Last on my list of outside influences are all the other people who don’t live in District 2, but are actively speaking, writing and volunteering on Allison’s behalf. Last time I looked, this is the race for District 2—not the at-large seat.

You can’t, however, blame the Allison campaign for reaching outside the District for help. This isn’t surprising as she couldn’t depend on volunteers, supporters and endorsers within the District since she is a total newcomer with absolutely no experience or established network of support within the district prior to her candidacy. As a result, if you look through the list of her individual endorsers on her campaign website, some 70 percent can’t vote for her. The same can be said for about two-thirds of the pro-Allison comments that have been posted on my Sign Wars article here in the Guardian. If the shoe were on the other foot, and I was actively campaigning against Nancy Nadel in a future election, these are the very same people who would be screaming bloody murder.

No, that’s not a veiled threat. Although, I’m unhappy with her Allison endorsement, I do think Nadel has been a very good, progressive council representative—an observation I noted just prior to the June primary in a letter to the Tribune, where I savaged Ignacio De La Fuente and urged Oakland residents to choose between Nadel and Dellums.

My guess is Nadel has endorsed Allison despite her Green Party affiliation and lack of experience because she desperately wants someone other than De La Fuente as Council President. I honestly think, in this case, she’s tilting at windmills. De La Fuente is basically toast. He’s lost his best shot at higher office and is under an ethical cloud. The wolves on the council are already circling and he will not be re-elected.

As for the list of Allison supporters that signed the letter to the Guardian accompanying Nadel’s endorsement speech, I’m again chagrined by the inclusion of people who don’t get to vote for either candidate—in this case five of eighteen.

Yet another oversight?

Clearly Allen Michaan, who lives in an Alameda Victorian, does have a vested interest in the result since he owns and operates the Grand Lake Theatre. He has an additional vested interest due to his willingness to provide Allison with free campaign office space for some eight months. This represents an in-kind donation worth tens of thousands of dollars that has not been reported by Allison despite state and local campaign reporting requirements.

As was the case with her delinquent business taxes, I’m sure Ms. Allison will assure us that it was a simple oversight and promise to immediately rectify her mistake. Getting back to Michaan, what does he want in return for his investment? My worry is that he will leverage it to convince Allison to move the Farmers’ Market or severely curtail its hours since, as he regularly complains, the Market reduces the availability of parking on Saturday afternoons.

Coincidentally or not, judging by her recent posts on the Guardian, District 3 resident Nancy Rieser is pursuing the same agenda—lobbying to move the Market closer to the Lake on the other side of the Lakeview Library. She is also one of the members of an Ad Hoc organization called the “No Clear Cut Group,” which is suing the City over the removal of 244 trees as part of the Measure DD improvements that will completely transform Lake Merritt and make it far more attractive while improving pedestrian and bicycle safety.

I don’t know District 3 resident Kevin Mapes (“Community lead for Mondo Condo vs. Adams Point Neighbors Project”), but I do know that Pat Kernighan sided with the council majority that roundly rejected the “Mondo Condo” proposal, which should have pleased him. What gives Kevin?

There are a couple of other people on the list of eighteen who are District 2 residents for whom I have utmost respect. Pam and Charlie Weber live and operate a business in the Fifth Avenue Artists colony and were in the leadership of the group that opposed the Oak to Ninth Project. Even though I adamantly disagree with their Allison endorsement, they’re great people. The same can be said for Sylviaette Gamble-Hill, who organized all the entertainment for last year’s Fall Festival at Splash Pad Park. Sylviaette and her husband are faithful Farmers’ Market shoppers. If Allison is elected, I’m hoping they can exert their influence to help protect and preserve both the park and the Farmers’ Market.

Allison takes pages from Rove’s and Nixon’s playbooks

As must be obvious to even the most casual reader, I have become increasingly frustrated and upset as this race has progressed and have struggled to find apt comparisons. This afternoon, it finally hit me!

The perfect historical analogy to Allison’s campaign is Richard Nixon and his 1950 Senate race against Helen Gahagan Douglas , during which “Tricky Dick” destroyed the career of a liberal, hard-working and very capable member of Congress. Just substitute “pro-developer” and “De La Fuente Rubberstamp” for “Communist” and you’ll see just how appropriate an analogy this is.