Rudi and I went to one of the mayoral candidate fora tonight and I thought I would share a couple quick thoughts about the five major candidates running for office:

• Linda Cropp, D.C. Council chair, is grandmotherly. She speaks quietly and may use her Southern charm to win votes.
• Vincent Orange, Ward 5 Councilman, last used Metro last week when he had a flat tire. He also says that he and his wife regularly use the system to come downtown on the weekend.
• Adrian Fenty, Ward 4 Councilman, had very succinct answers to questions. It was nice to hear a politician answer questions unambiguously for once.
• Marie Johns, former head of Verizon, speaks very quickly. I suspect she spent some time in New York, because no one down here speaks fast. This may cost her some votes, since no one will be able to understand her when she speaks at her normal cadence.
• Michael Brown, lobbyist, demonstrated the most flexibility when he was the only candidate able to switch from his planned closing remarks to actually answer the question as posed by the moderator.

My question was one of three from the audience chosen by the moderator to be asked of the candidates. I was proud, but unsurprised, given I was pretty sure it combined the right elements to be asked in such a venue.

Finally, I remain undecided about whom I like best. I know which two candidates I don’t want to have win, but the other three remain in contention for my vote. I went expecting to like one candidate best, but came away with a much better opinion of a different one. So who knows? They’ll have to work hard to woo me.