Is anyone else sick and tired of hearing about the “fight” between city councilor David Dempsey and Mayor Timothy Lattimore?

Since Dempsey announced his plans to run for mayor, it seems certain members of the Democratic Party have been scrambling to find someone (anyone) to run in his stead. In fact a few have even taken their feelings to the press, publicly threatening to have a “no confidence” vote to deny Dempsey the line if he turned out to be the sole Democratic candidate.

But Dempsey has been winning elections for years, starting in King Ferry where he won four times in a district with Republican enrollment two to one against him. He has since won twice for the city, and both were easy victories. Looking at Dempsey's record, he certainly seems to qualify as a strong potential candidate.

Vehemently opposing Dempsey over a scuffle that took place years ago is ridiculous. Lattimore was also involved in the incident and no one questions his competency as a politician, nor should they. Why should politicians be super heroes? They are people, too, and people make mistakes. In this case two rivals got hot under the collar and let their tempers get the better of them. That is exactly what happened and quite frankly all I care to hear about it.

Negative campaigning and muckraking are common in politics, but not something I had expected to see among members of the same party. Grudges and deceit among cohorts only polarizes the party and ultimately benefits no one more than the opposition.

For example, Dempsey has already secured the Independence Party line. If he remains on the ballot as an independent it splits the Democratic vote and helps the Republicans. But dropping the independent line could make it very difficult for the Democratic Party to secure that line in the future. Especially if the Republican Party goes on to win the election. Either way, the Democratic Party suffers the loss.

I encourage a primary election. There are those who say that a primary at the mayoral level is disloyal to the party. However, it seems that the party has not given Dempsey much of a choice in the matter. A primary election would at least enable the people to pick the candidate.

Bottom line: Dempsey has devoted 20 years of elected service to the Democratic Party. I think he deserves the right to run for mayor.

Whether or not he is the right man for the job - I say, let the people decide.

Carole Estabrook's column appears Mondays in The Citizen, and she can be reached at estabrookcarole@yahoo.com