No Step Too Small in Mayor's Race

Why do the current D.C. mayoral contenders insist on turning routine campaign announcements into the dance of a thousand veils?

First, the city watched council members Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4) and Vincent B. Orange Sr . (D-Ward 5) shimmy around. The two men:

a) formed exploratory committees;

b) let it be known they were "leaning strongly" toward entering the 2006 mayoral race;

c) set firm dates for revealing their decisions;

d) declared themselves candidates;

e) all of the above.

Now, Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) is performing a similar veil dance, though Cropp ditched the exploratory committee phase and forgot to play coy when setting a date for her announcement.

In a press release e-mailed to reporters over the weekend, Cropp said she would "file as a candidate for Mayor on September 7." She declined, however, to answer any questions about that decision, and her publicist of the moment, Deborah Clark , refused even to reveal where her announcement would be made.

Thank heavens for Jack Evans , who is never shy about declaring himself a candidate for anything. With Cropp in the race for mayor, Evans (D-Ward 2) said this week he is "definitely going to run" to succeed her.

Evans, you may recall, also declared himself a candidate for mayor earlier this year. But this time it's for real, he said. "I've talked to all my colleagues, to the mayor, to my supporters. I'm definitely going to do it," Evans said. "Not tomorrow. But I'll get around to it."

Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) said she, too, plans to campaign for Cropp's post. "I may actually file papers now, though I won't do a formal announcement until it's more sensible timing," Patterson said. "I don't want anybody to think for a moment that I'm having second thoughts."