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When Deidre Lloyd asked candidates to name three, in bullet points, "Do NOT explain," she pleaded the long-winded candidates, THREE things they loved about Birmingham, well...  not only did they no honor her request to not explain their choices (oh, the rambling) but they didn't make it to three!  Bell said the people and UAB, and Cooper eagerly agreed how much he loved UAB and took his entire 30 seconds doing so. 

Um, let's see... The Civil Rights Institute, Carver Theatre, Birmingham Museum of Art, great restaurants and culinary traditions, Ruffner Mountain Nature Center, the symphony, Sloss Furnaces, the MYRIAD of art galleries and artists in town, the zeal of the non-profit sector, parks and green spaces galore, Birmingham Children's Theatre, Rickwood Fields (Will someone please help them?)... I could really go on forever.  Couldn't You?

Let me take a moment to congratulate Birmingham for the turnout to the Sirote theatre and for the use of internet and social media to stream the debates into homes throughout the city, reaching those who were out of town for the debates, even.  That's way cool.  And let me take a moment to congratulate both candidates for at least being fun to watch.

I must say, Birminghamians, I am intrigued as to how this will all play out.  The crowd in attendance seemed evenly split between fans of each candidate and then 1/3 or so of undecideds.  My own take is that whatever happens in the next two years, it will likely involve a lot of recovery projects to undo what was done the last two years in City Hall.  Whoever wins will likely either end up winning the next four years of office as well, or will never set foot in City Hall again. 

Both candidates have some strengths.  Both have some regrettable flaws.  What's new about that in politics?  About as much as candidates actually answering the questions they were asked.  I'll admit that I was grumpy when I left the Sirote theatre, not uplifted.  So, to lift myself up, I will BULLET POINT (because I know how) each candidate's strengths, in my opinion.  In alphabetical order, the candidates:

William Bell

1. Deeply connected to the west side of town, which seems to need the most help.
2. Very good at sound bites, which helps when you're trying to sell ideas to businesses, for example.
3. Extremely experienced and seemingly adept with financial statistics.
4. Already has political momentum which helps when dealing with other political entities. (other municipalities, or county and state)

Patrick Cooper

1. Will bring a new group of faces into City Hall, including new contacts from the private sector.
2. Seems eager to deal with crime and public transit.
3. Is eager to embrace charter schools and pre-K as an option for schools if money is alotted for those programs.
4. Is focused on problems and causes of poverty and urban blight.

So there it is, my short list for each candidate's strengths.

What are yours?  Did you watch the debates?  How do you feel about them at this point?  Who will you vote for.  I want to know what you're thinking, Birmingham.

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