Yesterday, I checked out Capitol Weekly, as I do every Thursday and was excited to see that one of their weekly features focused on the Oakland mayor’s race. Well, I didn’t stay excited for too long. In “Experts Expound,” they asked a bunch of Sacramento “experts”:
“Don Perata is running for mayor of Oakland — a job he’s always wanted. Can he beat Ron Dellums? Why or why not?”
As any Oaklander would know, this is an absurd question to ask. Dellums isn’t running! Perata made this clear in his media interviews this week. And if Dellums ran again, Perata would crush him - it would be embarrassing.
After getting over the fact that this question was basically pointless, I browsed through the answers, some of which were pretty funny:
He can win. He’ll make the voters an offer they can’t refuse.
He will have all of those FBI agents following him when he walks precincts. People in Oakland will like this. It is his Posse. Perata wins.
Oakland Punchline - Ron Dellums is soooo bad that even Don Perata can beat him.
And then there was this answer, which was even more out of touch with Oakland politics than the initial question:
It will be close. Dellums has the same name I’d and an equal number of supporters.
Really? Has this person ever picked up a local paper or talked to anyone who lives in Oakland? Or maybe the person who said this has been out of the country for the past two years and missed Dellums’s descent.
Maybe Capitol Weekly and it’s Sacramento “experts” should stick to what they know, state politics, and stay out of Oakland politics. Either that, or they should consult some Oaklanders next time.
