Thursday, October 29, 2009

We don't need a businessman...we need a caterer

While I'm still searching for the article itself (heretis), an AZ reader pointed out a recent Bayou Buzz article on a John Georges soiree in which they assessed the gravity of the candidate by the quality of alcohol and food at the event:

The former Gubernatorial candidate made the biggest Mayoral splash this past week with a high dollar reception at Royal Street's Montelone Hotel.

The fact that Georges won Orleans Parish in his 2007 bid for Governor--as an Independent no less--was not lost on the biracial crowd as they munched on hors d'oeuvres and heard the Imperial Trading Inc. CEO speak.

While many outsiders judge these events on simple dollars collected, most political insiders, sentenced to endless fundraisers have come up with their own way to judge the quality of political events--the food and booze. By that calculation, as by all others, Georges' event on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, was a success.

Not only did he draw several hundred contributors to his fundraiser on a mid-week evening, as well as TV cameras from all the local stations, but he had the best food yet seen this Mayoral season. The gourmet delights included pan fried oysters over eggplant dressing and hollandaise, Chefs at turkey and beef cutting boards, and pan-seared Gulf Shrimp shiskabobed.

Add to that the top shelf alcohols served upon request, and one had an indication of the lengths that Georges will go to comfort his supporters. He has pledged to spend upwards of two million dollars of his own money on the Mayoral bid, potentially as much as the other candidates can raise combined.

And, besides the large crowd, Georges drew many political officials to his gathering including State Rep. Neil Abramson, former State Rep. Sherman Copelin, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Norman, Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng (daughter of Harry Lee), former Council candidate and GOP New Orleans Brahmin Michael Grey and former Democratic Congressional candidate Helena Moreno.

As Georges will not announce his campaign until this coming week, the common joke in the room was, "I'm not a candidate, but if I were..." (This manifested best when Georges' spouse took the podium after her husband, and said, "If you want to change New Orleans, vote for John--but I can't say that until next week.")

Hang on...I'm still stuck in a cringe....(eechhh..phootooohey)...better.

The only way this should have made news is if he threw this party at a homeless shelter.

This is exactly what we need as mayor....a guy who knows how to cater a party. That's a great platform to run on....if Georges is elected mayor he will open up the convention center to visiting tourists and provide free booze and food every night.

All right, enough of that.

On to some interesting rumors swirling about the Mayor's race and Leslie Jacobs. I have heard two scenarios bounced around with Jacbos, both equally interesting.

The first scenario is that Georges is not announcing because he plans to bow out and throw his support behind Jacobs. That's pretty crazy, I know, but its a crazy town.

The second scenario, and more likely, is that Jacobs will lower her sights and run for the District A city council seat. That's actually encouraging to me and seems to be a much more fertile possibility than "Herzonnah, Mayor Jacobs".

I just can't see her being an effective mayor, even if she could magically garner the votes she needs to win. Leslie is hyper-intelligent, but that isn't a prerequisite to make a good politician. I doubt she could build effective coalitions with the people she would need to break bread with and I think she would quickly be framed as Peggy Wilson V.3 (Head earned V.2 honors). I'm afraid she may approach the process with an attitude of "unyielding determination" and that shite will hit the fan, just ask Peggy V.2.

Councilperson Jacobs, on the other hand, is a rather attractive thought to me. I am, of course, on the Anybody but Batt bandwagon, and I think Jacobs could definitely pull a "Midura" out of her hat in District A. I think that will come down to what her motivation for running for public office is. If she's on an ego trip and is dreaming of Herzonner status, then I think she's wasting her time. If she really wants to serve the city, and she would probably do a great job, District A would be a great place to cut her teeth. In 4 to 8 years, maybe mayor would be a realistic pursuit, but I just don't see how it could possibly happen in this election....but wtf do I know.

While we're on the subject of ego....it was also pointed out to me that John Georges became his own fan on his FakeBook page. That's silly, I know, but funny nonetheless.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, becoming his own fan only re-enforces the perception people have that he is a total narcisist.

Civitch said...

I cannot *stand* Georges, but in this instance the person I really have a problem with is the author of the article. Why did he choose to highlight this aspect of the event? Since when did the quality of food and booze signify the strength of a campaign or candidate?

Michael Homan said...

Regarding Leslie Jacobs, haven't we had enough of politicians who want to run government like a business? I think Virginia Blanque makes a much more attractive candidate.

Caterer said...

Never trust a man who does not know how to cook and clean up after