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Dead Sites and Sudden Surprises - Mayoral Site Check 9
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3160 Reads
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 I began this post as a bored little rundown on the latest non-happenings in the airless mediasphere of the '05 Los Angeles mayor's race. Then, in the course of banging it out, I stumbled upon a couple of surprises. Read on ...
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Maybe I'm expecting too much too early, but if the PR leg of the L.A. mayoral race were judged the way we judge national presidential candidates' messages, this entire campaign - with a few exceptions - would be written off today as dead in the water. At the rate we're going, nobody seems to care enough about beating Jim Hahn, and even Hahn won't be re-elected because of a lack of interest on his part.
Truly, these are the dog days - no, the garden slug days of the campaign, the August lull that threatens never to end.
None of the candidates has done a damn thing in the past eight weeks to distinguish himself from the rest, or from the incumbent. (Any candidates who disagree with this statement are cordially invited to do so in the Comments section below - if I'm not disturbing your naps, that is.)
Sure, election night is still more than six months away, but you'd think nobody really wants to lead Los Angeles toward a prosperous future but Eli Broad. And he's not even running (yet).
As usual, I'm hyperbolizing (and probably hyperventilating) but consider:
Bob Hertzberg has made a few appearances at public forums, launched a blog he tends to on a semi-infrequent basis, and put out a call soliciting good ideas on how to run the city. No statements yet on which of these and which of his own he believes we should elect him to enact beyond a feel-good plan to encourage businesses to pay their taxes. He's been conciliatory toward his primary rival (no real harm in that, but *yawn*), and generally open to suggestion, but short on declarations of intent and direction beyond a general belief in improving Los Angeles. He dinged Hahn once but has not done much along those lines since then.
Jim Hahn 's busy making nice with investigators probing corruption at City Hall. He put off his campaign launch a few days back, and finally kicked it off a week later without a trace of irony at Schwab's, where young starlets once went to be discovered. Meanwhile, he's knocked out a few "public-good" actions that will mean nothing in the grand scheme of this city's growth. His campaign message to date is like his web site (and his first term): light's on, but nobody's home. The light just happens to be a 25-watt appliance bulb. And for what it's worth, east L.A. would rather back <A href="http://www.lavoice.org/article225.html"">anybody but him.
Walter Moore is distinguishing himself as the only Republican candidate in a heavily Democratic city by hitting hard on such core LA-GOP issues as tighter immigration control, more cops and ... better treatment for pets?
But aside from a handful of radio and women's club appearances, he isn't exactly sticking out yet as a contender.
Antonio Villaraigosa, after a much-storied launch promptly let his campaign fall asleep. He never made a single entry in his campaign blog, which now delivers a 404 page. And he got more ink for appearing at the Democratic National Convention than for any ideology or ideals that he has brought to this race. This was the powerhouse who almost beat Hahn three and a half years ago?
And Richard Alarcon has been generally quiet after launching his flashy web site and AlaBLOG, which he then marooned back in July. He's been lying low amid rumors that he might rather have Laura Chick's job
But ... whoa - Looks like Bernie Parks got himself a new web master and has pulled together something looking like a campaign schedule. He's even posted something resembling a mission statement: Bernard Parks understands that the families of Los Angeles need a leader who works for our neighborhoods, not just for campaign contributors. That’s why Bernard Parks will work every day to make sure City Hall pays attention to the basics: good jobs, great schools, affordable healthcare and safer neighborhoods. I'd be curious to know what power, if any, the Mayor of Los Angeles has over the affordability of health care, but jobs, schools and safety are - if not easy campaign platitudes - at least bread-and-butter issues that deserve some attention.
And - I'd missed this until now - but Parks links to an August 2 poll summary that has Parks and Villaraigosa tied for second to beat Hahn.
Is it substance? Action? A statement of goals and values for L.A.'s next four years?
No. It's just a rebuilt web site. But at least it looks like he's starting to care about the race.
Somebody gimme a coffee, a can of Red Bull, a poke with an electric cattle prod, I'mxzzzzzzzzzzzz ...
Past Mayoral Site Checks:
I See Web People - the Ghosts of JimHahn.org
JimHahn.org - It's ALIIIVE! - Mayoral Site Check 7
Villaraigosa's in the Fight - New Campaign Site Launched
Alarcon Splashes In - Mayoral Site Check 5
Mayoral Doldrums - Slow Going - Site Check 4
Mayoral Site Check - Episode 3 - Villaraigosa.com TAKEN
Mayoral Site Check - Episode 2
MayorVillaraigosa.com for Sale - CHEAP
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| Posted by: mack_reed on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 12:07 AM
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