Michelle Rhee at Risk
by Frederick M. Hess
National Review Online
September 15, 2010
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In an outcome that had come to seem inevitable, though it would have been shocking six months ago, D.C. city-council chairman Vincent Gray beat incumbent mayor Adrian Fenty 56 percent to 42 percent in Tuesday's Democratic primary. Fenty, who swept to a massive citywide victory in 2006, fared well with white voters but cratered in the black community. He lost the city's black Democrats, even though the Washington Postreported in August that 67 percent of registered Dems thought the mayor had "brought needed change" to the city.
The contest assumed national significance because of its educational implications. It was Fenty who fought for mayoral control of the D.C. public schools, appointed Michelle Rhee as chancellor in 2007, and then stood rock-solid behind Rhee's remarkable efforts. Rhee has made it clear that she regarded Fenty as a stalwart champion and was skeptical she could be equally effective without that support. Her stance has been read as a particular dig at Gray, who had persistently equivocated on the contentious particulars of her efforts.
It's not yet 100 percent certain whether (or when) Rhee will leave. But nonetheless, for several reasons, the
