Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

Okay…24 hours to go, well, 22 really, but 22 is just doesn’t have the same implications.

The papers have a “news blackout” on the city council races this soon before an election. Which leads me to wonder what their excuse has been for the last week or so. Heaven forbid that they give voters more information before they go to the polls. I mean, that would be unfair to the Republicans, right?

I suppose if a candidate did something particularly egregious this close to election day, like I don’t know, have her lawyer threaten to sue an opponent and her volunteers, that the papers would be more than happy to cover such a thing.

I realized that it has been a while since I put a picture of Karin Uhlich up on this site. I went ahead and did that. So soon before the election, I gotta be positive and all. But negative is so much fun, and Fred and Kathleen have made it sooo easy.

Here are a couple of positive things: The Democrats are up on returned mail-in ballots by about 3000. They have people on the streets almost constantly, as well as a phone banking operation that runs for about ten hours a day. In 2003, these things were also done, but the campaign wasn’t as well organized, and Mayor Bob Walkup could count on Democratic crossover that just doesn’t seem to be happening here to the same extent. I also don’t recall the Democratic lead on mail-in ballots to be nearly as large as it is now.

The Republicans, on the other hand, have been anemic. They have a scant three phones, which they have trouble staffing, and did no walking on Sunday. This may be poor organization, or the current messes with the Bush administration may be demoralizing their base. There has also been only a peep here and there from the “independent” campaign, not nearly the carpet bombing that defeated Tom Volgy and almost took out José Ibarra in the last election.

Dunbar had a last minute “hit piece” against Uhlich. The piece was poorly put together, and included an allegation that Uhlich “lived in a cooperative arrangement with five other women” for a few years. This must mean that Dunbar and the Republicans are against sororities now.

I have heard that Uhlich has a slight lead against Dunbar, but the race is still very close. If you want a good indicator, watch the first returns, which are mail-in ballots. If Uhlich can get a lead on those first ballots that is comparable to the Democratic lead on mail-ins, it means that Dunbar won’t get the crossover that she needs to carry the day.

CORRECTION (Sort of): It was pointed out to me that Dunbar hasn’t only threatened to sue, but went ahead and filed suit. The suit was filed, but the defendants were not served, which leads me to believe that her attorney isn’t serious, and that this is just an idle threat. We’ll see what happens with this on Wednesday.