Council Leader Camryn Scott plays it cool, despite election opponent Nathan Earlywine's fine performance in the polls.
By CORINNE HATHAWAY
Close advisors say that Council Leader Camryn Scott is unconcerned with the ground Council Member Nathan Earlywine has gained recently in his bid to wrest the executive City Council position from her. "Scott is confident that the voters recognise this is a nuanced and delicate post," said her campaign manager, Robin Park. "We're getting our message across, that there are no easy answers in government. Our policy positions are based on balancing many different factors together, and the Perplexian populace really respects that."
Scott herself said in a public address this morning that it is "easy to paint a picture in black and white, but hard to live in one." She suggested that Earlywine's proposed massive sweep of alterations to government administration may indeed cut down on redundancy and cost, but "at the cost of autonomy and flexibility. ... I, for one, would rather see our government be adaptable than monolithic and bound in procedures and rules, even if it costs a little more."
In the past few days, Earlywine's poll numbers have even slid downward after a bump in voters following a fiery speech in Key Square a few weeks ago, leaving Scott with a slight lead. The number of undecided voters has disproportionately gravitated toward Scott, these polls indicate. Political analyst Jordan Taylor suggested that Earlywine's angry rhetoric may be alienating more voters than they attracted. "There's also the fact that Scott is a proven and familiar value," said Taylor. "Still, this election is far from won."
Earlywine spoke to the Sentinel after Scott's address this morning, and echoed Taylor's point. "We have a long way to run in this race," he said. "We're over a month out, and over fifteen percent of voters haven't picked their horse yet. ... I think a lot of the voters are very angry at how things have gone under Scott's watch, and it's my job to convince them I can do better. I know I can, I just need to build their confidence in me."
Scott held an open discussion forum over the weekend in Mercator Square to solicit opinions on her past performance and future direction. The audience was reportedly filled with enthusiastic supporters who have nothing but high esteem for Scott's performance to date, though some aggressive members of the crowd had to be removed by security forces.
