Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Troy Henry calls out media, saying some "want to diminish this election to race"
Posted by Kevin Allman on Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 11:48 PM
At 2:20 this afternoon, Troy Henry representative Angela Anthony threw the local political scene into a swivet when she sent out a simple email:
New Orleans Mayoral candidate Troy Henry has scheduled a press conference today to discuss the future of his candidacy. The press conference will be held at his campaign headquarters, located at 140 N. Carrollton Avenue, at 4:30 p.m.
Was Henry getting out? It seemed impossible, but the ominous words "future of his candidacy" was enough catnip to get all 4 TV stations on the spot immediately, as well as the T-P and Gambit. Once we were there, it seemed clear that Henry wasn't going anywhere, but the rumors were a-flying: Henry was getting a major endorsement. Henry was being supported by the cast of The Wire. Or maybe it was Tremé. No one from Camp Henry was talking.
At 4:30 sharp, Henry took the podium and read a statement:
Today in the Times-Picayune newspaper, columnist James Gill wrote, "Sure, in a rational world, the color of hizzoner's skin would be irrelevant. But we live in New Orleans."Those words should send shivers up the spine of every citizen in this community. Whether the columnist is right or wrong is irrelevant. What is more important is that we don't let any reporter, any politician, or anyone deduce that a candidate is about to be anointed mayor without the benefit of the democratic process.
No doubt, Mr. Gill has all but prematurely crowned the next mayor as a white mayor. Of course, I strongly disagree with his assessment. I am in this campaign to win because this city needs a champion for change, a new direction....
The whole statement will surely be up on Henry's Web site soon, but the question-and-answer session that followed was prickly, electric and more than a bit contentious. Clancy DuBos was also there and will surely have some analysis soon, but I got the raw video of the Q&A on my iPhone and uploaded it here (sorry, can't figure out how to embed the damn thing).
Since Henry's statement included the words "I am appealing to you -- the media -- to allow this process to be democratic," presenting his conference without comment seems the best way to do so. Watch it and let us know what you think in the comments.
Speaking of...
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Brett Anderson not to New York Times
The Times-Pic dining critic, who was a finalist for the open critic's spot at The New York Times, is passed over in favor of Times food editor Pete Wells.
- Nov 15, 2011
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Comments (12)
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Good give and take in discussion. However, continue to report the facts. If the facts lead you to Mitch polling better and potentially winning, report it. Done. Racism ends when we treat everyone the same. Henry will have to get the big MO on his own efforts. Lately, he hasn't done too bad in getting his message out. I was concerned about his ability to deal with civil service issues in restructuring City government given his corporate background. Learned a lot more about him on election land. Thanks for sharing PS Elecionland needs another time zone. Time to pose questions way too short.
Seems like a stunt to me. Nothing substantive was said; Perry released a prepared statement on race yesterday that said a lot more with a whole lot less hoopla. And why does he keep appearing with Wendell Pierce? I love Wendell, but it makes me feel like Henry likes an entourage.
Disingenuous is calling a presser about the "future" of one's candidacy when you know that will bait the media into showing up, so that you can grandstand about a particular meta-issue in the campaign.
Whoa! did Henry really tweet that he "p0wned" the debate! Can the city handle a 1337 mayor! Guess its time to start his own Encyclopedia Dramatica article...
maybe this will change Clancy's mind that Troy Henry can really run a "mau-mau" campaign. Gambit need to look no further than DuBos to find the racism Henry's talking about.
So the future of Henry's candidacy will be one massive whine about changing things instead of actual changes? Welcome to Nagin II.
