Canny Carcetti

I was surprised by Steve James' interpretation of the scene in last night's Wire where Tom Carcetti declines to speak to reporters after dropping by the funeral of a murder victim who may have been killed for his role agreeing to be a witness in a drug case: "In the most moving moment, Carcetti visits the funeral home to witness firsthand the cost of the mean streets, and then refuses the photo op, out of respect." Alex Kotlowitz essentially concurs, "we've been growing increasingly cynical about the political process (though I suspect many of us were already there), and then, out of nowhere, his conscience gets him, even if just for a moment and even if it's tied up in the fact that he knows talking to reporters outside a funeral isn't the most politically savvy thing to do."

I agree with Kotlowitz that this is a both/and situation rather than an either/or, but I think the emphasis here really ought to be on Carcetti's political savvy rather than his conscience. The main upshot of the scene is to remind us that Carcetti is legitimately a very smart and very talented politician, whereas the sort of people likely to staff a longshot run at becoming mayor of Baltimore aren't the best and brightest political hacks out there. We're also seeing that for all the extent to which the system is rotten, it's still sometimes the case that the right thing to do is also the politically clever move. Similarly, with Rawls' efforts to get Detective Freamon to rejoin the homocide squad we're seeing (just as we saw when Freamon was assigned to homocide between seasons one and two) that the Police Department, for all its crapitude, does have some interest in having good police on staff to solve murders. The clearance rate is politically salient, and you need some good detectives to maintain a good clearance rate. The system is screwed up enough to keep Baltimore in the shitter, but not so screwed up that the system simply collapses.

Comments

Both/and is right; in fact, that's why Carcetti is a compelling character: he's very ambitious and savvy, but just might be a good guy--ignore either side of that, and you're missing Carcetti.

Posted by ogged | September 25, 2006 8:00 PM

I got the distinct impression that, when Carcetti spoke with the mother of the man whose funeral it was, he was surprised that she apparently didn't know he was turning state's witness. I thought her response was one reason he skirted the cameras.

I also thought it was possible that the wheelchair-bound city councilman, currently in with Mayor Royce (but perhaps seeing some flaws in Royce politically) may have had something to do with either the mother's response or ... well with something that went on in that scene.

Which just means that the show is so rich that I couldn't pin down a single reason for Carcetti to act the way he did. I felt there were several interlocking reasons.

Posted by blatherskite | September 25, 2006 8:12 PM

Shiiiieeeeeeeeet.
I am sure I miss a lot in The Wire (the opening scene with the nail gun in the Home Depot-like store I think I got the gist of, but don't ask me for quotes), but this was pretty obvious and I thought Carcetti explicitly said this.

Major Stanislav is in an interesting position if Carcetti can get this close -- with Herc also being in an interesting position. So far, a very solid season, but I am confused that I watched "Home Room" a couple of days ago On Demand - was that a preview?

Posted by theCoach | September 25, 2006 8:59 PM

The wheel-chair bound politician (Odelle Watkins) is not a city councilman, but rather a state legislator (senator I think), which is important because the plot involved him appropriating state funds for the witness program, funds that Mayor Royce neglected to spend. Watkins was/is a king-maker, elder statesman figure, and it is potentially very important that he is obviously becoming very disgusted at Royce's dirty political tricks.

I agree with the both/and scenario. It definitely seemed they were hinting that Carcetti was seeing the political dynamics better than his staffer at that point.

I loved the racial dynamic of this episode, with Major Valcheck, Herc, etc. The deep seated interaction between race and institutional behavior.

You gotta respect the way Deputy Opps Rawls dismantled the major crimes unit. And it definitely illuminated how much he hated McNulty in retrospect, because he actually went easy on Lester, rather than banishing him to a boat.

At the same time, does anyone else wonder if the issue of Rawls' homosexuality will come to play during the bureaucratic in-fighting? The issue hasnt been touched since the one brief shot of Rawls in a gay bar. Just wondering if it will remain untouched or not. I can see it going either way.

Posted by ValisJason | September 25, 2006 10:03 PM

Also, is anyone else reminded of the recent documentary about the Newark mayoral race, Streetfight? The Royce dirty tricks were straight out of that documentary.

Posted by ValisJason | September 25, 2006 10:04 PM

From the HBO episode guide, which I presume is authoritative:

Carcetti shows up at the wake for the dead witness he used so effectively against Royce in the debate, checking with Wilson on his way in about the invited press. Clearly, they are planning to use the wake as a campaign event. He enters the funeral home, pays his respects to the boy's mother, launching into a speech before stopping himself. "I'm just sorry for your loss." Seeing Watkins and Marla Daniels in the back of the room, he greets them both, then wishes Daniels luck with her race. "The council sure could use you." Outside, he refuses to talk to reporters, much to Wilson's annoyance. But Carcetti considers appearances and implies that the real audience at this moment might be Watkins. Better to appear sincere at this moment, rather than calculating - he calculates.

Posted by mtraven | September 25, 2006 11:53 PM

If Carcetti had given reporters a "rise above the fray" moment, rather than a "blame the Mayor for everything that goes wrong, including this" moment, it might have been good politics. That's harder for Carcetti than it was for, say, Clinton in Oklahoma City (or Bush on 9/11) both because Carcetti is running for office, while Bush, Clinton, Joe Manchin, etc., all held office.

But absent the ability to put together such a moment—which I don't think he had prepared—not talking to reporters was the right thing politically and personally. Showing Watkins that you care (and remember, Watkins is upset with the Royce machine) probably doesn't hurt.

Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot | September 26, 2006 1:46 AM

Both/and is the right answer. Carcetti is decent enough to know what's right (and to want to do the right thing), and savvy enough to know what's smart.

Posted by Tom Hilton | September 26, 2006 3:02 PM

Carcetti for mayor t-shirts and coffee mugs and hooded sweatshirts are at www.cafepress.com/tjcarcetti

Posted by Tommy Carcetti | December 10, 2006 1:06 AM