IT’S MARRA TIME
Since this is Sin City North and our Mayor is the poster boy for Budweiser, I thought I might have a bit of fun with the Miller Brewery’s slogan. After all, isn’t Eddie Francis viewed as the big Clydesdale politically in Windsor?
I had breakfast with a reader of my Blog a few weeks ago, a significant business person whose name I had read in the paper but whom I did not know. After the usual pleasantries, he just came out and asked whether I was going to run for Mayor! It was not the first time that the question had been asked of me recently.
Now Blogmeisters generally don’t run for office but the question intrigued me. What it meant to me first is that a lot of people must be unhappy with the present Administration. Why else ask me the question in the first place? Was he an Eddie spy trying to feel me out about my intentions? Hardly, from what I knew about him.
Second, there may not be anyone who is prepared to run against the seemingly overpowering Francis electoral machine especially if the Windsor Star continues to back him (Who knows, maybe that is changing with the Eddie Boy Scout editorial cartoon). Sure I have visibility in town (as a political insider in one of the major parties told me) because of my border battles over the last few years. The view could easily be that I am using the publicity to gain a political advantage as has been done in the past. But this publicity is hardly enough to justify me running for Mayor without a lot of work over the next few months to get better known.
I have made the comment, based on my personal observations and some gossip about polling that I heard has been done, that a credible candidate could beat Eddie easily. All of a sudden, Eddie has a "record" that he has to defend. It’s easy to attack someone as a candidate but a lot harder to demonstrate that what you have done is worthy of re-election as an incumbent. As can be seen as a result of the Fairley Face-to-Face interview, there is not a lot for Eddie to gloat about and John was being diplomatic.
There are at least four groups that I have heard of looking for a candidate to run against Eddie. And it is NOT just business people who are looking for an alternative. I still believe, notwithstanding the denials, that at least three City Councillors are thinking whether they should take the chance or stick around for three more years and wait for Eddie to go. As Council publicly implodes this year (as happened in Hurst’s last year of office), one of them may be emboldened to run if no other credible candidate appears. Just watch at Council meetings if any of them start setting out separate positions from their colleagues and don’t just follow the Mayor’s pleas for unanimity to get a good indication.
Now the “E” machine is probably not all that unhappy about this turn of events. There are two tactics that can be used….scare away opponents in advance and then, as a fall-back, encourage a number of people to run.
We’ve seen the first happen already. The mere mention that a person might dare run against Eddie requires that not only does he/she not run but has to praise Eddie to the limit as Councillor Brister did in a Henderson column. If someone has the audacity to say something negative as was said as an example about the poor MFP settlement, the comment is made that the person “appears to be getting a head start on his 2009 mayoral campaign.”
As for the second approach, remember the worry that both Francis and Marra would run against Hurst last time around and thereby split the anti-Hurst vote allowing him to sneak back in. That’s not a bad strategy to follow now either if the first does not work. With four groups chasing around for candidates, who knows how many will be found. The Bacon Man last time ruined Eddie’s “rhythm” during the Mayoral candidates debate since he was an extra party who took up time since he had to be heard. This time around, the Mayor may be quite happy sitting out the dance.
As I have said before, unless Eddie changes drastically, and I do not think he can, Windsor needs a new mayor. We cannot keep going on like this with a total lack of leadership at the top from our only full-time politician. As everyone knows, there is only one choice. Bill Marra is that person.
Why should he take the risk? Why not wait for three more years and be safe? Why not live up to the rumours that he is going to run in Ward 4 as Councillor. He would have no trouble knocking off Ken Lewenza Jr. He has a young family. He has made a huge success of his New Beginnings project, allowing it to expand rapidly. He is Chair of Hotel Dieu Hospital Board, guiding it through some very difficult times. He is starting up a new business as well.
It is not for me to be presumptuous and to suggest to Bill what he ought to do but I do know he wanted to be mayor last time around. He ran a great campaign (but for several mistakes that cost him the election, the negative radio ad being the most obvious one). Understand that he went from virtually zero in electoral support to getting almost 43% of the total vote. It was NOT a landslide win for the “E” Machine who lost momentum after the first week that Eddie announced he was running! I always wondered what would have happened if the campaign lasted a few more weeks
The biggest credit that Bill had was the gentlemanly way that he conceded defeat when he could have been very bitter, winning a lot of friends in the process. When he was on Council Close-up on Cogeco giving political commentary on the week’s Council events, he was still the gentleman with his soft criticism even when they made mistakes.
You know that I was a big worker for Eddie when he ran for mayor. I got the nerve one day to call Bill up quite some time after the election and asked him out for a coffee. The first thing I did when we met was extend my hand and offer him an apology for not voting for him!
So may I suggest to the people in the various groups looking for a candidate that they do not really have very far to look. I do believe that Bill Marra is credible, he is respected and he has grown for the better. I have met Bill several times since our first meeting and the time away from City Hall has matured him and has made a big change in him.
In my opinion, it is time for the leaders in the Community who are concerned about the future of Windsor to talk to Bill and to offer him their support. It is time for them to convince Bill that he must run now and not in 2009 as some are egging him on to do. They must convince him that he should take the chance of losing and perhaps ending his political career forever. It is not time for Bill to play it “safe.” He must be convinced that he has no choice but to run.
