It is a shame that the Washington City Paper, led by Loose Lips (3/30), has decided to declare Donna Brazile the next at-large councilmember for the city. But this has been the practice in the past. I remember an unknown guy named Anthony Williams getting crowned mayor of this city in these same pages a few years ago, before anyone debated any of the real issues or figured out exactly who this guy was. This time, LL is trying to effectively dump one of the city’s more hardworking councilmembers (Phil Mendelson) without as much as a primary in favor of Brazile, a former higher-up in the failed Al Gore presidential run.

Of course, Brazile’s management of Al Gore’s historic loss to a guy named George W. Bush is especially perplexing if you remember that now-President Bush was not a very strong candidate. He was a ceremonial governor from the state of Texas who had no power, no experience, a poor management record in business, and an awful political record on almost every important issue (environment, education, health care, etc.)—but who faced a sitting vice president who ran one of the worst campaigns by a candidate in the modern era. Guess who was basically running that insanity of a campaign? Donna Brazile.

Whether Brazile runs or not is not the point. I couldn’t care less, but LL should just let this one unfold like any other election and stop basically declaring individuals who have not even announced that they are running the winners before the campaign even starts. LL should also leave the racial component out of this election, because all indications seem to strongly suggest that most people barely notice the racial makeup of the council, despite the fact that it’s “predominantly white.” People do notice if ambulances are lost, if rats are in their yards, if schools open late, or if lines at the DMV don’t move along quickly.

Endorse whom you want when the election campaign begins for this office, but as for these coronation balls the City Paper likes to hold every so often, enough already.

Riggs Park