When The Advocate says that Bruce Bain has "stumbled to the finish line," in the Newark mayoral race, it is like the guy who spends the course of the marathon race attempting to trip, shove and otherwise impede progress for the runner, wondering what took the runner so long to finish the race.

It has seemed in the last few weeks that The Advocate couldn't do enough to make Bain look bad to the voters.  Sure, Bain didn't help himself.  But the Kraner donation issue was sensationalism pure and simple and then dragged out well beyond the point when it seemed clear that there was nothing to the charges leveled against Bain.  Even the endorsement editorial is weak until paragraph nine.

But the conclusion is correct.  In the race between Bruce Bain and Bob Diebold, Bain offers a better option for the voters.  Diebold is good at sounding like he can make the City better, but it is a bigger problem than he makes it out to be.  As people around City Hall understand, Frank Stare very nearly "loved" Newark to death. 

On the basic issues, Diebold and Bain are remarkably close:  Bain wants more police officers, Diebold wants more police officers;  Bain wants to pave more roads, Diebold wants to pave more roads; Bain wants more economic development, Diebold wants more economic development.  You get the point and there are some differences, which I have outlined here. 

The difference boils down to teamwork and candor.  The Advocate did get the candor issue right but they didn't point out that one of the concerns with Diebold is that he is the picture of what I call an individual operator.  The question of whether he could put together a solid team of people and bring Council along is a very shaky one.  At the end of the day, Bain has made good progress given what Frank Stare left.  He deserves a second term to continue the job.