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Marcus raps mayoral opposition

Rappers and politicians are not often considered similar creatures, but last night's Democratic mayoral candidate debate proved this assumption false.

The four candidates who participated in the KUAT-sponsored event in the University of Arizona's Modern Languages building gave answers to questions that were, like many rap stars, sometimes entertaining and often incomprehensible.

The only exception was candidate Janet Marcus, whose straightforward and candid responses were a welcome relief from the other candidates' evasive rhetoric.

Besides being the most experienced candidate with 12 years on the Tucson City Council, Marcus dared to admit that a quarter cent sales tax to pay for improvements in traffic conditions could be imminent. She also fearlessly stated that impact fees for city development could be a possibility.

"Growth will have to pay for itself," Marcus said, and continued by saying that the city's complex issues must be dealt with systematically - so different from the anticipated goofiness of the politicians' responses; in fact, genuine and endearing enough to be labeled the Lauryn Hill of the Tucson mayoral campaign.

But Betsy Bolding, Pat Darcy and Molly McKasson proved to their fellow Democrats that they shouldn't be elected on the September 7 primary. Their answers were about as original as Puff Daddy's music and as lame as Vanilla Ice's - well, as lame as Vanilla Ice.

Bolding, who made a name for herself by running former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbit's office, repeatedly stumbled through her answers. She set the record for repeating the phrase, "As mayor I will work really hard to..." that made her sound like a kid in grammar school running for student council president.

Darcy, a ex-professional baseball player, will clearly not benefit from being a political rookie. He unintentionally left the audience laughing, and even jumped onto the modern politician's bandwagon when he annoyingly claimed that he is not a political insider "with no ties to special interests."

And the ever-controversial Molly McKasson failed to prove that her eight years on the City Council have prepared her to serve as the city's mayor. When the debate's moderator asked her how she would deal with Tucson's crime problem, she launched into a 45-second response about how this city's child abuse and neglect must be dealt with.

But just as rappers and politicians are similar, so are this city's Democrats and Republicans.

Take Bob Walkup, a self-proclaimed moderate Republican and the lone GOP candidate for mayor.

As the Democrats scrambled to outwit each other Monday night, Walkup was breathing easy and awaiting the general elections this November. He admitted that his stance on the issues, such as improving the economic infrastructure, are not all that different from Tucson's Democrats.

"We all are dealing with the same issues," Walkup said. "The economy, for example, is not a partisan issue, it's a leadership issue."

The striking similarities between the Republican's platform and the Democrat's banter reflects the diminishing differences between both major parties at the local level.

Being that Walkup is unopposed, he has the luxury of saving his banter for the general election debates. Whether or not Walkup is as impressive as Lauryn Hill or as unoriginal as Puff Daddy remains to be seen.

But for now, the city's Democrats will do themselves a favor if they vote for Janet Marcus. A debate between herself and Walkup will be worth waiting for - just like sitting through a bad Busta Rhymes opening act in the hopes of seeing the Fugees.