Williams Sightings Spark Talk of a Run

"Whoever wants to win this race is going to have to be out there seven days a week, all day, every day," Fenty said. "Not just at big public events, but really in the field, in the neighborhood, on people's blocks and people's doorsteps."

Still, some of the mayor's supporters are optimistic that his busy schedule is a sign that he plans to run.

"The last time I saw him doing this much retail, on-the-street kind of stuff was when he was running for reelection," said Tony Bullock, Williams's former communications director. "I think he actually surprises himself at how much he enjoys that kind of contact. He might dread the thought of it, but when he's actually doing it, he's good at it and he likes it."

Williams certainly seemed to be having fun at Ben's Chili Bowl. His lunch date with teacher Michele Thurber's second-grade class was the product of a PTA auction in May. Lunch with the mayor was offered to the highest bidder. Vincent H. Cohen Jr. paid $400 so his nephew, Kyle Hudson, 8, and his class could chew the fat with Williams, according to PTA president Barry Hudson, who is also Kyle's dad.

The children -- little girls in white polo shirts and elaborate braids and little boys with close-cropped hair -- chattered excitedly while they ate their food and waited for Williams, who arrived about 15 minutes late.

"Here he comes. There he is!" Thurber told the children as Williams and his security detail entered the room.

Williams ate, answered the children's questions and praised them effusively for their interest in reading, math and public service. Then he wandered out to the restaurant's crowded front counter and started shaking hands.

He looked for all the world like a politician on the campaign trail. Was it another sign?

"No, no, no," Washington's famously reticent mayor objected. "I always do this."