Government

All politics is local in the most political city in America.

Key topics in this category:

RECENT POSTS

September 10, 2010 | 12:15 PM | By

Nancy King Denies Darker “Direction” to WaPo

In a Washington Post article about the challenges of being a Muslim candidate for office right now (fasting for Ramadan on a campaign schedule? Difficult.), we find an update to the Saqib Ali/Nancy King story we blogged about this week.  On the question of whether her campaign materials used an image of her opponent, State Delegate Saqib Ali, which had been altered to make his complexion darker, Maryland State Senator Nancy King elaborated on the denial her campaign provided to us on Wednesday:

…there was “absolutely no offense meant by it.”

“I’m not sure what happened with it. It could have been an error in our proofing. It could have been a printing error,” King said. “He infers that I did that to make his skin look dark. That’s not what this campaign has been about from the get-go. We live in a very diverse district and we don’t even need to go in that direction.”

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Elections, Campaigns, Maryland
September 8, 2010 | 6:18 PM | By

On that poll we did with the City Paper…

j_mills

Believe it or not, this is graffiti in Atlanta.

WAMU 88.5′s The Kojo Nnamdi Show and The City Paper collaborated on a poll of registered voters, asking them about the obvious (Mayoral candidates) and the not-so-obvious (“Mayor For Life” Marion Barry).

While a lot of the Twitterati are focusing on Vince Gray’s 50-39 lead over Adrian Fenty, I’d like to highlight this, from the WCP:

One question looked at yet another polarizing figure in D.C. politics: former Mayor Marion Barry, now a Ward 8 councilmember.

  • 20 percent said Barry “should be respected as ‘Mayor for Life’ and celebrated as a civil rights hero.”
  • 36 percent said Barry “should remain in politics as long as he likes and is re-elected.”
  • 32 percent said Barry “should retire gracefully and go away from public life.”
  • 7 percent said Barry “should still be in jail.”
  • 5 percent weren’t sure what they thought of him.

    • Continue reading →

    FILED UNDER: Elections, Government, 2010 Elections, City Paper, Marion Barry
    September 8, 2010 | 5:45 PM | By

    Saqib Ali: “It’s plain for anyone to see.”

    This afternoon, I wrote about a piece of campaign literature from Maryland State Senator Nancy King, which featured a picture of King’s opponent, State Delegate Saqib Ali sporting a noticeably darker complexion. I wondered if the picture had been photoshopped, but the King campaign denied editing the image in any way.

    I called Ali to tell him about his opponent’s denial. This was his response:

    It’s plain for anyone to see, if you put them next to each other. It’s very obvious. I don’t know why they did it, it doesn’t make sense. I wouldn’t expect this kind of behavior from any Montgomery County Democrat. I think she owes everyone a real explanation, not just an evasion. Voters should wonder why they are doctoring photos in this way and why she won’t come clean.

    FILED UNDER: Elections, Campaigns, Maryland, Politics
    September 8, 2010 | 4:20 PM | By

    King Campaign Denies Darkening Ali

    The questionable image I asked about...

    Earlier today, I wrote about a piece of campaign literature currently circulating in Maryland from State Senator Nancy King, featuring what looks like a photoshopped picture of her opponent, State Delegate Saqib Ali. In it, Ali’s skin looks visibly darker. I contacted the King campaign to ask about it and this is what they had to say:

    First off, at no time, in any way whatsoever, did we, or would we, alter photos or attempt to insinuate anything about Delegate Saqib Ali other than the verified facts we have consistently laid out through this campaign — the fact that he fell asleep and missed a crucial vote on education funding, and the fact that he broke his promise to reject special interest funding and then accepted $50,000 in corporate and PAC money.

    That’s interesting, and I’m grateful they took the time to respond, but if they didn’t alter photos, then why does the picture of Ali look like it’s a recolored, mirror-image of the other photograph in the mailer? Curiouser and curiouser…

    FILED UNDER: Elections, Campaigns, Maryland, Politics
    September 8, 2010 | 1:51 PM | By

    The Color of Campaigns

    I spy, with my brown eye…some photoshopping.

    UPDATE: We reached out to both campaigns for their reactions. Here is a statement from the King campaign and here’s a response from Saqib Ali.

    .

    We’re in the thick of campaign season and while I tend to focus on the Mayoral race or candidates with confusing names here in the District, last night I saw something eye-catching from Maryland, where State Delegate Saqib Ali is challenging State Senator Nancy King to represent the 39th district.

