Benny Napoleon Announces Candidacy

[TexasT]

Sharon McFail is one of those negative indicators that help you cut right to the chase. If she's in, I'm out.

I don't know much about her but I find it interesting that she was born and raised in Cambridge and ran for mayor several times here in Detroit. Sort of makes all those digs against non-native Duggan a little awkward for her, lol.

[bailey]

Sharon McFail is one of those negative indicators that help you cut right to the chase. If she's in, I'm out.

That's racist....or sexist...or both. Because there can be no way that one can have a negative opinion of a Detroit/wayne county political hack/gadfly/bad penny if that person is black...or a woman...or a black woman.

[Det_ard]

That's racist....or sexist...or both. Because there can be no way that one can have a negative opinion of a Detroit/wayne county political hack/gadfly/bad penny if that person is black...or a woman...or a black woman.

Exactly.

Cinci_kid's racial diatribe helpfully outed him/her as a, well, racist isn't necessarily the right word, but there needs to be a word to describe someone who sees everyone else's actions as racially or racistly motivated. Such persons assume and claim that criticism of a minority politician can only be coming from a racist perspective. Don't like something Obama did, you're a racist. Don't think Bing is up to the job, you're racist. Think Kwame is pond scum, racist. Notice social problems in a majority minority city, racist.

I'll use the word "racialist" to describe those like Cinci and DNerd who are frequently accusing those they differ with of being racist. Once you see where they're coming they really have their work cut out to make their points in a credible way because so much of their thoughts are contaminated by their racialist mindset.

[nativegirl]

This whole post is a telltale sign of why Detroit and Michigan can't seem to move forward: race and stigma. Yes Benny had Sharon McPhail standing behind him but who did Mike Duggan standing beside him on the dias during his announcement? Mr. Conrad Mallet, good ole friend to..........Mr. Kwame Kilpatrick. Yet no one seemed to take note of that and the fact that Duggan is a carpet bagger who wouldn't know half of the rest of the City of Detroit neighbors if a map walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and slap the piss out of him!

[bailey]

This whole post is a telltale sign of why Detroit and Michigan can't seem to move forward: race and stigma. Yes Benny had Sharon McPhail standing behind him but who did Mike Duggan standing beside him on the dias during his announcement? Mr. Conrad Mallet, good ole friend to..........Mr. Kwame Kilpatrick. Yet no one seemed to take note of that and the fact that Duggan is a carpet bagger who wouldn't know half of the rest of the City of Detroit neighbors if a map walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and slap the piss out of him!

Quite a few people took notice of both the items you raised. You selectively ignoring them doesn't make your point.

Frankly I think entire slate of candidates who have announced thus far should be disqualified... but that's just me.

[fanniemae]

None of the current candidates offer anything new , they are retreads. Wish Feiger would run. Well almost. How does everyone else feel about Feiger?

[TexasT]

None of the current candidates offer anything new , they are retreads.

Without derailing this thread [[although I guess it kinda has been), do you feel that way about Lisa Howze? I don't have a great grasp of Detroit's political history other than the big stuff...

I was a little disappointed with her attack on the state's financial emergency analysis. Not the fact that she attacked it, but I felt that she mischaracterized Detroit's financial stability in the short term [[and the mere fact that she even considered short term viability to mean we're ok).

Is she a "fresh face" though?

[nativegirl]

I refuse to argue with ignorance! It is too much energy spent stupity that makes this world a mess as it is. The folks that are raising sand about what candidate DETROIT voters should vote on probably don't live in the City. Attention all Detroit residents that post on the board PLEASE may your OWN decision based on your OWN research. If I don't live in Livonia, Rochester Hills, Warren, etc what gives me the right to tell residents that do live there how to vote? And then, resort to generalizing all of them by calling them and dumb stupid if they don't vote the person that I wish to win!

[Detroitnerd]

That's racist....or sexist...or both. Because there can be no way that one can have a negative opinion of a Detroit/wayne county political hack/gadfly/bad penny if that person is black...or a woman...or a black woman.

You must be very unsure of your views if they require oversimplifying the views of those who often disagree with you.

