Funny times down south in my former mostly sorta hometown. So there’s a mayoral race on — I’ve paid no attention to it myself — but Thursday night something kinda strange happened:
Before yesterday, long-shot mayoral candidate Eric Bidwell was known around town, if he was known at all, for his dreadlocks, his T-shirt art and his habit of drawing laughs at debates that would be duller without him.
Now he’s known for blowing the whistle on the shenanigans that made Mayor Jerry Sanders’ campaign manager, Michael McSweeney, resign.
Bidwell, 26, held up a piece of paper toward the end of Thursday night’s televised debate and said, “Lastly, I’d like to address something that is pretty gnarly, which is this monologue that was actually written by the mayor’s campaign manager and handed to me this evening bashing Steve Francis.”
And is this on YouTube? You betcha!
As the article later states:
In an interview, McSweeney said “nobody else knew about” the prepared remarks he gave Bidwell or the earlier meeting. He characterized that as a “cup of coffee” before acknowledging it occurred at the campaign office and lasted between 60 and 90 minutes.
McSweeney said giving Bidwell ideas was “an incredibly boneheaded decision” but added, “I thought it was his time to be on TV and it would help him out.”
Pressed, he acknowledged, “I’m sure that there would be some residual benefit to us as well.”
This, of course, is why third parties should be allowed for presidential debates. Imagine the joy!
Ned Raggett Ponders It All 