Why Should I Vote for Charles Pugh?

[DocTerry]

While I was disappointed in his initial support of King Kwame, he did, eventually, distance himself. However, I did, and will, vote for him despite the failure to do so sooner. Not because I think he has a good, solid plan at this point, but because we do need change and I believe him to be a basically decent person with genuine concern. Why? During his tenure with WJLB, there was an incident at one of the local high schools in which two gay students were discriminated against by the administration. I liked the manner in which Pugh came to their defense - he was assertive and well-spoken, of course, but he also did not use the incident to "get the spotlight", but was clearly, genuinely trying to support and assist the students. Also, we have run into him a number of times downtown when he was "off". At every contact, despite it being what could be seen as an intrusion into his personal time [[as many "celebrities" see it), he was willing to take some time to visit and seemed genuinely interested in the perspectives of others. This includes several times my son has run into him when I was not present, as was well before any hint he would be entering the political realm. However, I would not want to see him as council president for his first term - there is too much to learn first time around on any board/council/etc.

[EDBL]

Perhaps I wasn't clear. Pugh will definitely do well. He has good ideas and deserves the opportunity to put them into action. He will win a seat and might make Pro Tem but I don't see him being the top vote getter for the reasons I previously made.

While it was heartening to see him receive the endorsements from AME and the Baptist Council you have to understand that there are not alot of churches that belong to these organizations. Very large churches yes, but when you look at the sheer number of churches in Detroit they are not very inclusive.

In addition, this does not address the COGIC [[Church of God in Christ) and the Pentecotals both of which do not support alternative lifestyles.

I sincerely hope he does make it on council because he does not seem to be bought and paid for. Unfortunately, that same reason is why you will start seeing mudslinging against him as the election draws nearer.

I never said that there was going to be a swell of support for incumbents. Tilabi losing would not surprise me especially if she doesn't get much support from the West side since her base is on the East side which has fewer voters.

Logically, Watson should lose but she does have strong grassroots support. This would be abit more of a surprise.

My two cents

[stasu1213]

I am not for the homosexual lifestyle for God is against it; but Mr Pugh might be more for the people of Detroit than any of the controlled council person's we had in the past. He has nothing to hide unlike the others whom are having the light shone on their dirty deeds and kickbacks

[SaintMe]

I am not for the homosexual lifestyle for God is against it;

We're discussing Charles Pugh, not your beliefs on homosexuality. If you need to put down an entire group of people, start a new thread for it.

[ejames01]

How do you know that God is against it?

I am not for the homosexual lifestyle for God is against it; but Mr Pugh might be more for the people of Detroit than any of the controlled council person's we had in the past. He has nothing to hide unlike the others whom are having the light shone on their dirty deeds and kickbacks

[Retroit]

It seems to me to be a case of name recognition or celebrity status. He gives vague, bland, unspecific responses when questioned, but the poor quality of the competition does make him look good. It's kind of like running for President of the United States: you don't have to be good, you just have to be better than the other guy/gal.

[MIRepublic]

Perhaps I wasn't clear. Pugh will definitely do well. He has good ideas and deserves the opportunity to put them into action. He will win a seat and might make Pro Tem but I don't see him being the top vote getter for the reasons I previously made.

While it was heartening to see him receive the endorsements from AME and the Baptist Council you have to understand that there are not alot of churches that belong to these organizations. Very large churches yes, but when you look at the sheer number of churches in Detroit they are not very inclusive.

In addition, this does not address the COGIC [[Church of God in Christ) and the Pentecotals both of which do not support alternative lifestyles.

I sincerely hope he does make it on council because he does not seem to be bought and paid for. Unfortunately, that same reason is why you will start seeing mudslinging against him as the election draws nearer.

I never said that there was going to be a swell of support for incumbents. Tilabi losing would not surprise me especially if she doesn't get much support from the West side since her base is on the East side which has fewer voters.

Logically, Watson should lose but she does have strong grassroots support. This would be abit more of a surprise.

My two cents

You keep trying to make a case why he won't continue to be the top vote-getter come November, but you fail every time. Besides your feelings on this, you don't back it up with any credible kind of explanation. It's like you're refusing to call a duck a duck. Unless Pugh implodes due to some major scandal, what credible case can be made for Pugh losing 10,000 votes and Cockrel gaining that many directly from him? Maybe you don't know how municipal elections work. The only thing likely to change is the line-up near the bottom. The top three our four positions are basically locked for November.

Again, short of a scandal, this is absolutely nothing to suggest that Pugh will lose steam enough steam or that Cockrel will gain at the expense of Pugh come November that Pugh will lose his number one placing. This is a pretty simple observation of trends and statistics, here.

[EDBL]

You keep trying to make a case why he won't continue to be the top vote-getter come November, but you fail every time. Besides your feelings on this, you don't back it up with any credible kind of explanation. It's like you're refusing to call a duck a duck. Unless Pugh implodes due to some major scandal, what credible case can be made for Pugh losing 10,000 votes and Cockrel gaining that many directly from him? Maybe you don't know how municipal elections work. The only thing likely to change is the line-up near the bottom. The top three our four positions are basically locked for November.

Again, short of a scandal, this is absolutely nothing to suggest that Pugh will lose steam enough steam or that Cockrel will gain at the expense of Pugh come November that Pugh will lose his number one placing. This is a pretty simple observation of trends and statistics, here.

I'm not trying to make a case, I'm only offering my opinion.

As far as being the leading vote getter let's look at the last council election. In the August 2005 primary there were 127K votes cast versus 235K in the November general election. Ken Cockrel came in first and kept that lead in November.

The interesting thing is that Monica Conyers had 28K votes in the August primary and ended up with 123K votes to take the second spot. Since only half of the voters participate in the primary it is entirely possible for Cockrel to gain ground.

If you have the lead in a citywide primary you might keep it, as in Cockrels case, or you might not. Just ask Freman Hendrix.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.