I once read William Carlos Williams’ The Red Wheelbarrow over and over in an English interpretation class for three hours deciphering the deeper meaning of an 8-line poem. That pales to my enchantment with this San Diego Union-Tribune editorial on the San Diego mayoral race.
First, it begins with a self-aware candidate assessment: “The early conventional wisdom about the race for mayor of San Diego goes something like this: Nathan Fletcher is the fresh young face; Carl DeMaio is the hardline fiscal reformer; Bob Filner is the unabashed liberal; and Bonnie Dumanis is the moderate favorite of ‘the establishment.’ ”
Let me boil those basic descriptors down a bit further: Fletcher’s too young, Carl’s too tough, Filner’s too soft and Bonnie’s juuuuust right (for some).
It’s like the “Four Little Bears” of political analysis, with voters playing the witless Goldilocks who should have faced charges of breaking and entering.
Then, after it tells you where they pigeon hole the candidates, it argues against thinking for oneself: “As this campaign begins in earnest – Labor Day being the traditional start of political campaigns – we urge voters to essentially ignore the early political handicapping and to view the candidates with fresh eyes and an open mind.”
Whoa. That just blew my mind.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, Toto. And be sure to set up Google calendar reminder on 9/1/11 to start paying attention to the San Diego mayor race.
Speaking of attention spans (squirrel!), I just read a study that the new, cool campaign toy will be iPhone and iPad apps because more than 25 percent of Smart Phone users get online via their phones. Heck, Obama 2012 has an app for that. And yes, I downloaded it and yes… (mumbling) it is pretty cool.
We’re information junkies. Hence the rise of social media and the growing credibility of blogs. I’ve seen no evidence that anyone in San Diego who wishes to pay attention to this race has missed a trick due to some arbitrary starting point. It “started” last year.
But they do make one interesting point. What does all this so-called “early political handicapping” mean long-term?
The UT opines based on its editorial board with each candidate: “These interviews show each to be bright, experienced and knowledgeable. Each offers strengths and weaknesses that stem from compelling life stories.”
Or as my grandma would say: Bless their little hearts.
To be fair, the title of the piece was “The race for mayor of San Diego” and not “Picking our favorite child.” So, it’s cool.
It’s a shame the UT didn’t take a stab at more substance because there is much to discuss about these top-tier candidates. Most recently, we’ve seen the DeMaio campaign switch gears to focus solely on the Comprehensive Pension Reform initiative and Dumanis flip-flop on her early opposition to the measure. Those two moves alone tells signals that CPR measure polls very well among likely mayoral voters.
In a recent debate with a friend over the strategies at play, he asked a very fair question: “Are any of the candidates acting particularly mayoral?”
I think William Carlos Williams said it best:
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
– Follow me @erica_holloway.