http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/18/mayoral-challenger-alexander-says-fixing-families-/?page=1his is the first in a series of one-on-one conversations with 2010 D.C. candidates who are running against incumbents.
Leo Alexander has a message for voters who aren't holding up their end of the civil rights bargain.
"End generational poverty."
He also has a solution.
"Fix broken families."
He has a tough political row to hoe, too.
Mr. Alexander, a Democrat who is maintaining a distant third place in the primary race for D.C. mayor, has a shallow war chest, few endorsements of consequence and a position on some social issues that's more akin to Stop ERA crusader Phyllis Schlafly than those of his liberal rivals.
He is the only candidate in any D.C. race to be endorsed by Mrs. Schlafly's Eagle Forum, and he had only $701 in campaign funds during the June reporting period. He has been called a spoiler in what otherwise would be a two-way race, but don't talk to Mr. Alexander about stepping aside prior to the Sept. 14 primary.
A former TV reporter and D.C. government spokesman, Mr. Alexander, 46, said he's in the race for the long haul on behalf of voters struggling to restore the roots of the city.
He talks about the sights and sounds of communities that he has covered over the years. The ravages of crack. The Washington Times reporter who was assaulted by a charter-school principal. Nightly violence. City Hall scandals. Bleak neighborhoods with no hope of change. The overcrowded emergency rooms at D.C. General Hospital, where he served as spokesman. Families he interviewed for news stories that had been crammed into public housing for two or three generations.
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very interesting man
