As you know (and thanks for not raining ignominy down on me) my postmortem of the mayor’s race was slightly off — not to mention my prediction that Mike Burke would win.
Leave it, then, to Charlie Wheeler, pathologist and former mayor, to come up with an alternate postmortem.
“You can beat the fire fighters, or you can beat The Star,” he said Tuesday night, “but you can’t beat the fire fighters and The Star.”
Quite an insight, I think.
I would augment that slightly to say it’s almost impossible to beat a candidate who has The Star, the fire fighters, is well-funded and has a ton of personal appeal.
Sly James was such a candidate. I didn’t want to admit it during the campaign because, of course, I was “all in” for Burke.
But now that it’s over I will tell you that one of the reasons I liked the mayoral forums — before and after the Feb. 22 primary — was waiting for James to come up with a funny line or employ a unique image or metaphor. He seldom disappointed.
The winner
My favorite James line, which he uttered at a February Chamber of Commerce forum was: “Until I see a headline that says, ‘Ph.D. shoots master’s candidate at 39th and Troost,’ I’m going to continue to believe that education is the key to long-term reduction of crime.”
Let’s face it: James was not only a good candidate, he was an interesting candidate.
Burke was also a good candidate. But, let’s face it, he wasn’t interesting. As much as I like him and as much as I think he would have been a better mayor, he was careful and fairly predictable. Because of his charm and spontaneity, James connected with many more voters than Burke.
Burke, with (from left) campaign volunteer Klassie Alcine, mother-in-law Dorothy Stoeger, wife Melinda and campaign treasurer Joanne Collins
And so, it’s time to offer congratulations to James and all of his connections, including campaign manager Brian Noland, state Rep. Jason Kander and his wife Diana, and my friends Donovan Mouton and Mike and Carol Grimaldi. Everyone connected with James is rightly proud and thrilled, I’m sure.
When Mouton, former neighborhood liaison in Kay Barnes’ administration, told me about two years ago that a friend of his named Sly James was running for mayor, the first thing I said was, “Kansas City is not going to elect a man named Sly as mayor.”
Well, not only did Kansas City elect a man named Sly, it elected a fat black man named Sly.
That says a lot — a lot — about the man, the voters and our city. Sly convinced the voters that he’s anything but sly. He convinced them that he’s sharp, funny, forthright and likeable. It’s a winning formula, isn’t it?
You know, when you get beat by a 54-46 margin, it’s hard to go back and say, “Our TV should have been better,” or “We should have been tougher,” or “We should have been more specific about our candidate’s record.”
No, when you get beat 54-46, it’s usually the opponent who did it to you; you didn’t beat yourself.
At the watch party Tuesday night, I heard one Burke backer say that we should have capitalized to a much greater extent on Burke’s opposition to the proposed Shughart, Polsinelli building on the Plaza. Another was furious at K.C. Star reporter Dave Helling for his stories about Burke and his law firm’s dealings with the Port Authority.
Forget about it. None of that mattered. We — those of us on the Burke team — were up against personal magnetism, magnetism projected by a guy who made sense when he opened his mouth and who never got rattled.
At our Feb. 22, primary-election victory party — the night the TV cameras caught me dancing with council members Cindy Circo and Jan Marcason — an acquaintance of many years, Susan Stanton, offered a word of caution about the upcoming general-election campaign.
“Never underestimate a charismatic candidate,” she said.
I heard her, but I didn’t really believe her. I thought experience would count more than personality. Man, was I wrong.
At the same time, I have no regrets. It was a great, two-month run. Some people contended that it was dull, or that there wasn’t much to choose from between the two men. From my perspective, however, it was anything but dull; it was exciting, it was intriguing; it was good political theater. And I’m going to miss the curtain going up on the show night after night.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
A great candidate won against a great candidate. It was inspiring to see and actually feel that both candidates really have a passion for getting KC back on its feet. Would the perfect mayoral leader have been the melding of charismatic personality, integrity and city hall knowledge? Does it really matter? When 79% of the eligible voters can’t be bothered to vote where is the mandate for good governance, bold/hard leadership decisions, and evolutionary change.
