Da Mayor taps his successor

Two current members of the Dallas City Council - De-Wayne and A Hunt - and possibly a third - Ron Natinsky - want to become the next mayor of our fair city. De-Wayne wants it so desperately and so blatantly that he spent the majority of his first term as Da Mayor's echo, supporting him in everything he said and did, hoping this show of unabashed support would win him Da Mayor's endorsement. A Hunt chose an opposite strategy - challenging Da Mayor at every turn hoping against hope at re-assembling that coalition of anti-City Hall partisans that put Laura Miller into office. Natinsky's strategy has been to stick to his no-tax-increase, reduced government spiel that is popular among his ultra-conservative North Dallas constituency which, historically, has usually elected Dallas mayors.

I'm getting the impression that all their efforts are going to be for naught, however. Da Mayor has obviously decided on the person he wants to succeed him and because Da Mayor is still viewed positively by most, his decision will carry more weight with voters (and those who line up to support financially "the favored" candidate). This also means you can expect De-Wayne to oppose Da Mayor more often in the coming months as he seeks to create his own platform. It won't work, however. Neither will the populist drives by Hunt or the conservative push by Natinsky. You can almost make book right now that Mike Rawlings is going to be our next mayor. He is Da Mayor's choice.