French twist: Blogger making surprise bid for alderman
French
Antonio French, a Democratic committeeman and the muscle behind the PubDef political blog, this morning took the lid off of his future aspirations: He’s running for alderman.
French, 31, said in a statement today — the last to join the March 3 municipal primary — he’s entering the race in the 21st Ward, where he’ll challenge incumbent Bennice Jones-King.
“I get calls every week from people in my ward — especially seniors — looking for help. They need financial assistance for repairing their homes, or they need a dilapidated house torn down because of safety concerns, or they need a stop sign installed at the end of the block to slow down the cars that go speeding down their street,” French said. “As a committeeman, I have very little power to help these people. These are the duties of the alderman. “
Taking on a sitting aldermen is never easy, especially in the 21st, where politics can be a contact sport. No one knows that better than French, whose late grandmother, Myrtle, was the ward’s Democratic committeewoman for many years.
In August, Antonio unseated her long time sparring partner, veteran Democrat committeeman Arthur “Chink” Washington. That victory no doubt played a key role in French’s calculus to run again in March. His entry into the aldermanic race adds to the mix of seats up in the air: Crowded contests have also emerged in the 3rd, 23rd and 25th Wards.
Dow, according to you description, French sounds like he’d be perfect for city politics. Has anyone every thought of voting for a Republican in the city? Why don’t any Republicans ever run in the city? We have plenty of Democrats in the county. Why don’t you guys try something new?
It would be nice if Jake or anyone at the Post knew what a stalking horse is. I’ve mentioned this before. Do I have to do everything around here myself? A rhetorical question the answer to which is obviously “yes”.
“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A stalking horse is a person who tests a concept with someone, or mounts a challenge against them, on behalf of a Third Party, who remains anonymous. It is a variant on the concept of testing the water(s).
If the idea proves viable and/or popular, the anonymous figure can then declare their interest and advance the concept with little risk of failure. If the concept is ’shot down in flames’, the anonymous party will not be ‘tainted by association’ and can either drop the idea completely or ‘bide their time’ and wait until a better moment for launching an attack.
Origin
The term stalking horse originally derived from the practice of hunting,[1] particularly of wildfowl.[2] Hunters noticed that many birds would flee immediately on the approach of humans, but would tolerate the close presence of animals such as horses and cattle.
Hunters would therefore slowly approach their quarry by walking alongside their horses, keeping their upper bodies out of sight until the flock was within firing range. Animals trained for this purpose were called stalking horses. Sometimes mobile hides are used for a similar purpose.”
No use of the way Jake always used it is mentioned. I’m not judging, just saying. Jake’s use may not be uncommon and no doubt may ultimately be accepted as an alternative meaning, for which no other suitable word (sobriquet?) currently exists to my knowledge. Peanut gallery?
ok, I put the previous post under the wrong thread; so many Jakes, so little time. Jake, my brother, feel free to remove from here. then remove this post, of course; you knew that, right?
best,
Bill Haas, will you PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE spend your time on more productive things. You want our vote for this position, then that position, then another position, but ALL YOU DO IS COMB WEBSITES AND BLOGS WITH YOUR TIME. I feel very sorry for you. You are really embarrassing yourself. Stay off the internet BILL and do something constructive and stop with your long, long diatribes. You’re a good guy….but you have become a laughingstock. If you were in my family, an intervention would be in order. Please stop Bill, for your own good. Please.
I love this. Just check out the cast of “weak” characters you all have listed, what a shame for St. Louis, which is so near and dear to my heart:
Antonio French
Lizz Brown
Rodney Hubbard
Eddie Hasan
Bill Haas
St. Louis, I love you, but can we get any lower than a group of characters like this? So, so sad.