Fenty's Early Test: Can He Take a Punch?

The D.C. Council was her worst nightmare; her political flanks were always exposed. She was an outsider in her own government. The constituency that put her in office seemed to evaporate. She came in as a loner and left alone.

Neither Marion Barry nor the city's first elected mayor, Walter Washington, considered the job a cakewalk. Both took plenty of hits.

Then there is our current mayor, Anthony A. Williams, who sat down for lunch with some of us at The Post a year ago and mused about the prospect of seeking a third term. "I've been sitting in the frying pan since, well, as [chief financial officer], I was in the frying pan," he told us. "As mayor I'm in the frying pan. I'm just sitting here on the griddle now, and I've got to really think, you know, do I want to stay here on the griddle?"

In that same interview, Williams spelled out the challenge of being mayor. "You should not do the job unless you're willing to take risks. And you shouldn't do the job unless you're willing to lose the job, too."

And that means hanging tough even when the other side is landing blow after blow below the belt.

Sharon Pratt, for example, brought some bright and talented women into her administration. Her council detractors dubbed her administration -- behind her back -- the "shoulder pad brigade." And because several of her appointees and inner circle were fair-skinned, like her, Pratt's critics circulated word that she was building a "pigmentocracy." A cruel thing to say in this color-conscious city.

Let's get back to Fenty.

We know he has the energy and discipline to wage a campaign on behalf of himself. But how will he stand up when he is put down for something he's done or has failed to do? Does he have the stomach to fight back? Will he cave under personal attacks?

With only a month until primary day, those questions remain unanswered. That's why Cropp, who is trying to undermine Fenty, is, albeit unintentionally, rendering a public service.

kingc@washpost.com