McCracken's withdrawal

Bravo Brewster McCracken! In Saturday's election for mayor of Austin, McCracken forced Lee Leffingwell into a runoff that Leffingwell appeared ready to win. Leffingwell finished with 47.24 percent of the vote to McCracken's 26.8 percent.

Today McCracken announced he was withdrawing from the race "in the best interests of Austin." He said a runoff "would have required an unprecedented fundraising effort that, in this economy, would have put an additional burden on my supporters. The cost of the election itself would have been expensive to taxpayers." (It is estimated that McCracken's withdrawal saves the city $700,000 in election-related expenses.)

I could have cared less whether Leffingwell or McCracken won the election (although I was elated that former Austin mayor and Texas State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn finished behind the top two with 21.43 percent). But I do applaud McCracken for doing the right thing for all the right reasons.