    What you see to the right is a mailer that King sent out to potential voters about Ali. I saw it and had flashbacks to O.J. Simpson’s infamous mug shot, on the cover of Time magazine. I thought of that moment in magazine history because of the striking change in Ali’s complexion. Now, it is entirely possible that in four years, Saqib Ali got some sun. Also possible? That whoever designed this flier used the same photograph, but flipped it directionally, recolored the suit…and Saqib’s face. There’s only one way to find out– I just reached out to the King campaign for comment. Continue reading →

    FILED UNDER: Elections, Campaigns, Maryland, Politics
    September 8, 2010 | 9:57 AM | By

    Public School Menus Now Online

    What's for Lunch, on the first.

    D.C. public school menus are available for download here.

    At first, I thought this was nifty; then I realized that there are a lot of people who may not be able to access such useful information. I am not sure that my Mother would know how to wrangle PDF files; I am sure that there are other Parents or caretakers who lack robust internet access at home and machines with which to use it.

    I don’t know that Smartphones would be well-suited for this purpose, either: Continue reading →

    FILED UNDER: Education, Digital Divide, Schools
    September 7, 2010 | 12:46 PM | By

    Vince Gray’s Fans who were Formerly Fenty’s

    Have you seen “Formerly Fenty“? It’s an offshoot of Vince Gray’s campaign site featuring voters who were once fans of our current Mayor. Most interesting/potentially damning? The videos from two ex-Fenty staffers, who describe their issues with their erstwhile boss. Here’s his quondam Deputy Chief of Staff, Neil Richardson:

    Continue reading →

    FILED UNDER: Elections, 2010 Elections, Campaigns, Fenty, Politics, Vince Gray
    September 2, 2010 | 10:41 AM | By

    Mary Cheh Endorses Vince Gray

    KC Ivey

    Vince Gray at Busboys and Poets, last year.

    On TBD’s “NewsTalk“, Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh just endorsed Vince Gray for Mayor.

    I haven’t taken a formal position on the Mayor’s race, but I’ve been asked by many many people how I’m going to vote and I can tell you I did vote yesterday– I voted for myself– but I voted for Vince Gray.

    And I’m going to support Vince Gray and I hope the residents of my ward and around the district also support Vince Gray because I think having worked with him over the past four years, shoulder-to-shoulder, I have become an admirer and I was someone who came skeptically to him because I supported his opponent when he ran for chair. But he’s a man of integrity, he’s thoughtful he’s intelligent and he’ll be a leader, the kind of leader that we need now.

    Continue reading →

    FILED UNDER: Elections, 2010 Elections, Vince Gray
    September 1, 2010 | 6:30 PM | By

    Vincent Gray Calls out WaPo (sort of)

    biblicone

    Did you know the Post has its own zip code?

    Look what I missed, while I was running around looking for my “Reporting for Dummies” book; after today’s debate at the Newseum, the City Paper’s Loose Lips got mischievous.

    When Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli went over to Gray after the debate to introduce himself, LL couldn’t help but try and stir the pot, asking Gray what he thought of the Post’s editorial page. Which, in case you didn’t know, is very pro-Fenty. (And, also in case you didn’t know, a part of the paper Brauchli has nothing to do with.)

    Continue reading →

    FILED UNDER: Elections, Media, 2010 Elections, City Paper, Vince Gray
    September 1, 2010 | 2:01 PM | By

    Mayor Wars: Fenty Strikes Back

    Depending on what sticker one was wearing, half of a crowd would cheer wildly as people exited the Newseum.

    Mayoral challenger and current Council Chairman Vincent Gray put Mayor Adrian Fenty on the defensive at the Big Debate which just occurred at the Newseum; yes, I know it ended an hour ago. But I promise, you’ll appreciate my inability to update this space in SUPER-FAST fashion when you read the last paragraph! No, really, lower your expectations right now, please. I’m not DCist or the Washington Post (one of the sponsors of this Big Deal, along with WRC-4 and my wonderful, supportive, delightful employer: WAMU). I’m just a blogger who was chosen to write about a city I love. So that’s what I’ll do.

    Here’s what I found memorable: Continue reading →

    FILED UNDER: Elections, 2010 Elections, Campaigns, Fenty, Politics, Vince Gray