Review of Tribune Features on Griswold, Walters, and Smith

So, I waited to review the stories about the three canidates for Mayor until I had a chance to review them all and compare and contrast each of them. First, I have to say, it fairly noticable that Butler's report on Walters was much harsher than either of Masaad's pieces on Griswold or Smith. I'd say that Griswold probably ended up with the most favorable review, leading to more accusations that Griswold and Massad are buddies. So here is the rundown:

Rex Griswold Tribune Feature

It was interesting to see that this article seemed to have more quotes from other people than any of the others. It had the chamber president, a pollster and the unhappy candidate for Senate. Couldn't Griswold beef up the article with some of his own opinions on things?

However, the most glaring feature of this article was the talk about religion and the part it plays in this election. I don't know who brought it up, but it went out of its way to point out who was and wasn't LDS in the race. Judging from the mail that I have seen, Griswold has subtly pointed out that he was non-LDS in each of his pieces. I am not LDS, but I don't think that religion should be the primary focus of this race and it certainly shouldn't be one of the main features in a candidate bio.

Claudia Walters Tribune Feature

Like I said before, clearly the harshest of the three pieces. What I don't understand is how Walters gets all of the city's shortcomings pinned to her, while Griswold always seems to be linked to the opportunity. Is it me, or does she come off as the bookworm who does all the homework, and Griswold comes off as the jock who sleeps through class, but gets all the attention?

I was surprised that she is coming out so forward with Hawker's endorsement. People have told me for a long time that the current Mayor was always in favor of Walters. Didn't that get around enough for the people who it would benefit? I think that there are plenty of people out there who will be turned off by that endorsement. Also, I give her credit that she has names for all of her plans, but she certainly doesn't seem to have ways to fund them. Plus, its neat to see a bunch of new programs, but we still haven't fixed our old problems.

Scott Smith Tribune Feature

Well, Scott Smith doesn't have council experience - a fact that Jason Massad mentions no less than 6 times. The reporter takes the time to write well placed jabs talking about how Smith approaches problems, and speculates on Smith's comfort with details. A particularly blatant one:

"With no political history to draw upon, there are few indicators to predict how Smith would tackle the many challenges facing cash-poor Mesa."

I didn't know that other kinds of experience didn't apply to running for office. Its also sort of interesting because when you start to read the comments about Smith in each of these articles, there is this new notion that he should have run for council first before tackling a run for Mayor. However, the paper says that the Mayor is just another member of the council, elected citywide. So whats the difference which seat Smith chose to run for?

If you have some time, make sure you check out the interactive videos. Its pretty cool that they allowed each candidate to pick the places to do their interviews. They each have an interesting perspective, and I think that they tell you a lot about each of the candidates.