Windsor cannot afford three more years of Eddie Francis as Mayor. It is time to draft Bill and have him run. It truly is Marra’s Time!
I had breakfast with a reader of my Blog a few weeks ago, a significant business person whose name I had read in the paper but whom I did not know. After the usual pleasantries, he just came out and asked whether I was going to run for Mayor! It was not the first time that the question had been asked of me recently.
Now Blogmeisters generally don’t run for office but the question intrigued me. What it meant to me first is that a lot of people must be unhappy with the present Administration. Why else ask me the question in the first place? Was he an Eddie spy trying to feel me out about my intentions? Hardly, from what I knew about him.
Second, there may not be anyone who is prepared to run against the seemingly overpowering Francis electoral machine especially if the Windsor Star continues to back him (Who knows, maybe that is changing with the Eddie Boy Scout editorial cartoon). Sure I have visibility in town (as a political insider in one of the major parties told me) because of my border battles over the last few years. The view could easily be that I am using the publicity to gain a political advantage as has been done in the past. But this publicity is hardly enough to justify me running for Mayor without a lot of work over the next few months to get better known.
I have made the comment, based on my personal observations and some gossip about polling that I heard has been done, that a credible candidate could beat Eddie easily. All of a sudden, Eddie has a "record" that he has to defend. It’s easy to attack someone as a candidate but a lot harder to demonstrate that what you have done is worthy of re-election as an incumbent. As can be seen as a result of the Fairley Face-to-Face interview, there is not a lot for Eddie to gloat about and John was being diplomatic.
There are at least four groups that I have heard of looking for a candidate to run against Eddie. And it is NOT just business people who are looking for an alternative. I still believe, notwithstanding the denials, that at least three City Councillors are thinking whether they should take the chance or stick around for three more years and wait for Eddie to go. As Council publicly implodes this year (as happened in Hurst’s last year of office), one of them may be emboldened to run if no other credible candidate appears. Just watch at Council meetings if any of them start setting out separate positions from their colleagues and don’t just follow the Mayor’s pleas for unanimity to get a good indication.
Now the “E” machine is probably not all that unhappy about this turn of events. There are two tactics that can be used….scare away opponents in advance and then, as a fall-back, encourage a number of people to run.
We’ve seen the first happen already. The mere mention that a person might dare run against Eddie requires that not only does he/she not run but has to praise Eddie to the limit as Councillor Brister did in a Henderson column. If someone has the audacity to say something negative as was said as an example about the poor MFP settlement, the comment is made that the person “appears to be getting a head start on his 2009 mayoral campaign.”
As for the second approach, remember the worry that both Francis and Marra would run against Hurst last time around and thereby split the anti-Hurst vote allowing him to sneak back in. That’s not a bad strategy to follow now either if the first does not work. With four groups chasing around for candidates, who knows how many will be found. The Bacon Man last time ruined Eddie’s “rhythm” during the Mayoral candidates debate since he was an extra party who took up time since he had to be heard. This time around, the Mayor may be quite happy sitting out the dance.
As I have said before, unless Eddie changes drastically, and I do not think he can, Windsor needs a new mayor. We cannot keep going on like this with a total lack of leadership at the top from our only full-time politician. As everyone knows, there is only one choice. Bill Marra is that person.
Why should he take the risk? Why not wait for three more years and be safe? Why not live up to the rumours that he is going to run in Ward 4 as Councillor. He would have no trouble knocking off Ken Lewenza Jr. He has a young family. He has made a huge success of his New Beginnings project, allowing it to expand rapidly. He is Chair of Hotel Dieu Hospital Board, guiding it through some very difficult times. He is starting up a new business as well.
It is not for me to be presumptuous and to suggest to Bill what he ought to do but I do know he wanted to be mayor last time around. He ran a great campaign (but for several mistakes that cost him the election, the negative radio ad being the most obvious one). Understand that he went from virtually zero in electoral support to getting almost 43% of the total vote. It was NOT a landslide win for the “E” Machine who lost momentum after the first week that Eddie announced he was running! I always wondered what would have happened if the campaign lasted a few more weeks
The biggest credit that Bill had was the gentlemanly way that he conceded defeat when he could have been very bitter, winning a lot of friends in the process. When he was on Council Close-up on Cogeco giving political commentary on the week’s Council events, he was still the gentleman with his soft criticism even when they made mistakes.
You know that I was a big worker for Eddie when he ran for mayor. I got the nerve one day to call Bill up quite some time after the election and asked him out for a coffee. The first thing I did when we met was extend my hand and offer him an apology for not voting for him!
So may I suggest to the people in the various groups looking for a candidate that they do not really have very far to look. I do believe that Bill Marra is credible, he is respected and he has grown for the better. I have met Bill several times since our first meeting and the time away from City Hall has matured him and has made a big change in him.
In my opinion, it is time for the leaders in the Community who are concerned about the future of Windsor to talk to Bill and to offer him their support. It is time for them to convince Bill that he must run now and not in 2009 as some are egging him on to do. They must convince him that he should take the chance of losing and perhaps ending his political career forever. It is not time for Bill to play it “safe.” He must be convinced that he has no choice but to run.
Windsor cannot afford three more years of Eddie Francis as Mayor. It is time to draft Bill and have him run. It truly is Marra’s Time!
posted by JoeBlog at 6:00 a.m.
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