Patterico's Pontifications

3/5/2005

Taking the Race for Mayor “Seriously”

Filed under: Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 10:36 am



The L.A. Times has told its readers: “We hope voters take the mayoral race seriously . . . ” But what do they mean by “seriously”? The paper continually reinforces the notion that the real problem with the incumbent (whom I don’t intend to vote for, by the way) is that he is dull.

To hell with the issues. Where’s the pizzazz?

Witness:

Steve Lopez:

What could be duller than a one-man debate starring Jim Hahn?

Patt Morrison:

I’m an Angeleno. My expectations are humbly low. I don’t await a Rudy Giuliani; I don’t ask for a Gavin Newsom. But three days after the Oscars, is it too much to ask that a city of 4 million be led by someone possessed of even a minuscule nugget of charisma, of that force of personality that goes by the name of leadership?

Or this article in Style and Culture, by Mark Z. Barabak:

The rap against Mayor Yawn

  • Los Angeles’ leader is no Mr. Personality. Should that matter? Come Tuesday, it might

They speak in code, using words like “vision” and “destiny” and “thinking small.” What opponents really mean is that Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, with his pothole obsession and gray-flannel personality, is simply too blah, too cardboard, too junior varsity to lead such a vibrant city.

To be fair, Barabak’s article examines the issue of whether Hahn’s lack of personality should matter. But by giving that “issue” so such space, the editors reinforce the idea that it’s an important question.

The paper should lead by example: discussing the candidates’ stands on the issues. Instead, it panders, spending valuable space on trivialities. The editors shrug their shoulders and say: maybe this shouldn’t matter, but it does. Whaddya gonna do?

This reminds me of the superficial editorial the paper ran during the last presidential election, in which editors told readers that John Edwards was “handsome” and John Kerry “Lincoln-esque,” while Dick Cheney is “lumpish” and President Bush sports a “patented smirk.” The editorial cautioned that this “shouldn’t matter,” and then said: “But you know it does.”

Maybe superficialities like that mean more to L.A. Times editors than they do to voters.

2 Responses to “Taking the Race for Mayor “Seriously””

  1. […] It’s not that I am a fan of Mayor Hahn, but I have mocked the L.A. Times’s penchant for ignoring his policy stances […]

    Patterico's Pontifications » Taking the Race for Mayor “Seriously” – Part II (0c6a63)

  2. Admit It: The LA Times Sucks.
    I have for some time followed with a bemused (if somewhat bewildered) eye Patterico’s tireless campaign to bring the LA Dogtrainer up to journalistic spec.

    Bemused and bewildered but not especially concerned, as I’ve never lived in LA. But of cou…

    faute de mieux (59ce3a)


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