Dawnsinger

APRIL 22 - Today's historic municipal election in New Orleans was another storm battering the weary residents of New Orleans.  Unfortunately it appears that storm will continue for another month, as incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin and well-heeled challenger Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu battle it out in a runoff.

 The fact is, New Orleanians had little clear choice in the election.  Not one of the 23 candidates stood out - at least in a good way - as THE person to lead the city out of a historic crisis.  Some of the candidates were clear nut-cases.  Others had a snowball's chance.  And each of the three front-runners brought in baggage and made a weak case for their election. 

Nagin ran with his foot in his mouth, carrying the baggage of numerous questionable decisions, and questionable leadership before, during and after the storm.  (By virtue of his flamboyant gaffes, in fact, he should be mayor . . . it's so New Orleans!) 

On the other hand, it's tough to make any case that either of his leading opponents would have done any better . . . or would do any better if elected. Mitch Landrieu is by all accounts a great lieutenant governor. 

 However, Kathleen Blanco also was a great lieutenant governor.  It's a job for an efficient bureaucrat and smoother-of-the-waters.  It does not, however, test leadership, a fact that was plainly demonstrated before, during and after the storm as Gov. Blanco foundered.  Landrieu's other virtue is his family roots.

Ron Forman - the candidate endorsed by the Times-Picayune - is a favorite among the Rex crowd.  His contributions to New Orleans as chairman of the Audubon Society - the salvaging and renewal of the Audubon Zoo into a world-class establishment, as well as the creation of the jewel Aquarium of the Americas - are noteworthy.   He knows how to raise money, and he knows how to spend it wisely.  Critics note that he is extremely well-paid for this "nonprofit" work.  And he has been savaged for the decimation of the aquarium during Hurricane Katrina.  Among animal-rights activists, this was a worse crime than the loss of human life in the hurricane.

So with little concrete to set candidates apart, voters are much more likely to judge on other factors - party affiliation, personal charisma . . . and especially race.

Hence the storm from outside, in which activists count any criticism of Ray Nagin, or any support for his opponents as racially motivated.   This is especially ironic, as Nagin was not the choice of the majority of African-Americans in his last election.  And as recently as Martin Luther King Day, he received criticism from many African-Americans, because he was seen by some as having been installed by whites.  His "Chocolate City" comments drew criticism not only from offended whites, but also from many local blacks, who saw him as a "poser."

MAY 3 UPDATE - Less than three weeks now until Mayor Ray Nagin faces Lt. Gov. Mitch Landriew in a runoff for the New Orleans mayor's office.  The runoff campaign so far has been low-key, after the failure of Uptown favorite Ron Forman to make the cut.  Both Nagin and Landrieu enjoy support from sectors of the African-American community.  Forman has endorsed Landrieu, which may give the lieutenant governor some cachet of being the "white" candidate.  Which might not be a good thing.  Nagin, meanwhile, has just fronted the 2006 City Evacuation Plan, which among other things, makes him look "mayoral."  (And the plan appears to be a significant step in the right direction).  And the mayor took the chance to indirectly jab Landrieu from the podium on Tuesday, and to hammer home his main campaign point: that the community can't afford a new mayor getting on-the-job training at the beginning of hurricane season, which starts roughly a week after the vote.  In response to a reporter's question about the portability of the plan to a new mayor, assuming Nagin loses, the mayor retorted that he would pass along all the information to his successor, but that "it would take Einstein" for a new mayor to carry it out. Indeed.  Well, no Einsteins in this race, to be honest.

  Listen to Nagin's press conference on the 2006 hurricane evacuation plan.