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The atmosphere at the Election Commission was almost giddy, as
Wharton and his wife Ruby, all grins, entered amid a chorus of cheers,
and continued so as the county mayor sat down before a clerk at the
glass window and did all the elaborate signing required merely to
receive a petition. (Detail buffs will be interested to know that
front-runner Wharton is left-handed, as is Obama, as — for that matter
— is Bill Clinton.)
Afterward, he did his best to suppress what seemed to be his own
natural high and promised not to be “distracted” by trivia like whether
former Mayor — and possible candidate — Willie Herenton should take a
drug test, as suggested by Lowery (in a throwaway line that the acting
mayor indicated Thursday he maybe regretted). Or whether there are too
many candidates in the mayoral race (something that, a month ago, had
seemed to vex Wharton, who saw the phenomenon leading to possible
“flukes” in the outcome).
All that was for “less disciplined folks,” who might “become
distracted,” not for someone like himself who had “spent a lot of time
in courtrooms,” said the longtime Public Defender. Nor was he worried
about being sandbagged by opponents in the various debates he has
already agreed to.
“What people are looking for in the roughest of times is someone who
can maintain a good demeanor,” Wharton said, doing his best to so
maintain and manfully trying to put away the optimistic grin that kept
sprouting on his face.
He got some late help on that from Bill Dries of the Daily News,
who put forth a string of wonky process questions concerning the
recently proposed city/county consolidation commission. The most
tantalizing of those asked Wharton to ponder whether he might end up by
virtue of the election results appointing the 10 county members as well
as the five city members.
A C allowed as how he didn’t think so. But even if it did work out
that way, people would still be well served by the commission. “Anytime
people are asked to focus on the form of their government, it’s a good
thing,” he suggested.
As soon as the impromptu press conference was over, Wharton’s
sizeable entourage gave up another collective whoop, and the whole
ensemble left the building the way they had entered it, in a mood to
celebrate. |