[Detroitnerd]

This whole post is a telltale sign of why Detroit and Michigan can't seem to move forward: race and stigma. Yes Benny had Sharon McPhail standing behind him but who did Mike Duggan standing beside him on the dias during his announcement? Mr. Conrad Mallet, good ole friend to..........Mr. Kwame Kilpatrick. Yet no one seemed to take note of that and the fact that Duggan is a carpet bagger who wouldn't know half of the rest of the City of Detroit neighbors if a map walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and slap the piss out of him!

Shhhh, nativegirl. Pay no mind to that well-connected businessman behind the machine politician.

[Wesley Mouch]

I refuse to argue with ignorance! It is too much energy spent stupity that makes this world a mess as it is. The folks that are raising sand about what candidate DETROIT voters should vote on probably don't live in the City. Attention all Detroit residents that post on the board PLEASE may your OWN decision based on your OWN research. If I don't live in Livonia, Rochester Hills, Warren, etc what gives me the right to tell residents that do live there how to vote? And then, resort to generalizing all of them by calling them and dumb stupid if they don't vote the person that I wish to win!

Where your head is matters more to me than where your shoes are.

[jaytheory]

he was not saying it isnt actually detroit. he meant that it was not a typical low income detroit neighborhood

[TexasT]

The folks that are raising sand about what candidate DETROIT voters should vote on probably don't live in the City.

I think anyone with at least half a brain would recognize that Detroit's demise has affected the entire metro area in a very negative way. You don't have to live in Detroit to experience the effects. So yes, even suburbanites have some stake in Detroit's well-being [[I don't think enough of them realize that actually).

Not to mention, plenty of suburbanites pay taxes in the city through the city income tax or visiting to eat, drink, play, etc. Every city needs it suburbs. Detroit would die without its suburbs. Do you think the 700,000 residents of Detroit are filling the city's coffers by themselves? We all know that is not the case.

And last but not least, I know a lot of people who grew up in the city or lived here for a significant amount of time here and reluctantly left. People who have far more of an emotional investment in the city of Detroit than I do, as a new resident, regardless of the fact that I get to vote and they don't.

This Detroit vs. Burbs crap has to go. They need us and we need them.

[Richard]

ND...There's a reason why no one posted Benny Napoleon's announcement on this board....A lot of folks thinks that the Great White Hope, Duggan, will save Detroit from going down in smokes!

What does white have to do with it?


[QOUTE=nativegirl;375222]Yet no one seemed to take note of that and the fact that Duggan is a carpet bagger who wouldn't know half of the rest of the City of Detroit neighbors if a map walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and slap the piss out of him! [/QUOTE]

Maybe you should spend some time with him as he goes door to door and to community centers,you could be his guide so as he does not get lost.Be careful though as he is not so much in the select neighborhoods it may get a little rough.

[SWMAP]

Let's talk birther. Duggan=born in Detroit. Napolean= does anyone know for sure?
Kilpatrick=born in Detroit
Archer = not born in Detroit.
Coleman Young= not born in Detroit.
Roman Gribbs= born in Detroit
Jerry Cavanaugh= born in Detroit

What difference does it make?
Well, Duggan can't be a "carpetbagger." He's just coming home in his middle age.

[firstandten]

I hope the cities voting population properly vets both individuals. I don't want to get into a black and white thing or city vs suburb thing. This is a good opportunity since I think both have the potential to be good candidates. I don't want the same old tired arguments about who is going to sell off the city's assets etc. Duggan will need to convince me that he is just not a machine politician and have some concrete plans in place for Detroit. Napoleon needs to show me what he can do as mayor that he didn't do as police chief to reduce crime in the city. I will keep an open mind but I'm not in the mood to hear a whole lot of BS from either candidate. I want concrete workable realistic plans from both to turn the city around.

[brizee]

Race plays into every single thing in this country from politics to looking in a stranger in the eye.

Pretending it doesn't exist does nobody any good.

As a black man I can admit that Duggan's race plays into why I'm voting for him. Not a huge one, mostly I just think the guy is intelligent, ambitious and has a bit of a mean streak. He also lays out a seemingly sensible plan for attacking gun crimes, and vehicle thefts. But I do think some people/businesses/politicians/organizations that would blow Detroit off would give it a second look with a white executive.

