Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Nobody knows nuthin' yet, but the LA Weekly went ahead and asked a half-dozen local political figures to handicap the race for mayor that's two years off. They were given eight potential candidates to rank on points — not including the provocatively mentioned Arnold Schwarzenegger — and by that scale Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky "is clearly the man to beat if he runs." All have weaknesses. But, um, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. First comes the 2012 elections for president, Congress, state offices and DA — and redrawing of the city's political districts. Then we get to vote for mayor. My prediction: Some, perhaps most, of the eight the Weekly ranked won't even be on the ballot. Prediction on Yaroslavsky: no prediction.
The one consensus in the Weekly story: gay Republican talk radio host Kevin James is wasting his time and ours pretending to be a candidate. "He has no name recognition, and he can't buy it. He's irrelevant, quite frankly," said UCLA dean Frank Gilliam.