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COVER STORYSept. 8, 2006

Promises to save the schools…aging pols cannibalizing the few higher offices in the city…generational clashes on the campaign trail: Must be primary time in the District of Columbia.

By Mike DeBonis

Blighted Cropp

A Look at the District Under a Fenty-Cropp-Johns-Brown-
Orange-Milligan Administration

Playing the Fields: Can Phil Mendelson go one-on-one?

Why Is Vincent Orange Still Campaigning? (Hint: Vitamin C)

Hill Staffer’s Primer on the D.C. Primary

Linda Cropp: Worst Campaigner Since Home Rule?

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

Cropp Cropped

A campaign flier, translated for your comprehension

Linda Cropp has enjoyed a lengthy, productive career in public service. As such, she can claim plenty of accomplishments. (Or at least she can associate herself with plenty of accomplishments.) But when it comes to selling yourself to voters, many deeds don’t necessarily translate into many votes.

Take this Cropp flier distributed to Ward 6 voters: It’s over 600 words long, features big blocks of text, and uses phrases like “tax increment financing” and “inclusionary zoning policy.”

The Great Communicator, she ain’t.

So we’re going to help Cropp get her message out, by translating this unreadable flier into the stuff of $300-an-hour PR consultants.

ORIGINAL CROPP FLYER

CROPP-CAMPAIGNESE-TO-ENGLISH TRANSLATION & REDESIGN

WORRIED YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO BUY A HOME IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD?

I've supported tax breaks and city assistance to help Ward 6 residents own their own homes. And I haven’t forgotten about renters, either. Every time big business wanted to scrap rent control, I voted to keep rents affordable.

I've made sure that the rising real-estate market doesn't force out longtime homeowners. I've worked hard on the council to keep property taxes under control.

EVERYONE KNOWS I FOUGHT FOR A PRICE CAP ON THE BASEBALL STADIUM.

But that's not the only development that will bring jobs and retail dollars to Ward 6. I supported thousands of new jobs at the Navy Yard, a new Department of Transportation headquarters, and a rebuilt South Capitol Street Bridge.

THAT MEANS IN A FEW YEARS, NEAR SOUTHEAST WILL BE A REAL NEIGHBORHOOD AGAIN.

It’ll be a place that will be walkable, will have easy access to Metro, and will have parks, shops, and sit-down restaurants galore. And it won’t just be for yuppies—I led the council in requiring that developers set aside units for folks with moderate incomes, such as teachers and police officers.

AND, THANKS TO MY LEADERSHIP, THE SAME THING IS COMING TO OTHER PARTS OF THE WARD.

With me as chairman, the council has passed development plans for H Street NE, the Anacostia and Southwest waterfronts, and the D.C. General campus. CP