For candidates and campaigners, the hangover begins

For candidates, campaigners, consultants and donors, Tuesday night must feel a little like standing at the roulette table in a Las Vegas Casino. Bets are down and the wheel is spinning. Who will win, who will lose, no one knows until the wheel stops. Or rather, until the votes are counted.

The days and weeks that follow must feel for the political professionals at least a little like the drive home across a long stretch of empty desert with bad cell phone reception, a nasty hangover and plenty of alone time to count the winnings, rue the losses and justify all kinds of very bad behavior. There may be regret. There may be denial. Was it worth it? Will the folks at home be angry? What do I have left? Have I damaged my reputation? Who’s that bad-smelling passenger in my back seat who insists that we got hitched last night?

Or, to dump the metaphor, or to at least change it: Who owns me now? What do I owe, and to whom? What are my marching orders? Will people remember what I said on that mailer? Will they call me to account for it? Should I try to make amends?

This campaign season was not inspiring. There was no message of hope, no call for change, at least not change of any substance. Neither Wendy Greuel nor Eric Garcetti laid out where they want to take Los Angeles. We know no more today than we did six months ago how close city government is to insolvency, whether City Hall is providing the right services, whether the public workforce is the right size to give residents what they demand. We have no better clue today whether we will be – whether we should be – more dense or more open, more urban or suburban, more integrated with our school district and county government or more independent.We don’t know whether to aspire, despair or just walk away.

What we do know is that leaders of the union representing Department of Water and Power workers know how to raise and spend a lot of campaign money. So do the police officers’ and firefighters’ unions, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the business members of the Chamber of Commerce. Because they do their work through supposedly independent campaigns, we don’t know what returns they’ll get on their wagers. But we have a pretty good idea what they’ll expect.

As the ballots are being counted, Los Angeles is waiting at home, checking the time, pacing the floor, in turns angry, disgusted, maybe ready to forgive, perhaps not willing to forget. The city won’t be stuck in campaign mode. We have elected our leaders and now we need them to lead.

But if any of those leaders believe they’ll be free of the statements they made or the commitments, real and implied, into which they have entered, if they don’t believe they’ll be held to account, they’re mistaken. Be certain of it: What happens during campaign season won’t stay in campaign season.

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