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Dave Kranich Fighting The Fenty Juggernaut
The numbers say Nov. 7 doesn't look bright for the GOP's Dave Kranich, who wants to be mayor of D.C., a hugely Democratic jurisdiction.
(By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)
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None of that seems to matter to Kranich, who has been a persistent salesman since he was a boy, said his parents, Lynne and George Kranich, who live in a Philadelphia suburb.
Lynne Kranich, 58, said she is not counting her son out. She told the story of his begging to go on a high school class trip to Europe although he was considered too young. The Kranichs tried to make the $1,000 cost an obstacle to discourage him. "We told him, 'You can earn your way there.' We thought, 'There's no way he can do this,' " she said.
Kranich sold $1,000 worth of sausages and cheese and went on the trip.
He continued to sell in college.
When he moved to the District about 12 years ago, he saw a newspaper ad about Christmas trees. He began knocking on doors and asking people whether they would buy Christmas trees from him. He found that a delivery and set-up business could be profitable. His high-powered Washington clients included Donna Shalala, former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services.
At the same time, Kranich had another entrepreneurial idea: a bottled smoothie called "Kranich's Fruitful Daze." He said it took him nine months to come up with the perfect combination of strawberry juice from Mexico, banana puree from Central America and orange juice from Florida.
Both businesses succeeded. But the Christmas trees were a logistical nightmare -- harvesting in Pennsylvania and storage in Virginia. Then Sept. 11 cut into the smoothie venture: Many of his biggest customers were at Union Station and Pentagon City, he said.
Kranich decided to go into real estate, and to catch up on the District social scene that he missed during his 20s.
He rarely forgets a name, a talent he developed as early as nursery school, when he could name every child in his class and where to hang their coats, his mother said. The consummate nice guy. That's how most people know him.
At the Capitol Hill Club last week, Kranich mingled with young Republicans who drank beer and wine during their meeting in a basement room decorated to look like a den. As they sat on paisley and striped couches, a few talked about how having Fenty as mayor would be interesting.
The group voted to endorse Kranich and the rest of the Republican slate in the general election, a proposal by Kris Hammond, a Young Republicans national committeeman.
But Hammond seemed aware that few people were getting behind Kranich. Not even Republicans. Not even the loyal happy-hour crowd.
Hammond smiled bravely. "I only wish that all of the people who came to his happy hours worked on his campaign," he said.
