Look who shows up

At yesterday's public meeting where public housing residents gave HANO and HUD officials a much deserved haranguing about the unnacceptable planned demolitions of most of the city's remaining housing projects, what man of the people did we find raising hell among the rabble?

U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, said HANO can repair its units and reopen homes, recalling that Tulane Hospital was flooded yet cleaned well enough to treat patients.

"Being poor is not a crime," Jefferson said, quieting the room after he rose from the front row to a splash of cheers and flashbulbs from the press. "These are good, decent people."

Say all you will about the fundraising scoreboard or the air war (both of which look like a push to me at this point) Dollar Bill is out there drumming up the target vote on the ground. I can't say with any certainty where this race is right now. But I will say this. If Carter can't satisfactorily address either this issue or Iraq in the next debate.. hell I might even have to vote for Dollar Bill. That's how poorly I think she's doing right now.