By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 13, 2006
NEW ORLEANS - For a city where politics can resemble a French Quarter burlesque show, Mayor Ray Nagin and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu are running a surprisingly gentlemanly race for mayor.
Landrieu, for example, could criticize Nagin for not evacuating the city ahead of Hurricane Katrina, for ranting and bursting into tears as New Orleans descended into chaos or for saying God wants New Orleans to become a "chocolate city" once more.
And Nagin could portray Landrieu as a white interloper in a city that has had a black mayor for nearly three decades, and blast the career politician and his well-connected family for failing to fix New Orleans' high crime, poor schools and declining population before Katrina.
While the two candidates in next Saturday's election may have implied some of those things, they haven't come right out and said them. And that might be the right approach in a city where many voters seem weary and preoccupied with rebuilding their lives.
"The reason you don't see the level of attacks is because voters just don't have the appetite," said longtime political analyst Silas Lee. "The city is devastated, and people want answers and not vacuous attacks."
Considering what is at stake, many voters had every right to expect a fight. This has been called the most important election in New Orleans' history, a race that could determine the future of one of America's most distinctive cities for generations to come.
Nagin and Landrieu were the top finishers in a 22-candidate race on April 22. Nagin got 38 percent to Landrieu's 29 percent. Because so many of New Orleans' half-million pre-Katrina inhabitants are scattered around the country, and because many voters will cast absentee ballots or take a bus into town to vote, there are no reliable polls on what might happen on Election Day.
On the campaign trail, Landrieu says he is the leader who can draw people together and get the job done, but he has been an almost apologetic challenger at times.
"One of the most difficult things I've had to do over the last several months is stand up and say, 'Choose me over Ray Nagin,' who I like very much and get along with," Landrieu said this week.
