May 18, 2005
Kotkin: Pathetic Turnout Overshadows Historic Victory
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Joel Kotkin, an Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, is the author of “The City: A Global History.” |
All the hosannahs being sung today about Antonio’s election are pretty pathetic. The real story was the low-low turnout, the lack of enthusiasm and the general debasement of LA's political culture.
The low turnout has within it a scary story -- the growing alienation of the middle class from politics and the city. They did not, as they say, have a dog in this fight.
The low Valley turnout is key here [Editor's Note: Click here to view the results of the Times' exit poll (pdf). Find turnout by precinct here and match precincts to council districts here. Districts 12, 7, 2, 3 and 6, as well as parts of 4 and 5, are in the Valley.]. Once ascendent in city politics, the valley, the city’s great multiracial bastion, is now in political , decline. In this sense, the defeat of Hertzberg, not Hahn’s humiliation or even Villaraigosa triumph, may be the real story.
This is not healthy. We are left with the public sector, the mobilized voters of the left (enviros, ethnic activists) and the wealthy special interests (developers,city contractors) in control. With Antonio, we may see different players benefiting from the game, but the game will remain the same. Without an aroused middle class, no true progressive movement can succeed in Los Angeles. Instead we will have business as usual parading as reform.
Posted at May 18, 2005 09:53 AM