No frog is without warts, however. To more than a few, Gallo, despite defeating the party establishment in the primary, still represents a continuum of old-boy insider City Hall politics. It will be difficult to set the city on a new course with much of the same baggage in tow.
Of particular concern is Gallo’s Working Families Party nomination. Having snatched primary victory from the jaws of defeat for Gallo, the party will not be expect to be denied when it comes time to negotiate contracts with the city labor unions next year.
Republican challenger Ron Polacco has run a different kind of one-man campaign, going door to door and engaging people face-to-face in their living rooms. It worked in the Republican primary where he nosed out party nominee Andi Turco-Levin by just 10 votes. There, only about 500 votes were in play. On Nov. 8, upwards of 5,000 will cast votes. Nobody can hit that many doors.
Dogged determination aside, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of there with Polacco, a college graduate with business experience. There is concern as to whether the two-term alderman would be up to the demanding challenges of being the city’s chief executive.
In campaigns, judgments are largely made on how candidates address issues. It is not enough to articulate the problems.
Whereas the other candidates can discuss issues and strategies chapter and verse, Polacco speaks in vague front-porch generalities of new directions, of starting over. When asked for specifics, he reverts to generalities. He is proud of voting against all three city budgets presented him as an alderman, but says he wants to beef up public safety. Many see this as a contradiction in terms. He says the answer is for police to be “more aggressive.”
It becomes clear after some prying that Polacco has been a no-vote on almost every issue of consequence that came before the Common Council during his two terms. He said he voted for tree plantings once.
For a practiced politician, he has the curious speech pattern of talking very quickly and mumbling. Polacco, at a debate at City Hall last Saturday, noted that some members of the audience said they couldn’t understand him. He blamed it on the sound system. The other candidates had no such problems.
There is no question Polacco marches to his own drummer. By and large, that is a good thing. But, while Gallo has gone cheek-by-jowl with popular two-term Alderman-at-Large Jim Noble, Polacco avoids his running mate, Joe Marchetti. Marchetti held two fund-raisers last month. Polacco attended neither. Polacco may be running a shoestring campaign, but Marchetti’s $25 price of admission shouldn’t have broken the bank. Pressed for whom he favors for alderman-at-large, he says they are “separate races.” True, but Gallo-Noble appreciates the synergy that can accrue to both candidates.
Conservative Rich Cahill Jr. calls himself the “idea guy,” which compared to Polacco, is fair enough. In truth, Cahill speaks to the kinds of specifics people like to hear from candidates, but as a third-party hopeful his chances of winning are nothing short of minuscule. If anything, Cahill draws from Polacco’s base where slim pickings are the rule.
Red Dog candidate Steve Ladin brings a Polacco-like grassroots work ethic to the campaign. He says he’s talked to more than 4,000 residents on his walking tours of the city (with his red dog). He offers insight and common-sense solutions. But about the only place a guy running on the Red Dog ticket can get elected is at the SPCA.