When “the voice of the people” is only 21% what expectations can I as a taxed voter take away from my participation in Kansas City’s continuing sociopolitical experiment. Because I made the effort to educate myself to make a voter choice should MY new mayor be expected to bring better times to MY household and MY voting neighbors? Or, should I expect MY mayor to spend his precious political and intellectual capital and MY tax dollars on bridging the gap to the mass of disaffected, disenfranchised, discouraged metropolitan residents who clearly don’t give a tinkers dam about this city, their neighbors or themselves. Hmm guess we’ll find out soon enough. PS. I am disappointed we didn’t get to see your post election happy dance again. Keep up the good work.
I’m disappointed about being deprived of the opportunity to dance again, too, Jayson. All that money I put into dance lessons between the primary and general is down the tubes, I guess. Here’s the lady I’ve been taking lessons from…Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwvF2kox62o
Your man Burke was as gracious — and funny — as he could be at the Chamber mayoral breakfast this morning. He got a full-court, several-minute standing ovation from the business community — and several hugs from Sly. Berkley and Barnes were there, but no sign of the Funk. It was really a tribute to two men who love this city — and are headed out to fight for the earnings tax together. They both looked like first-class winners to me. Let’s dance to that!
What JSeymour said.
A new captain of this ruined band, will charge once again into KC’s formidable breaches.
Starting off pretty well, Burke’s supporters, including you, Fitz, are ready and willing to unite and improve the city.
The politics at City Hall will lack the vitriol and acrimony of the last years, and our city’s new direction will change for the better.
A Jesuit appeared from the ether and smacked me upside the head.
“The politics at City Hall will lack the vitriol and acrimony of the last 4 years, and our city’s new direction is a change for the better.”
Coffee!! NOW!!
Ah, Chuck, speaking of corporal punishment at the hands of Catholic clergy…I’ll never forget the Xaverian brother, Alexis Joseph, who used to smack me and my classmates upside the head. Were we misbehaving? No? Were we not paying attention? No…He had arthritis in his hands and when it bothered him, he took his frustration out on us. Smacked us around with whatever he was holding, usually a Latin book. Requieste de pace.
The whole country would be light years better off with scars from Jesuits and Xaverians.
I deserved most of it.
Ya fought the good fight for Mike Burke, now its “Home, to Tara”.
There will be another day.
So far, in my role as part-time political operative, I am oh-fer-four. I supported and volunteered for Charlie Wheeler for county executive in 2006, Jim Glover for mayor in 2007, Charlie Wheeler for state treasurer in 2008 and now Burke…A few more Wheeler campaigns and maybe I’ll have enough experience to pick a winner.
Fitz,
I know that this was not the outcome that you were hoping and pushing for. But Mike Burke ran a fine campaign and he has nothing to be ashamed of. And unlike others who have sought elected office and stooped to all sorts of lows while doing so, he will continue to be held in high regard. Kudos to you, Jason, Donna and others who worked hard on his campaign.
Thanks, Mike. You named two of the people — campaign manager Jason Parson and communications coordinator Donna Mandelbaum — who worked very hard and effectively. It was a great group. We all got along well, and there was no backbiting, at least that I saw. We were focused on the goal…just didn’t have quite enough horsepower.
No diss here, just an observation, but Donna Mandelbaum is kinda hot.
As long as we’re evaluating the Burke team, I don’t know her, but I think anyone with an awesomely memorable name like Klassie Alcine must have a bright future.
Now you guys are talking. We had the greatest women on our team that you can imagine. In my view, they’re all hot. Our core group of women workers consisted of Donna, Klassie, Susan Stanton, Becky Faust, Burnetta Burtin, Marnie Burke (no relation) and Mary O’Halloran. There were other great women involved in the campaign, too, but those are the seven I worked most closely with, and what a joy it was. Of course, I haven’t met many women I didn’t like…And, Chuck, if you want to meet Donna, I’d be happy to oblige you, but I’d also feel compelled to introduce you to her handsome husband Brian and their two young sons.
It was so very nice to see a clean campaign for office. I found the lack of negativity refreshing. Although I don’t personally find the new mayor all that appealing, I think he will do a better job then the current mayor. This is a vote for us chubby guys; we have our day! LOL Great blog, btw.