I said on Sunday that Marty might ask Michael Nutter whether or not he wants to run for mayor and she didn't disappoint. But let me set this clip up for you because I love how Marty does this.
After 40 minutes of talking exclusively about the smoking ban, Marty comes out of the second commercial break by saying something like this:
Marty: This is Radio Times, I'm Marty Moss-Coane and we're talking with Councilman Michael Nutter about the smoking ban for bars and restaurants that was recently passed by City Council and now awaits the mayor's signature.
Marty then proceeds to give out the phone number and ask for callers who work in bars or go to bars to call in with their own experiences. She's using her normal, soft voice with a tone that drips with NPR-esque thoughtfulness and reason. She's practically got Nutter mesmerized and just when she suspects he's dropped his guard she springs this on him:
"You want to run for mayor, don't you? ...Michael Nutter?"
Ahh, but on this day, Councilman Nutter was too quick to fall for Marty's guile. Apparently, Nutter also believes that the "cheerleading" function of a mayor is pretty important, considering how much he talks about how he wants to get his "personality" out there for everyone to see.
Except for this 2 minutes, the rest of the show really was about the smoking ban. You can listen to it here.
You can tell from listening to him interact with Marty and the callers that Nutter is a smart guy but I also get the impression that he knows he's a smart guy and that he knows when he's smarter than the person he's talking to. Now, I'm just as big a fan and user of sarcasm as the anyone but that's just one of the many reasons why I could never be mayor. But as the old proverb says, "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit" and one offhand comment, taken the wrong way, could easily sink one's mayoral ambitions.
Oh, and thank you, Marty, for not asking Nutter if he inhaled when he admitted to having smoked three cigarettes when he was 14.
Comments (2)
jeez Dan - awful snarky comments about a good man who would be a great mayor and just got a great bill passed - i listened to the clip and didnt think he was sarcastic or patronizing in any way - you work with Marty, and I'm sure she'd agree - hell, I would imagine she'd vote for him... so not sure why you'd take a shot - sure, he's no Sam Katz, but isn't he the next best thing for you???
Posted by ouch | June 22, 2006 5:07 PM
Oh and as far as the title of the post and the references to Nutter's personality are concerned, those comments are all in good fun. I've had the opportunity to chat with the Councilman in a social environment on at least one occasion and agree that his reputation for being boring is undeserved.
Sam Katz had the same kind of disconnect between his public and private personas. My feeling about Sam as mayor has changed a lot over the last 4 years, given how paralyzed his own administration would have been by his legal difficulties and the fact that he would have had no natural allies on City Council. I'll say again, Sam played a role that is looking like it will go unfilled this time around - loyal opposition. Without a credible, viable, well-financed candidate from outside of the party in power, there's the possibility that a great many issues will not be discussed by any of the candidates (ie management, labor relations, performance-based budgeting, municipal contracts and pensions, etc.) It's not my place to take a position on any of those issues but it would nice if someone would.
Posted by Dan | June 26, 2006 12:21 PM