My list personally is Duggan, then Howze, then Crittendon. Not familiar enough with Fred Durhal. And I won't vote for Napoleon because he continued the foreclosure enforcement that Evans stopped, and he supposedly has a connection to scrap yard donors. Don't smell right.

[Wesley Mouch]

Let's talk birther. Duggan=born in Detroit. Napolean= does anyone know for sure?
Kilpatrick=born in Detroit
Archer = not born in Detroit.
Coleman Young= not born in Detroit.
Roman Gribbs= born in Detroit
Jerry Cavanaugh= born in Detroit

What difference does it make?
Well, Duggan can't be a "carpetbagger." He's just coming home in his middle age.

Please don't bring facts to the discussion. This is about fighting outsiders, not facts.

So let's suppose Napoleon runs for Governor. Is he ineligible because he's not from outstate?

[7miledog]

Disclaimer: I'm supporting Duggan this go 'round.

What struck me about BN's announcement was the veiled racial allusions made by Judge Mathis [[I think, I heard it in the radio) during his introduction. The reference of the fist of Joe Lewis knocking out the moneyed, corporate elitist, political elitist backed Max Smelling. It seems like Benny will have to own up to these types of references, even if they are made by his surrogates. He sets the tone for his campaign.

His campaign slogan, "the Spirit of Detroit" is pretty good though. Another allusion to Duggan being a recent return to his hometown.

I wonder how Tom Barrow feels about having another candidate steal his only claim to fame.

Overall, I just don't think BN has what it takes to be an effective Mayor. He wasn't even an effective police chief. He just rode the wave of a falling crime rate nationally and a lt of opportunity locally.

[compn]

i guess gil hill is getting too old to run again.
benny napoleon is against prop M , so he loses the marijuana vote.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

You replied by calling him a racist. You're entitled to your own opinion, not your own facts.

You're delusional. " I did not say Big Dog you're a racist for those comments" You're trying to portray me as such. Like you accused Det_ard as well. Seems like you're the one with issues.

[Honky Tonk]

As a black man I can admit that Duggan's race plays into why I'm voting for him. Not a huge one,

I'm not arguing with you, I'm just curious as to why. Do you really feel white people have some kind of advantage? Being white, and being screwed over by whites my whole life, I don't understand why skin color is a factor. Duggan makes me VERY cautious. Napoleon doesn't seem to have the qualifications. The media isn't taking Howze nor Crittendon seriously, and they're not being given enough exposure to make their platforms and policies known. The media seems to be pushing the black/white circus.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I'm not arguing with you, I'm just curious as to why. Do you really feel white people have some kind of advantage? Being white, and being screwed over by whites my whole life, I don't understand why skin color is a factor. Duggan makes me VERY cautious. Napoleon doesn't seem to have the qualifications. The media isn't taking Howze nor Crittendon seriously, and they're not being given enough exposure to make their platforms and policies known. The media seems to be pushing the black/white circus.

Good analysis.

[TexasT]

I'm not arguing with you, I'm just curious as to why. Do you really feel white people have some kind of advantage? Being white, and being screwed over by whites my whole life, I don't understand why skin color is a factor. Duggan makes me VERY cautious. Napoleon doesn't seem to have the qualifications. The media isn't taking Howze nor Crittendon seriously, and they're not being given enough exposure to make their platforms and policies known. The media seems to be pushing the black/white circus.

I think people feel more comfortable with people like themselves. Detroit is the first majority-black area I've ever lived in. I feel a little odd being addressed as "sister" by strangers, lol, but I feel like I have a little privilege over my [[ironically) native-Detroiter white husband around town.

So there's black privilege. There's white privilege. There's male privilege. There's female privilege. But when white males make up the majority of the business and financial sector, white privilege becomes a little more...valuable, for lack of better word. As you start to mix things up like we have been over the past few decades, that privilege fades. But it's still there for now.

Just my take on it. It's been interesting to compare, since both my husband and I come from lower-class, uneducated backgrounds, the only difference being our race [[and gender).

[Danny]

Napoleon will lose the election in the flash against Duggan.