Don't Let Mrs. Nice Guy Get Too Warm

As the sun bakes Sacramentans into a collective roasted pulp this summer, it's highly likely the Fargo campaign will pull another fast one. Do not be surprised to see the “nice” Heather Fargo from now until November. Given that up to this point Fargo’s core campaign strategy – at least in the public’s eye – attempted to defame Kevin Johnson’s character by using long-standing connections with local media to promote false accusations, a massive shift of tactics is on the horizon.

Fargo has nowhere to go but “positive”. She lost the lone debate with Johnson handily, and by all measures – particularly the 46 to 39 percent drubbing on June 3 – voters see her as what she really is: a middling bureaucrat desperately fending off a tsunami of public sentiment aching for charismatic leadership, a vision for the future, and the chutzpah to achieve that vision.

Fargo could not persuade voters on June 3rd with negative campaigning. And so now, without the record to stand on (despite her pronouncements to the contrary – which voters just confirmed) she has no choice but to play “nice guy” to Johnson’s big bad wolf.

We may be sunburned, slightly buzzed, and a bit shell-shocked at  skyrocketing gas and food prices this summer. But we cannot afford to be duped into falling for Richie Ross’s magician’s trick as he 
attempts to transform Fargo into the likable candidate voters can warm up to. It will be hot enough for sure, but please, Sacramentans, don’t let the heat of this battle melt your brains into seeing the Fargo mirage. Sacramento’s oasis exists, it’s just rooted in Oak Park instead of City Hall.