Head And Shoulders Above The Rest

I think Mayor W.W. Herenton is a class act. I don't agree with everything he does, but overall he's a good Mayor. Some things he does are strictly political. But what do you expect from a politician? In spite of all the good things he's done in his tenure as Mayor. He still has to defend himself against jealous, uninformed and predjudice attitudes. Which aptly describes his opposition in the upcoming election. Each of these three candidates so far are all indicative of these traits.

The first to announce their run was Carol Chumney. I like having her on the city council. I think she provides a much needed balance. She obviously has higher political aspirations. You can't judge her effectiveness by her district. It is one that basically takes care of itself. The primary motivation behind her supporters is envy and jealousy. These people are smart enough to know the Mayor's record. Whether they like him or not. They must admit it's very impressive. It's kind of like the President and the Democratic congress. They don't agree with anything he proposes, but they don't offer an alternative. It's easy to sit back and make suggestions after the fact.

Then we have the former President of MLGW, Herman Morris. People must have forgotten about his former position. They were calling for his head back then. His base of support is the uninformed voters. They don't even acknowledge the fact that he hasn't even announced he's running yet. I think he's testing the waters for depth. Some people will vote for anybody except the Mayor. But they're not sold on the Carol Chumney idea either. We just don't know how many. Not everyone in his camp is clueless though. There will be some powerbrokers and those with influence. Some of his former employees at MLGW I bet. They'll be trying to beat the rush of the onslaught. That will come if by chance he wins. They're just putting their bids in up front. Looking for a payday later.

The latest person to enter the race is county commissioner John Willingham. He has prior experience with losing campaigns. This isn't the first time he has ran against Mayor Herenton. I don't expect the results to be any different than before. He has two things working against him from the start. He is a card carrying White Republican. In the city of Memphis that's almost like shooting yourself in the foot. In a city that's sixty percent Democratic and Black. That doesn't leave much room for the opposite of both. On top of that, he doesn't even have the support of the Republican party. He can't even count on them. Voting for him essentially adds up to wasting your vote. When the smoke clears he won't even be in the running. His basis of support are the prejudice ones. They won't vote for Herenton primarily because he's Black. They won't vote for Carol Chumney because she's a woman. I'm sure there will be others throwing their hats in the race. Some of the votes will be siphoned off that way.

In my opinion they all will be competing for a piece of the same forty -five thousand votes that signed the recall. Neither one of them are going to get all those votes. That pie will be divided among them. In addition to what is pulled from that pool, coupled with what they can get individually. I don't think any of them will be able to mount a serious challenge. If nothing changes dramatically or unexpected. Unless he's caught in bed with a live animal, or a dead human. He's head and shoulders above the rest.