Stump the Stars
In the first big mayoral debate months ago, mayoral frontrunner Adrian M. Fenty couldn't name the three bond-rating agencies -- a faux pas that pegged him as being too ignorant to run a big-time city like the District.
Today (Sept. 8), the second-term Ward 4 council member didn't know who Steve Chabot is.
Who?
Steve Chabot is a Republican congressman out of Ohio who's on the judiciary committee, which is holding a meeting next Thursday about D.C. voting rights -- a favorite subject of radio host Mark Plotkin.
Fenty could only say, "I don't know," when Plotkin asked him who Chabot was during a debate at George Washington University that was aired live on Washington Post Radio.
Later, Fenty said, "We can play gotcha questions all day...I could do the same thing to you."
"No, you couldn't," Plotkin said.
Fenty asked him about the dividing line between Southeast and Southwest.
Plotkin's response: "I'm not a cab driver."
Plotkin asked stumper questions of each of the mayoral candidates.
For Marie Johns. who is John Boehner? Johns said she didn't know. Boehner (R-Ohio) is House Majority Leader.
For Linda Cropp, who is John Conyers? She knew--Democrat from Michigan, ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee.
For Vincent Orange, who is Nancy Pelosi? He more or less knew. He said she is House minority whip, but she is actually the Democratic House minority leader, from California.
--Nikita Stewart
By Peter Eisner |
September 8, 2006; 3:12 PM ET
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Posted by: SonyaSK | September 8, 2006 06:05 PM
Thank goodness that most current DC mayoral candidates are not on the same Congressional politics hobbyhorse as Mark Plotkin.
All D.C. mayors should make it a standing plank in their platforms that they favor full Congressional representation for DC residents.
But really, what has DC government's obsession with demanding respect from (and ultimately in return giving respect to) Congress gotten any of its residents?
Posted by: mckeea | September 8, 2006 09:03 PM
This reminds me of when George W. Bush didn't know the name of the President of Pakistan when he was first running for President. It show intellectual lazyness and didn't bode well for his administration. Fenty reminds me a lot of George W. Bush and I really do hpe -- if elected -- that he'll be a better mayor than Bush is a president and that DC will be able to survive four years under his stewardship. I hope I'm proven wrong but he just doesn't seem up for the job or to have the experience or judgement to make the kinds of tough decisions a mayor needs to make.
I think it's crazy that more people don't support Linda Cropp as mayor. People who vote for Fenty and not for Cropp this coming Tuesday are voting against their self interest and the good of the greater city.
Posted by: stpinkus | September 9, 2006 07:43 AM
OR, a vote for Linda Cropp means a vote or the past: substandard schools, mediocre services, same old DC government players. Contrast Fenty, who promises to make bold changes to improve our schools, implement community policing with high neighborhood presence, and raise the profile of DC to it's appropriate standing as a world class city.
Posted by: SonyaSK | September 11, 2006 03:46 PM
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Plotkin asked Cropp who John Conyers is? The dean of the Congressional Black Caucus and the second longest serving member of Congress? (elected 1964). Talk about a softball!
Seriously, I worked on the hill years ago -- so I'm into it -- and I couldn't tell you who Steve Chabot is. Plotkin's a hoot.