14 September 2005

Mallory & Pepper tie, Reece Gets Faced

With a difference of only 0.5% between them, Mallory and Pepper tied for a primary win.

More interesting is the 3rd place finish, which went to Winburn and not Reece. Reece's repeated problems maintaining integrity (or perhaps having it in the first place) are surely the reason for what is essentially a last-place finish.

Reece and Winburn together pulled in 36% of the vote. It's safe to say that most of those votes will go to Mallory in the election, which is good for him. But Pepper will get the Republican and moderate Democrat vote, so it's hard to predict which way the election will go.

The likelihood of a person going out and voting correlates with income level. Wealthier people are more likely to vote. So Pepper is more certain to get his votes than Mallory is to get his from his traditional constituency, at least according to statistical probability.

The key factor may be how well Mallory can motivate his constituency to go to the polls. If he can get out the numbers, his chances are good. If too many stay home, it favors Pepper.

And what will become of Reece? The Reece ego is indefatigable, so it is unlikely that she and dad will ever make an honest assessment of their fitness for public office. The Post says she may consider running for Mallory's vacated Senate seat.

And what about Jeffre? He was mocked and scoffed at, but the fact is that Jeffre knows what he's talking about and has outstanding ideas that deserve to be considered. But a person with no demonstrated leadership experience of any kind cannot run for mayor of a major city.

Jeffre has much to offer this city; he should stay involved and work with organizations like the Green Party (which endorsed him) and Cincinnati Advance to make a difference. Jeffre simply will not be taken seriously until he proves that he can lead and manage, regardless of how good his ideas are.

2 comments:

Andrew Warner said...

I like your Jeffre comments. It is good to see some positive words coming from a Democrat.

You talk about his lack of experience though. What is good experience? Pepper touts his council as very bad and wants a promotion... I think someone else said that.

Anyway. I think I do get your point. I hope he stays involved in the community.

WestEnder said...

Experience does not have to be gained from only holding office, which is why I mentioned working with the Greens and young professionals. I think Jeffre would be wise to focus on 2-3 key local issues and work to make them mainstream concerns. Indy media and environment, for example.

Then he should run for council, not mayor. And he should consider the fact that he does not HAVE to be in office to effect change. Nobody in 3CDC is an office holder, and it I asked the next 100 people I see to name even one person in 3CDC, I doubt they'd be able to. And yet 3CDC exerts great influence.

By the way, I am not a Democrat (or member of any party).