Wednesday, October 21, 2009

This is just getting ridiculous

Because it's just not a Charlotte mayoral debate without John Lassiter throwing a last-second hissy fit.

Before last night's Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte debate, televised live by WBTV, the organizers flipped a coin to see who'd be Candidate A (first in opening remarks, second in closing) and Candidate B (vice versa). Anthony called heads. The flip came up heads. Anthony was therefore Candidate A.

Lassiter said he was under the impression that the candidate who opens first shouldn't be allowed to close last. Paul Cameron of WBTV clarified that if Anthony is Candidate A, then he opens first and closes last.

That's when the smoke started coming out of Lassiter's ears -- three minutes before the debate began at 7 p.m.

"That's not fair," he stormed. "Those aren't the rules."

Yes, they were. From the guidelines, which WBTV and the Jewish Federation agreed to and submitted on Oct. 5, more than two weeks before the debate:

The moderators will give each candidate 2 minutes for opening remarks (Candidate A will go first.) ...

The moderators will then give each candidate 2 minutes for closing remarks (Candidate B will go first).

In, calmly, stepped Anthony. OK, he said. I'll allow John to go first in opening, and I'll go second in closing. And so the debate proceeded. (Video here.)

Point No. 1: Lassiter could have objected during the 15 days before the coin toss but didn't. He waited until the toss determined he didn't get the position he wanted. We wonder if he'd have objected if Anthony had called tails and Lassiter had gotten to open first and close last.

Point No. 2: We'd maybe be inclined to presume Lassiter was just confused if this weren't the latest in a string of pre-debate shenanigans Lassiter's pulled over debate rules and other technicalities. This is, as John Turturro's character put it to a competitor in The Big Lebowski, "bush-league psych-out stuff. Laughable, man."

Point No. 3: Could you have asked for a more vivid illustration of why Anthony Foxx would make a better mayor? A problem arises. John Lassiter loses himself in paltry details, appearances and his own well-developed sense of entitlement and self-pity. Anthony Foxx steps in, mediates, offers a workable solution, and everyone gets down to business.

Character reveals itself in all sorts of ways, big and small. Ask yourself: Who handled it better? Who displayed real leadership? Who would you rather have as mayor?

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