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Health & Fitness

Why Wendy Greuel Lost the Election For Mayor of Los Angeles

Why  Wendy Greuel Lost Her Election For Mayor of Los Angeles   By Jack McGrath  

Wendy Greuel spent over $5 million dollars in her campaign for Mayor and lost. That is as bad as our NEW LA Dodgers, with the highest payroll in baseball, and are presently in last place. She is projected to receive just over 200,000 votes, which means she spent $25.00 per voter. She might as well  have sent a coupon for a free Big Mack, fries, and a Coke to all the voters, redeemable if she was elected Mayor. She might have won with this ploy.   I believe Independent committees have become toxic for candidates. The independent committee, Working Californians, a pro Greuel Super Pac. received $2.8 million dollars contributed to it, from one entitiy, the IBEW Local 18, which repesents over 8000 DWP employees. Each time this committee filed a spending report with the city, the public found Greuel had received another whopping contribution from the union. The more money given to the Greuel campaign, the more the issue was reported by the LA Times, Daily News, LAWeekly, KPPC radio, and various other television broadcast outlets. The Garcetti campaign had a very effective 30 second campaign commercial calling Wendy Greuel the "DWP Mayor". They spent over $1.75 million dollars airing this commercial in the LA media market for the final two weeks of the campaign. Greuel could not respond to it. It was true and instilled fear in the voter's mind.   She on numerous occasions said she had the LA Chamber and County Fed of Labor endorsing her for Mayor. Most voters know these two groups are totally opposed to each other on labor issues. How can she have both behind her? The voters did not buy it.   Those citizens comprising the voters who went to the polls viewed many of the television debates. These debates were seen by the small number of citizens, who went to the polls on Tue. Wendy Greuel at the debates, was shrill, and had a cold presence to her delivery. She needed some coaching from some of her entertainment backers such as Speilberg and Katzenberg, but obviously never asked for any help. She had no charm, and her verbal pacing was non-existant. She looked desperate instead of calm and in charge.   It was obvious Greuel thought her big hitters like Bill Clinton, Barbara Boxer, Magic Johnson, and others would get her over the top. That was not the case. She never even had half of the female electorate backing her candidacy at any time. Being a mother does not mean you have the qualities to be an effective Mayor. Touting big names does not guarantee voter support.   Also blaming the media for your campaign ills is not an effective strategy. All it does is upset the reporters covering you. Greuel lashed out at the print reporters at the LA Times and Daily News for their coverage of campaign events. Reporters do not react positively, when their integrity is questioned.   Finally, Greuel and her campaign staff, totally mismanaged her financial resources. She had no televison spots on the air for the final week. She had to hope her independent campaign committees would keep her alive through election day. That was not the case. On election eve, Garcetti had four 30 sec commercials on the NBC 4 11PM news. Greuel had none.   Mayor- elect Garcetti ran an effective campaign, and his financial resources were spent wisely up to and including election day. He looked confident, and his many small and large contributors kept the funds flowing when he needed them for the final week of the campaign.   Based on the Greuel defeat, I believe candidates in the future will stay clear of controversial independent committees with large special interest war chests. They are too controversial, and can create a political backlash for the candidate receiving the support. The DWP IBEW issue was Greuel's downfall.    

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