David Warnock is a good man. He’s just not a good candidate with anything exceptional to offer the people of Baltimore.
Smart and hard working, he has a long-proven record of success as a venture capitalist and has spent millions of his own money through his foundation and other initiatives for the benefit of his adopted city. So why isn’t he doing better in the polls?
The simple answer is, money can’t buy you love. (Be sure to click on the link!)
Despite having loaned his campaign $1.8 million dollars, he’s still stuck well below 10% in the polls. (These are loans now, but they’ll become contributions later when he writes them off. No way is his campaign paying him back.) He should have dropped out after the last Sun poll showed him at only 7%. Instead, he’s loaned his campaign another $300,000 for, no doubt, one last round of broadcast television commercials. Why is that? Why is he stuck? Why isn’t he in the running?
The simple answer is that Mr. Warnock is just not an appealing candidate. It isn’t about the money, that’s for sure. By now, his broadcast television commercials have been seen by their target audience of likely voters several times over. So why isn’t he leading or even in second or third place in the polls?
- He’s the slow-motion candidate for Mayor.
For whatever artistic reasons, his advertising agency continues to show Mr. Warnock moving in slow motion. It’s not an effective trick. It’s borderline creepy, particularly in the earlier commercials when he’s walking down the center of abandoned streets or around the harbor.
- He’s not a politician.
We get it. Stop telling us that. Mr. Warnock, with all due respect, you are a politician, at least you became one the day you filed. You’re just not a very good one.
- His message is off or weak or both.
We’re not sure. It’s a mess. This is Baltimore. This is not a place or time for nuance. The election is about jobs and crime. Everything else is just a distraction. If you’ve got something to say to the voters, look them in the face and tell them what’s on your mind as directly and as clearly as possible.
Okay. Lesson learned. It’s too late for Mr. Warnock to change course. Stick a fork in his candidacy and call it “Done.” So what, under the circumstances, can he do to finish strong? He can drop out. He doesn’t have to endorse anyone but, if he really cares about this city, he can concede, at least to himself, that he’s just not an appealing candidate with anything special to offer – and set his 7% in the polls free to go where it might.
Ironically, think of the jobs he might have helped create had he and his venture capital company, Camden Partners, invested his $1.8 million in one or more Baltimore City employers in the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods.
