Okay, now there are likely five candidates for the office of D.C. mayor. Adrian Fenty (Ward 4 Councilman), Vincent Orange (Ward 5 Councilman) and Marie Johns (former telecom executive) have already joined the race. Michael Brown (lobbyist and son of former DNC Chair, Ron Brown) will declare his candidacy within weeks. And this morning, word is leaking that Linda Cropp (D.C. Council Chairwoman) will join the race on September 7. Not to mention that current mayor, Anthony Williams, hasn’t yet declard whether he’ll seek another term (though Cropp’s declaration may point against another Williams run).

Note that the election isn’t happening until November 2006.

That’s over 14 months from now.

I know that folks will argue that declaring this early provides time to knock on doors throughout the District’s eight wards. Some also argue that people in some parts of the city do not know about the records of the candidates. If only D.C. was not one of the most politically astute cities – albeit one of the most politically misguided ones – there would be a good argument for this. It’s true that some of the candidates are not well-known amongst the locals, but a tiny bit of media coverage goes a long way in this city.

But starting the economic and psychological war of attrition this early is just silly. D.C. is not that big, both in terms of population and physical area. Getting the word out about canididates, platforms and issues is not the toughest job in the world (though it can seem like it, at times). This is not a presidential candidacy; instead, it is a run for what is, for all intents and purposes, a mayoral seat with few “teeth.” After all, the majority of the District’s fiscal destiny and governing policy is determined by congress, not the mayor and council.

Yes, the mayor gets a lot of media “face time,” and acts as the “ambassador of the people” for the residents of D.C. But still, in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t necessarily the most powerful political position around.

I, for one, am remaining completely non-committal with regard to this mayoral race. It’s too early to put my support behind any candidate. As yet, I’ve seen no single candidate that really gets (or keeps) my interest. Some have bit and pieces of things that appeal to me, but that’s all – there’s no “complete package” candidate, nor is there one that comes remotely close to that ideal.

For now, I’ll see what unfolds.