BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Who's the underdog in the race for Buffalo Mayor? "Probably the Mayor," answered Republican strategist Carl Calabrese, "because he lost momentum in the primary, but not by a great deal. Frankly, Calabrese added, "Byron Brown should run as if he is an underdog with a sense of urgency."
Mayor Byron Brown was fired-up Monday as he re-entered the race as a write-in candidate.
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/wben/news/local/brown-enters-november-race-as-write-in-candidate" headline=""There is no Mayor-Elect!" Brown enters November mayoral race as write-in candidate" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=63624260"]
"What's important about Monday is not what Brown said, but rather, how he said it," said Calabrese.
The longtime elections analyst said the incumbent mayor needs to apologize for taking the campaign too lightly and letting his voters down. And he has to show passion and a fire in his belly - because word on the street is that he's lost that.
"One criticism I've always had of Byron Brown is that he can come across as passionate, but robotic at times. He has to show people that he wants this and is going to fight for it. That was a new Byron Brown we saw and heard yesterday," said Calabrese. "It took the loss of this primary to put the fear of God into him and to make him understand that he's in a battle now. He's in the ring and he has to go for the knockout."
Byron Brown said he'll debate his opponent anytime, anywhere. But why didn't he do that during the primary? "The reason he's saying that he'll debate is because he has to," said Calabrese. "When he thought he had a comfortable lead and this was going to be a cakewalk, that was the
conventional strategy" (to avoid a debate).
Calabrese said when you're an incumbent, and you debate an opponent, three things can happen and two of them are bad. "You can win, but you can actually lose and in debates if your challenger pulls a draw, the challenger wins because people say, look, she went face to face with the Mayor and had command of the facts. A tie always goes to the challenger." Calabrese said that strategy doesn't apply anymore. "He has to debate and he has to do it with the kind of passion and fire that we saw Monday."
Could India Walton pull the same thing that the mayor did before the primary and turn down debates? "She certainly could," said Calabrese. But he thinks that could backfire on her as election season is underway and people expect to see debates. He said overconfidence could be a downfall to any candidate.
What are the biggest hurdles the two candidates face? "For Brown, it's the novelty of a write-in campaign and the fact that a vast majority of voters have never done it. Walton's hurdle is the fact that she's a socialist and makes no bones about it. "If you look at what the far left and progressive wing have done to cities, like New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle, Portland and L.A., these cities have gone to hell. They're a mess with crime, poverty and homelessness," said Calabrese.
