Watching Antonio Villaraigosa whirling his way to the center of the political universe is like watching him work a room. His sensors are out for every quiver, and twitter, coming from the crowd. He’s a master of risk, survival, and sometime success. And his latest iteration is rapidly evolving into a virtuoso display of staying ahead of the curve.
When you get 55% of 15% of the vote that bothered to turn out, you can bet it’s the hard-core complainers who are voting to settle a score with someone, anyone. Among that crowd, 55% should be considered a landslide.
The public is in such a panic at the moment that there is no time to focus on policy or politicians. It’s all about not being one of the pieces of falling debris when the whole thing comes tumbling down.
Unless you’re well traveled in third-world countries, or very old, you can’t imagine what complete financial collapse is really like. It’s ugly, angry, often violent, and it lasts a long time.
Antonio the Survivor understands from the street eye-level what it means to have been born fighting to stand up against the odds. He’s already opening up to the kinds of changes you would not expect from a former union organizer. He’s telling journalists and politicians alike that the next big thing for L.A. is to sell the zoo and outsource the management of the parking lots, buildings, and meters. These moves would save millions in spending and bring in millions in revenue to help underwrite, among other things, the $1 billion deficit the city faces just from the pension payouts it owes to the very union members he may alienate in the process.
The mayor who would be governor is learning how to be a leader. Take risks, survive, and succeed.