Advice for John Lewis

Awhile back, Sonoran Alliance asked for more coverage in Gilbert. We responded saying we are willing to help. Since then, we have been contacted by the owner of "Gilbert Issues" and had some discussions about helping them start a blog. Nothing is final yet, but we do hope to see its launch in the future.

We understand that we don't own the copyrights to "(Insert City Name) Issues" but we do strive for a level of discourse and a community feel that we would hope would be emulated and respected, especially in the surrounding community. So, until "Gilbert Issues" fires up, I'll offer my suggestions here:

In response to his opponent dropping out, potential Gilbert Mayor John Lewis is going to scale back his campaign. This is a mistake on his part. Sure, he could scale back the fundraising and perhaps some of the things that he is paying for, but now is the BEST time for him to get his name out there and build some goodwill around him.

First, he is not in office yet, but he is the front runner and the defacto choice for the job. Fortunately, Berman is banned from the write-in, so there aren't that many people waiting in the wings to take him on. Think nationally, when it was pretty apparent Obama was far ahead, did he slow down? No. Did he really need to do that prime-time informercial? No, but the brilliance of that was that he can make people like him without having to make any actual decisions. You are never going to be more popular than you are now as a big winner - who hasn't made any decisions to anger your constituents.

Secondly, its clear that some of the bitter folks are going to continue to challenge the legitimacy of your victory because the primary is not reaping a contested general as its intended. Just look at any comment section from the primary race, the Lewis team was out in force showing their support and taking everyone else on. Since the election, it looks like they have been overwhelmed by the other, more bitter folks. Continuing to garner electronic support is a wise way for him to keep his face out there without having to spend a lot of money.

Finally, voters deserve to continue to have a dialogue. If Lewis doesn't want to spend more money, fine, but he should be out door to door as much as possible meeting people and gaining their support. If the newspapers do forums for the remaining council candidates, he should be there answering questions and meeting people.

So there you have it, Lewis can scale back spending if need be, but its a bad time for him to scale back his effort.