Washington Examiner | Old tricks in D.C.

Go HERE to read the full article by Jonetta Rose Barras.

Excerpt:

Barry's legacy strategy, as first reported by the Washington Post's Mike DeBonis, would involve the aging pol winning re-election in 2012 only to step down two years later. Then, his son, Christopher, would be tapped to complete Barry's term. A special election, undoubtedly, would be held. 

That plot, which Barry discussed with select individuals in Ward 8, isn't new. In 1994, he pulled a similar stunt. 

Two years after his release from federal penitentiary and his improbable political comeback -- winning the Ward 8 seat in the legislature -- Barry decided to run in 1994 against then-Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly. That was a betrayal to his constituents, whom he had promised he would serve his full term. Instead, he used them as steppingstones to the mayoral suite.Seeking a successor for his Ward 8 seat, Barry passed over Sandy Allen, an activist who had been credited with maintaining the cohesiveness of his political organization while he was in prison. Instead, in 1995, Barry tapped Eydie Whittington, a more malleable sycophant, to run in the special election. She won. 

Allen subsequently defeated Whittington in 1996, winning a full term. But, after resigning as mayor, Barry returned to Ward 8 in 2004, unseating Allen. 

"It's old-school politics where politicians put themselves over service to the people," said Jacque Patterson, a civic leader expected to run against Barry for the Ward 8 seat in 2012 Democratic primary.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/11/old-tricks-dc#ixzz1eq79uwpf

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