Mayor Bing
Turns out that Dave Bing had one more fourth quarter rally left in him, after all.
Former NBA star Bing, behind in the polls by all reports as recently as late last week, charged to victory in Tuesday's special mayoral election in Detroit.
Bing beat incumbent Ken Cockrel, Jr., 52-48 percent.
So Bing is finally Detroit's mayor--some 20 years or so since he could have had the job, had he wanted it.
The city's Kwame Kilpatrick-induced nightmare is nearing an end.
Like I've written before, the residents of Detroit were actually set up not to be screwed this time. Their choices, Bing and Cockrel, were pretty good. Cockrel offered stability, Bing offered vision.
Both are good, but these times call for vision. And urgency.
Bing is 65. He's already made a difference in people's lives, via his Bing Steel business and his noble efforts to house folks in the city.
But you can only do so much when you're not the mayor, and Bing saw Rome burning and too much fiddling going on.
Most of the fiddlers--well, all of them actually--sit on city council.
A bunch of Neros, and here comes Bing to set them straight.
Good luck, David.
Bing is likely to find that driving the lane against Wilt Chamberlain and playing for bad Pistons teams in near-empty Cobo Arena was child's play compared to what he's gotten himself into.
Bing brought out the heavy hitters near the end of the campaign: Rev. Jesse Jackson, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, and current Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson--the latter two Bing's fellow ex-NBAers.
Cockrel, according to reports, was outspending Bing toward the end, but both local dailies, and the African American-owned and operated Michigan Chronicle, all endorsed Bing.
So did I, as if that mattered.
It's a tantalizing question, though one that will never be answered.
Could Dave Bing have beaten Coleman Young, back in the day?
I say yes. But as one of my colleagues, Chris Hill, a copywriter, pointed out, Bing became the first man since Roman Gribbs in 1969 to defeat a sitting mayor in Detroit.
I countered by reminding Chris that Cockrel was, in a way, half an incumbent.
Cockrel became mayor late last summer after Kwame Kilpatrick was stripped of his cloak.
Bing isn't even out of the election woods yet, let alone the mine fields that await him as mayor.
He must survive an August primary in advance of the regular November general election. Then, and only then, will he be able to fully assume the role of mayor without having to spend half his time campaigning.
I've railed here before, as well, about the election-happiness of the city ever since Kilpatrick was forced out of office. Too many primaries and elections.
Voter turnout was even lower than usual, as expected. A major culprit, according to pollsters, was the fact that many people didn't look at Tuesday's showdown as the "real" election.
They only acknowledge the August/November boogaloo, apparently. Too much traipsing to polling places in the meanwhile.
I don't blame them, in a way.
The clerk's office, with the aiding and abetting of the fiddlers on council, drenched the city's residents with too many voting days, chopping up the remainder of Kilpatrick's term like a Japanese steak house chef on a celery stalk.
The people in Detroit don't like voting enough as it is. Sorry to say that, but the facts bear me out on that.
So God bless Dave Bing. He's going to need it.
Ken Cockrel Jr. is a fine man. He might have made a good full-term mayor, as well. But Bing's fourth quarter press shows why he's the best man for the job.
The city needs a bunch of three-point shots to get back into the game. And Dave always was a smooth shooter.
Former NBA star Bing, behind in the polls by all reports as recently as late last week, charged to victory in Tuesday's special mayoral election in Detroit.
Bing beat incumbent Ken Cockrel, Jr., 52-48 percent.
So Bing is finally Detroit's mayor--some 20 years or so since he could have had the job, had he wanted it.
The city's Kwame Kilpatrick-induced nightmare is nearing an end.
Like I've written before, the residents of Detroit were actually set up not to be screwed this time. Their choices, Bing and Cockrel, were pretty good. Cockrel offered stability, Bing offered vision.
Both are good, but these times call for vision. And urgency.
Bing is 65. He's already made a difference in people's lives, via his Bing Steel business and his noble efforts to house folks in the city.
But you can only do so much when you're not the mayor, and Bing saw Rome burning and too much fiddling going on.
Most of the fiddlers--well, all of them actually--sit on city council.
A bunch of Neros, and here comes Bing to set them straight.
Good luck, David.
Bing is likely to find that driving the lane against Wilt Chamberlain and playing for bad Pistons teams in near-empty Cobo Arena was child's play compared to what he's gotten himself into.
Bing brought out the heavy hitters near the end of the campaign: Rev. Jesse Jackson, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, and current Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson--the latter two Bing's fellow ex-NBAers.
Cockrel, according to reports, was outspending Bing toward the end, but both local dailies, and the African American-owned and operated Michigan Chronicle, all endorsed Bing.
So did I, as if that mattered.
It's a tantalizing question, though one that will never be answered.
Could Dave Bing have beaten Coleman Young, back in the day?
I say yes. But as one of my colleagues, Chris Hill, a copywriter, pointed out, Bing became the first man since Roman Gribbs in 1969 to defeat a sitting mayor in Detroit.
I countered by reminding Chris that Cockrel was, in a way, half an incumbent.
Cockrel became mayor late last summer after Kwame Kilpatrick was stripped of his cloak.
Bing isn't even out of the election woods yet, let alone the mine fields that await him as mayor.
He must survive an August primary in advance of the regular November general election. Then, and only then, will he be able to fully assume the role of mayor without having to spend half his time campaigning.
I've railed here before, as well, about the election-happiness of the city ever since Kilpatrick was forced out of office. Too many primaries and elections.
Voter turnout was even lower than usual, as expected. A major culprit, according to pollsters, was the fact that many people didn't look at Tuesday's showdown as the "real" election.
They only acknowledge the August/November boogaloo, apparently. Too much traipsing to polling places in the meanwhile.
I don't blame them, in a way.
The clerk's office, with the aiding and abetting of the fiddlers on council, drenched the city's residents with too many voting days, chopping up the remainder of Kilpatrick's term like a Japanese steak house chef on a celery stalk.
The people in Detroit don't like voting enough as it is. Sorry to say that, but the facts bear me out on that.
So God bless Dave Bing. He's going to need it.
Ken Cockrel Jr. is a fine man. He might have made a good full-term mayor, as well. But Bing's fourth quarter press shows why he's the best man for the job.
The city needs a bunch of three-point shots to get back into the game. And Dave always was a smooth shooter.
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