June 1, 2005
Yo, Adrian!
Unlike many other mornings recently, I had a reason to get up early. As Dceiver has noted, I was invited to witness the day’s big non-event: shiny-headed mullah Adrian Fenty's announcement that he will, really, for sure, run for mayor.
Fenty earned the top spot on the Loathsome List for his zealous work garnering attention for himself on beside-the-point social issues like the sale of large malt liquor bottles in his ward and the sale of violent video games in the District. A hunger for publicity and a lack of recognition that this particular jurisdiction is both geographically small and has easy access to areas that don't have a problem collecting sales tax revenue on Grand Theft Auto.
The plan was to get Jeff to take a photo of me presenting Fenty with a 40 oz., an ironic comment on his legislative history and an opportunity to see how he reacts to unexpected and potentially embarrassing situations. But as we went from store to store on Mt. Pleasant St., we couldn't find anything over 24 oz. Although we were a few blocks south of the ward boundary, our juvenile prank had been foiled. Empty-handed, we walked to Chez Fenty a little early.
But first, who is that? Why, it's the fifth most loathsome Washingtonian, gadfly and former SOB of the Week Adam Eidinger. Since he’s not going to make the society pages in DC Style, I’ll grab a photo to add to my list.
Yep, he brought his kid. Not because he's more likely to get attention holding a cute little baby, but because he’s just a regular guy. The former Shadow Representative candidate puts his pants on one leg at a time and buys his glasses at the estate sale of a deceased Chicago Cubs announcer, just like we all do.
Then, the big event. After a few false starts of "Run, Fenty, Run!" and simply "Fenty!" the Fenty family and assorted advisers gathered on the steps of his Mt. Pleasant boyhood home to support a decision that was probably first announced at the family dinner table around 1985.
But having a longstanding dream isn’t necessarily a bad thing, all gentle ribbing aside. However, it would seem more sincere if two things had been different. First, when he said "today, I have decided," audible chuckling rose from the small crowd ("about 100 supporters" my elbow, WaPo!). Be honest about your decision. Second, if you're going to announce your campaign 17 months before the election, have some reason to run. Ticking off a list of normative issues (crime, affordable housing, schools) that everyone agrees would be nice if they improved, he stayed away from anything approaching originality. Government waste? Fenty’s against it. The homeless? Fenty wants to help them. Ummm, somehow. That won’t keep anyone's attention for the duration of this campaign.
After a brief and uninformative question and answer session, I piled in to the crowd for my handshake and another picture for my collection. I looked him in the eye and shook his hand (lanky, not sweaty), but someone’s head obstructed my photog’s view. Plan B (devised on the spot) involved simply getting in the frame with the candidate. Mission accomplished.
Posted by rj3 at June 1, 2005 6:06 PM
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Comments
The first thing I'm going to do when I get my grubby little paws on you is dispatch you to the barbershop, post-haste! Hippie.
Posted by: b. at June 2, 2005 12:25 PM
OH.... the neighborhood.
Posted by: chris at June 2, 2005 12:27 PM