As reported in the Bay Citizen, undeclared and/or undecided mayoral candidate Ed Lee and long-ago decided mayoral candidate David Chiu both turned out for a public safety event in the Bayview today.
Lee stood smiling next to (Chiu), a mayoral candidate who has desperately sought to keep Lee out of the race.
As soon as the event finished, Lee and Chiu -- close political allies just six months ago -- spoke separately to a throng of reporters on the sidewalk, several yards apart.
Awk-warrrrd.
Meanwhile, also today, about one hundred supporters of the “Run Ed Run” campaign rallied on the steps of City Hall, KQED's Mina Kim reports. With great fanfare, they revealed – one digit at a time – the 51,063 signatures they’ve collected to try and draft Lee to run for mayor.
On Friday I talked to political analyst and academic Corey Cook about the potential candidacy of Lee, which looks increasingly more likely each day. Cook said if Lee enters the race, he'd so as the favorite, as long as he could offer an adequate explanation as to why he broke his vow not to run.
Lee would also have to overcome losing the apolitical halo, Cook said, that has worked to his advantage in brokering deals on important issues like the budget and pension reform. Listen to Part 1 of that interview here.