Wow! What a close mayoral race!

What a trip. With 89% of the vote counted, Brown has about an 8,000 vote lead but that will likely drop a bit. Looks like he will win but it could be within 5,000 votes out of over 300,000 total! GEEZ!!!

 

No. All it takes is one more vote than the other, but it looks like Brown will end up with around a 10,000 vote win.

 

I like Mayor Brown, but you are right, Rockets Fan, in that there is the perception out there that we didn't have a lot to choose from. I, personally, didn't feel that way, but the closeness of the election would seem to bear that out. This is true in all of politics, really. Look at the race for the president last year. There was a definite belief that voting for either wasn't necessarily a great choice.

IMO, this just underscores the need for a strong third party. Like I said, I like the Mayor. I think he's done a good job and is very underrated. However, in a municipal elections are non-partisan, we sure have experienced a great deal of partisan politics recently.

I just get the sense that the vast majority of Americans don't identify with either the Democrats or the Republicans. In addition, no other party has been able to sieze the opportunity to galvonize support.

Libertarians and Greens are too extreme in their views to really bring in enough votes to be legitimate. The Reform Party can't make up its mind on what it wants to be. The rest are really just splinter groups.

IMO, it is time for a strong candidate to come forward in a major national election and pull from both major parties voters who don't like the conservative agenda of the Republicans or the big spending buerocracy of Democrats.

A poll last election in Time (I believe) asked Americans how they identify themselves - liberal, conservative or moderate. It was fairly evenly split with moderate getting the edge. However, when asked if they considered themselves social liberal/conservative and fiscal liberal/conservative, the vast majority fell into the socially liberal, fiscally conservative category. How is it that someone hasn't managed to tap into that undeniable voter base?

 

RF: I understand. The mayor's biggest problem is that he sometimes is unable to articulate his message clearly and concisely. The city won national praise for our handling of Allison, the most devastating tropical storm on record in the US, but there were no shortage of problems as well. It is the nature of those types of situations.

So often, I found that people's perception of Mayor Brown and his tenure as mayor was different from what the reality is. There were, no doubt, problems with city government over the last 4 years, but there were also incredible triumphs. IMO, the good outweighed the bad.

As for the negative campaign, I agree with you. In all honesty, I was not a fan of that tactic because that's just not who I am. But, that was the decision of the campaign and it did work to some degree.

Ultimately, I honestly believe Brown was the better candidate. A lot of people disagreed with me and that is something Mayor Brown should keep in mind as he finishes out his term as mayor.

 

That was a very sad story. They should release the findings from the investigation of his death in a few weeks, but preliminary reports determined that there were plenty of firefighters on the scene - at least that is what I read in the Chronicle - but it is a really awful and sad story.

Honestly, I want the firefighters to get what they want as well, but this isn't a new struggle. The Police Officers Union had a bitter battle with the mayor over pay increases, staffings numbers and the like a few years ago. Unfortunately, it is part of the job when it comes to being mayor. City service employees want better working conditions and more money and that has to be balanced with all the other budget needs.

Bob Stein, the political professor and analyst from Rice University, said something I thought was really key to this race last night on channel 11 during election coverage. He said that the city budget is very difficult to balance and that Sanchez stating that he would cut the budget and still find room for significant budget increases for fire and public saftey was extremely unrealistic. Stein said that Sanchez would very likely be in the same fight with the firefighters were he in Mayor Brown's place.

Still, his death was terribly tragic.

 

This is an outstanding story about Mayor Brown and his communication difficulties.

<i>Several fumbles to a touchdown
John Williams - Houston Chronicle

It was an awkward moment after last Thursday's televised mayoral debate as Lee Brown stood at center stage.

To his right, Jack Rains and other supporters of challenger Orlando Sanchez were swarming their candidate, saluting him for a job well done. Had it been a football game, they might have carried their conquering hero from the field on their shoulders.

To many, it was evident that Brown's constant fumbling had cost him an important debate broadcast to more than 150,000 households just two days before what polling correctly predicted would be a close runoff race.

Sanchez had dodged questions and allegations like a nimble quarterback eluding blitzing linebackers, to carry the sports metaphor just a little longer.

Such evasions may turn off some wary voters. But Sanchez won the debate, if only because he spoke in complete sentences and carried out full thoughts.

Sanchez had the look of a winner.

Brown did not.

Brown stood at times solitary near the hubbub of the Sanchez celebration. One by one, supporters approached the mayor, then left.

Again, Brown was alone on a stage of activity.

A symbolic scene

For those who have watched Brown for four years in office, or during his tenure as Houston's police chief, the scene was symbolic of a man who rarely lets down his guard.

He lost the battle of words. But, undeterred, he won the election.

And such is the paradox facing Brown. He has two more years in office before term limits force him out. This is the time for legacy building, which takes communication skills.

Kathy Whitmire was the mayor who made City Hall more open and inclusive, who pulled Houston through the hard times of the oil bust.

Bob Lanier was the effective mayor who gave City Hall a can-do spirit.

Lee Brown? To date, he's known best as the city's first black mayor.

He has been more, however.

This is the mayor who got rail started after more than two decades of false starts.

This is a mayor who, with Lanier's help, got a convention center hotel deal done after more than 15 years of setbacks.

This is a mayor who has helped changed the paradigm on the way Houston views air quality. Business leaders now look for ways to clean the smog rather than complain that federal regulations are too strict.

This is a mayor who may attract the 2012 Summer Olympics to Houston after all.

This is a mayor who wants neighborhoods to build councils to forge their own futures.

Those are no small tasks.

Accomplishment and legacy

But legacies are built when people recognize accomplishments. And Brown has shown neither the communication nor people skills needed to get that message across. If he had, it is unlikely he would have had serious opposition this year despite high-profile problems with potholes, the budget and the Fire Department.

Brown is intensely private, almost shy. On Sunday, the day after his re-election, he shunned the cameras and stayed home with family.

Still, Brown has a warm and personal side that flashes occasionally. Those who know him see it when he strays from the script. In an African-American church or in a group setting where he is comfortable, when he can be himself, Brown offers a rare look at his personable side.

Those close to Brown say they have seen more such moments during the recent campaign. He's quicker to quip.

Such a moment happened Friday night before the election. During the city's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, as Santa Claus rappelled from the roof of City Hall, Brown grinned at the crowd and said what he wanted for Christmas: "Two more years."

Brown may not want to risk showing too much of his private self. He's a cop, after all, with a poker face.

And regardless of what happens, he's mayor for two more years. He might be content to retire after that on what he considers a job well done, not worrying about convincing others of the same.

But in the game of legacy-building, a little more communication would go a long way.</i>