AC and the Baskin Robbins Problem

I read Bruce Vanwyngarden's editorial about AC tonight. I found it and the comments very perplexing. Folks got all up in arms about AC not saying anything about Thaddeus Matthews' race question. AC has been county mayor for a long time. People are just noticing that he doesn't say or do anything? Really, who doesn't love AC reading to little children or tell cute stories about being a kid in the country. Come on all you folks disappointed over the past couple days, you know you've eaten that shit up like it was a giant ice cream sundae. All these years, when anyone would point out that AC is a really nice guy but what does he do or say, the AC apologists would get defensive. "How can you say such bad things about AC" or "I love AC" would be a standard refrain, but never respond to the original question. So now that he doesn't give white folks "post-racial" political cover for a white candidate possibly becoming mayor of Memphis with 30% of the vote, folks call AC spineless. Isn't that a little harsh. Damn, ya'll just expect an old dog to learn new tricks, especially when spineless has been working for a long time. (Or maybe just maybe, he's trying to shore up the Herenton vote because he doesn't trust enough of those white folks that "love him" will vote for him come election time when they have the choice of Strickland, Conrad, and Chumney.)

I kind of see this as another unexpected consequence of the Herenton resignation. AC always had the benefit of standing next to Herenton. As long he was the anti-Herenton, non-controversial, polite, etc, people (especially white folks) would love him. Well, AC doesn't have Herenton to stand next too. Sidney Chism pointed this out a few days ago on Channel 3. Yeah, people love AC but that doesn't mean they'll vote for him. It's like Baskin Robbins in the mayor's race, a flavor for every voter. While just about everybody likes vanilla, if I got the chance to pick mint chocolate chip, I'm picking mint chocolate chip.