If your name is Brewster McCracken, you might have had a hard time at recess when you were a kid. Maybe people still pick on him — and that explains why he picks on others.

McCracken, you see, wants to be the mayor of Austin, Texas. But instead of running an ad saying why he’d make a great mayor, and what he can do for that city, he’s running one ad that disses St. Louis — hard. He points out that in 1904, St. Louis hosted the World’s Fair and probably thought it was the center of the universe. According to Brewster, things have gone downhill since then.

“Entire sections of St. Louis urban core have been abandoned for decades. There’s a warning to cities all over the country from St. Louis’ story.”

Really? Entire sections? I’m sure Brewster did careful research to back up that claim.

We know St. Louis has its problems. I’d venture to say Austin has better Tex-Mex food, hotter summers, and no world championship caliber baseball. But is the best way to run for office in one city really to talk smack about another one?

I’m sure Mr. McCracken would appreciate hearing from St. Louisans about our city. His email address is  info@brewstermccracken. com. Maybe he’ll enjoy getting some e-mail from the Midwest.

But meanwhile, what do you think of his campaign tactics, and what do you think of his attack on St. Louis?