was BUD’SPAC that took out Carol Schwartz, the legendary lone Republican on the council for decades. The business folk thought she had ignored them in pushing for the “sick and safe” bill that would have mandated sick leave for workers. They put up newcomer Patrick Mara and beat her in the primary.
Now it seems Michael “the shadow senator” Brown is about to get Schwartzed.
Bud Doggett would be pleased if the TV spots work. He adored his home town of Washington, D.C. He founded and financed Heroes Inc., the charity that cares for families of fallen cops and firemen. He played wise man and pillar for decades.
Phil Mendelson is no hero, but the city sure would be better off with him than with the shadow guy, as Bud knows.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
