So we've arrived finally at the point where the incumbent in the 36th Councilmanic District, Al Vann, relieves the watching world of its suffocating suspense.
He wants another four years.
The truth, of course, is that almost everyone assumed Vann would swish his hat into the ring.
Presumably, the desire for another four years was the reason he voted (along with the majority of Councilmembers) to end the two-term restriction on city office holders.
(Unless the motivation was that he deeply believed the city needed to have Mayor Mike Bloomberg in office for another term.)
Speaking of which, we are certain Vann and other black Brooklynites will be giving at least strong verbal support to Bill Thompson in Thompson's race against Bloomberg.
After all, Thompson is a black Brooklynite himself.
Now this takes us to an interesting irony in this political episode, which is this:
The loudest backing of Thompson seems to be from across the river, in Harlem, where bigshots Charles Rangel, David Dinkins and others have announced their support of Thompson -- with great fanfare, including Dinkins shouting his endorsement loudly the mountaintop (or rather, steps) of City Hall.
This should not necessarily be a cause for celebration on the part of Bill Thompson.
You see, the Harlem crowd does not have a good track record when it comes to endorsements of black candidates in prominent contests.
There was, for example, the fiasco of a quarter century ago when they backed Herman Denny Farrell against another Herman, surnamed Badillo, in the mayoral primary.
In one fell swoop, the Harlemites sabotaged the best chances for a Black/Latino alliance the city had ever seen. (And, in so doing, they also fired a wounding bullet into Al Vann and Vann's Brooklyn cohorts, who were lined up with Badillo.)
The outcome of that drama is well known, as Ed Koch sailed to victory and continued the race baiting rhetoric for which he was celebrated in certain corners at the time.
And while we're with the Harlem crowd and their endorsement history, how can we forget the recent presidential race, that saw the Harlemites siding (aggressively and till the very end) with Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama.
Which brings us back to the Councilmanic race in Bed-Stuy.
Among those slated to be present when Vann announces his candidacy this coming Saturday on Fulton Street is none other than Comptroller Bill Thompson.
And the list of others scheduled to be there is daunting. No doubt it's all intended to show the strength of incumbency. The expected attendees are (according to a note from Vann's campaign):
Governor David A. Paterson, State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith, Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Borough President Marty Markowitz and "other local elected officials".
This all brings to mind a City Limits article (quoted previously in a BrooklynRon post) in which a former Councilmember confided the following to newcomers on the Council:
"You can do anything you want and you will be re-elected. You can fuck this up and you will be re-elected. You can do an excellent job and you will be reelected."
(Read the BrooklynRon post.)
And so the real question is whether any, all or some of the half dozen challengers will continue their quest for Vann's seat on the City Council.
If they do stay in, it could possibly be a very exciting summer in Bed-Stuy.