The Kid Passes

The Kid left City Hall twenty years ago, after an ill-fated run for Governor against the Big Bully. He now belongs to a previous generation of pols, only really remembered by the older people in the political game. For the rest, he's just another oil painting, up there on the walls with Mayors Gainor, Reynolds and Doyle.

He has been pondering a comeback for months. He tried eight years ago. Made a good start too, but the campaign foundered badly when he assumed there was a lot of nostalgia out there for his time in office. Just wasn't there. Some ill-considered remarks he made about our burgeoning Hispanic community also hurt him badly.

He announced yesterday that he would not be a candidate for mayor this year. Part of me is relieved. The very real part of me that likes him and was proud to serve under him, the other guy who was mayor during the last quarter of the last century, hated the thought of another defeat. Speaking as a political operative, it was difficult to see where his base of support was.

Part of me was sad though. As a longtime resident of this city I am dismayed by our incumbent mayor. He seems tired of the job. It looks like he's running again only because a series of City Hsll scandals, including a very visible one involving his brother, sank his campaign for governor before it ever started.

It looks like our mayor is going to be reelected by default. The only declared candidate is a local crackpot. Another possible candidate is the underfunded City Council President, who is also an ex-mayor by virtue of having inherited the last few months of The Facist Beast's last term. That was when TFB resigned the office a second time, to begin servng his federal prison sentence.

The Kid is a major property owner in the city (a very sore point when he was mayor). He said in the end he couldn't run for mayor and attend to his business. So he took a pass. Good for him. I can't argue with his decision, which was accompanied by a well thought out critique of the direction of the city.

Too bad. For once, the past might have been our way to the future. Not this year.