The Progressive Party Foul

You’re standing in a room filled with friends, neighbors, and people you’ve never met.  It’s a party.  You’re having a great time when suddenly, having had a few too many, you stagger into a table full of food sending everyone’s favorite dips and spreads into the air and all over the nearby couch.  You walked into the room with the best of intentions, but as the party winds to a close for you it’s clear that you’ll only be remembered for your epic party foul.

The mayoral election is in full swing with early voting already taking place.  Several of my pals have cast their collective lot with Audrey Moran.  Moran’s interesting mix of support from Avondale liberals and Times-Union editorialists makes this a lively race.  Her candidacy has been impressive by drawing endorsements from Equality Florida, a gay-lesbian organization, and the Chamber of Commerce, a conservative stalwart.  What I have seen thus far is a well-intentioned and well run campaign that may prove surprising to Mike Hogan and Rick Mullaney come election night.

The party foul in this year’s election cycle rests solely with the campaign of Alvin Brown, the Democratic candidate for mayor with the most powerful partisan voices in the United States squarely in his corner.  Former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz among others have made visits to Jacksonville, raising thousands of dollars but doing little to stir the interest of Democratic and moderate independent voters. 

Rather than recognize the potential of groups such as gays and lesbians with deep pockets and a strong voting record he’s played it safe, concentrating on the predominately African-American Northside base.  Deep into the election cycle one has to wonder if this isn’t less about being mayor of a city and more about displacing Tony Hill as heir apparent to Congresswoman Corrine Brown, should she ever decide she’s tired of being in Washington. 

From what I’ve seen and read of Brown I feel that he has access to the kind of resources and power players to lift our urban core and its failing schools from their ever deepening decline.  Unfortunately, the candidate’s lackluster campaign has done a poor job of outlining a clear plan for Jacksonville’s future, a plan that in the personality vacuum of this year’s mayoral field would have been a definite plus.  It’s that lack of articulated vision that allowed a Republican to steal this season’s progressive thunder though not this Democrat's vote. 

In the end, Alvin Brown is the guy that meant well but wound up creating the greatest party foul this season, that of squandered opportunity.