There's been much discussion here in DC about the future prospects of Republican gay white councilman, David Catania. I was pleasantly surprised a few years back when he was elected (with a reform agenda and by working GOTV among the GOP and gays) -- and have been even more pleased by the good work he is doing -- he's feisty, albeit antagonistic. Now the question is his future: will a black majority city elect a white to higher office, much less a gay one. Quote from the linked article: "A single person is hard enough to convince people to vote for; a single, childless person is a tough sell"; "The underclass black wouldn't vote for him, because he's white. ...A number of whites still feel that as long as there is a black majority, the city ought to have a black mayor."

City Paper article (probably expires on Thursday 4/11 with the new edition)

Well, given that David Catania is a Republican, and Washington is overwhelmingly Democratic, that might be a problem right there. It's very similar to my city, Chicago. The last Republicnn mayor here was in the 1920's. Here in Daleyland, Republicans sometimes seem to be an endangered species.

Regarding gay male GOP conservative officeseekers...I was somewhat disappointed to read that the gay man seeking to become Lieutenant Governor in Massachusetts (temporarily forgot his name, sorry) dropped out of the race. Does anyone know why he dropped out?

It's my understanding that the guy (I can't think of his name either) dropped out because his mentor of sorts, Jane Swift, dropped out of the governor's race and Mitt Romney, who took over as the forerunner for the GOP nomination, specifically wanted a female running mate.

Patrick Guerriero's chances of becoming the Lt. Governor were slim to none, and Slim left town the moment Mitt Romney announced his candidacy. Romney's choices for LG were another wealthy white guy, Rappaport (wouldn't make for the most diverse ticket), who has a reputation for being difficult, and a 3rd-stringer on the doomed Acting Governor's team (PG was reportedly Swift's 3rd or 4th choice; big Republicans didn't want to come near her). It's not real surprising that Romney opted for neither/nor and picked a woman for his running mate. It's the wise choice, really, because Mitt needs to appeal more strongly to women after all his flip-flopping on abortion.

No offense or disrespect for Patrick Guerriero. He's young (34), good-looking, and supposedly quite popular in the state (the gay Dems seem to like him a lot too). It's not that he was a "dud" candidate or anything as much as he hadn't really established his reputation yet or collected much political "capital" in Massachusetts. While he's out of the running for Lt. Governor this time around, he's made a quantum leap in name recognition, and I gotta think he'll be quite prominent in the Commonwealth's political scene in the years to come.

Any other Bay Staters questioning the real reason Romney wants to be governor? I hear it's not that great a job because the most powerful position in Massachusetts government is actually President of the Senate (Billy Bulger's old job, surprise, surprise). Since Weld, Cellucci, and Swift used it more as a stepping stone to other things, I'm wondering if Mitt isn't eye-ing John Kerry's Senate seat in 2004 or Kennedy's (please, God, let the man retire already) seat in 2006.

Hey Bucky, thanks for the update on my former classmate, Catania. While the two of us only knew of each other tangentially while up on the Hilltop and after, it certainly has been interesting to watch as he's changed over the last (oh god, has it really been?) 15 and a half years. It is with a certain amount of pride that I note that David Catania (of all people and in of all places) was the first member of a typically Georgetown class of ambitious aspirants to win elective office.

The City Paper article makes it sound as if he's grown into his own over the last couple of years on the council. It is a pretty good piece of reporting as to the current state of political affairs in the swamp by the Potomac too. Given the nature of racial politics in the district, I don't think Catania has a realistic chance at higher office at the moment. Too bad, though.

What say you DC residents?

Just curious, you refer to "up on the hilltop." That's how we refer to SMU. Is that the school you're talking about, or is there another "hilltop" out there?

The story is now in the _City Paper_ archives.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/archive.../cover0405.html

Hey JQueer. Georgetown also uses "up on the hilltop" as a sort of shorthand for the campus. I didn't know SMU used the phrase also.

A couple of Summers ago, during a drought BTW, I had the pleasure of swimming in SMU's beautiful outdoor 50m pool. But I sure didn't see any hills around the campus. Was I missing something between there and Dallas' boystown ?