Why I Think Mitch Landrieu Supporters Should Vote For James Perry Today
by dsb nola on February 6, 2010
Mitch Landrieu seems like a great guy, charismatic, knowledgeable, he can sing … there’s a lot to like about him. I don’t have anything against him. I’m not close to being one of those Landrieu haters. If my preferred candidate, James Perry, doesn’t make the runoff, I’ll support Landrieu and I won’t even whine about it.
But you still shouldn’t vote for Mitch Landrieu today.
Mitch has a good shot at breaking 50%, but if he doesn’t, imagine what the runoff would be like if, say, the #2 vote getter is John Georges? Do you believe that would be a productive exercise? Georges would go into full mudsling mode and there would be very little, if any, actual policy debate. How about a runoff with Troy Henry? Same thing but worse. It would be Landrieu-Nagin II, a racially divisive mess. It would be terrible for the city. Landrieu would probably beat both Georges and Henry, but again, the month of debate would be devoid of policy discussion and would only pump up distrust and cynicism.
But if Perry could somehow make the runoff? The city would be treated to a month of adult conversation about the future of New Orleans. In the candidate forum last month sponsored by Musicswingsvotes.org, Perry said he voted for Landrieu in the last election, in part because Nagin ran such a racially divisive campaign. Perry wouldn’t play it like Georges or Henry. The last thing he wants to do is toy with racial animosity, and he clearly respects Landrieu.
A Landrieu-Perry runoff would also press Landrieu to be more concrete regarding his vision for the city’s future. He would be obligated to move beyond happy talk about how he knows how to get things done, which may very well be true, but it would be better for the city if he would make more tangible policy commitments and better explain his priorities. It’s a conversation the city needs and a mayoral election is an ideal opportunity for it. Landrieu has been given mostly a free ride up to this point.
Granted, if Perry made the runoff his campaign could catch fire and he could beat Landrieu. Anything can happen in a runoff. But if Landrieu really does have a more compelling vision for our city’s future and the know-how to achieve it, then in a campaign sure to be celebrated for its civility and wonkishness, his ideas should be able to win the day, especially given his well established political base, and the city would be all the better for it.
