By picking up a petition to run for mayor in the October special
mayoral election last week, former mayor Willie Herenton solidified hisrecent reputation as a loose cannon. He furthered that impression by issuing a statement denouncing Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery and
announcing that he was preparing a referendum to “allow the citizens of Memphis to rescind the current charter amendment that elevated Myron Lowery to the office of Mayor Pro Tem.”

So now Herenton wants another election to rescind a charter
amendment? When is this supposed to happen? You need lots of
signatures to get a referendum on the ballot. Then the Election
Commission has to certify the signatures and, if there are enough valid
ones, schedule a referendum election. Lowery has only another two
months in office as Pro Tem mayor. Preparing a referendum to take away his power makes no damn sense.

But then again, nothing Herenton has done in the past few weeks has
made any sense. He’s been caroming like a pinball, making outrageous
statements, announcing one thing then doing just the opposite,
resigning, not resigning, etc. He’s blustering and floundering like,
well, a punch-drunk fighter that’s taken one too many blows to his
noggin.

Call me a crazy optimist, but I think Herenton may have finally
stepped off the curb this time. I don’t think he can win back the
mayor’s office. He doesn’t look like a tough man of the streets
anymore. He looks like an unstable nut. He’s the mayoral equivalent of
George Foreman. He can jump back into the ring, but nobody’s scared any more. Many of his former allies have gone to county Mayor A C Wharton. Wharton, by contrast, appears safe and reliable, the kind of candidate people will look to to end the “drama.”

That’s not an endorsement of Wharton or an indictment of any other
candidate, just a statement of reality. The overlap between Herenton
voters and Wharton supporters is nil, and Wharton has more money and better poll numbers than any other candidate. If anything, Herenton’s entry into the race will simplify the choice for many voters.

In the last mayoral election, the electorate was triangulated, with
voters waiting for the final polling in order to decide which
candidate, Carol Chumney or Herman Morris, had the best chance to
unseat Herenton. This time around, Herenton will find the “haters” much tougher to shake off.