The Politics Meister

WYPR hosted a lively debate between Patricia Jessamy and Gregg Bernstein On Thursday. If you missed it you can listen to it here. Please take some time to listen to the entire thing.

Page Croyder has a solid summary of the debate here. I also noticed that Jessamy repeatedly defended her tenure by calling Bernstein a liar and saying that he did not understand the job. There was little substance behind what she had to say and at times she seemed to get lost in her own words. She ended up not making any sense a few times. Her funniest line was “I am the technology queen”. At times you could hear her laughing at Bernstein in the background. He calls her out about it at one point. Bernstein was very lawyer-like, competent, and professional. He seemed like a guy I would want advising me on legal matters. Jessamy seemed to be a typical Baltimore bureaucrat who deflected questions by talking about different layered departments and bureaucratic processes. She also called Dan Rodricks “Rod” in her opening statement. This debate clearly helped Bernstein more than it helped Jessamy.  Please listen to the entire debate here.

WJZ has posted Jessamy’s news conference from the other day. Keep in mind that she called this news conference. She did not handle reporters’ questions very well. She seemed to use the conference to rip on the police and prop up her campaign and ego. At times she might as well have been saying “me me me me me me… It’s all about me!” Around the seven minute mark while taking about what a Bernstein tenure might look like she says: “We don’t want a police state in Baltimore City, we deserve better”.

On Tuesday Patricia Jessamy questioned the “integrity and credibility” of police commissioner Frederick Bealefeld. The State’s Attorney is not happy that the police commissioner is openly supporting her opponent in the 2010 race for Baltimore state’s attorney. Jessamy wants the commissioner to be investigated!

I believe Jessamy is worried about this election and I think attacking the police commissioner is a calculated move on her part. She needed to find an opportunity to define her true self to her core constituency and target voters. Bealefeld’s support of Bernstein allowed Jessamy to clearly debut her strategy. She is not going to challenge her opponent, she is going to challenge the police. Thanks to the commissioner she can now paint this race as a choice between “Tough and Smart on Crime” Jessamy and the supposedly investigation worthy police. She knows that running a campaign against Bernstein will not energize her core constituency. If she makes the police appear to be the bad guys instead of the PARTNERS SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS then she should be able to get a large segment of the Baltimore population who also believes this to be true out to the voting booths and voting for her in September. Since Baltimore has become a twilight zone of sorts where many feel that bad is good and lawlessness is law, this strategy is a solid one for her campaign.

I also want to remind everyone that quite a few high ranking mayoral appointees take public stands during local elections. In 2007 I personally saw housing commissioner Paul Graziano support the Dixon campaign in public view. What Bealefeld did is nothing new in Baltimore.

In related news I found my first Jessamy campaign print promotion on the ground when running on Auchentoroly Terrace (near Mondawmin Mall) yesterday. “Tough and Smart on Crime” was the theme and there was a nice glamor shot photo of the state’s attorney on the front.

The Canton Community Association will host a live debate between the two candidates on Tuesday, August 24 at 7:00 PM at the United Evangelical Church, 3200 Dillon Street (at the corner of East Avenue in Canton). I wonder if somebody will ask about the Zach Sowers case?

Also check out what  Page Croyder and Frank Conway Sr.
think about the sign controversy.