Oliver Thomas’s concession speech was seriously disappointing.
He began with a perfectly reasonable message: An urge for his followers to remain and fight to ensure the city doesn’t fail to represent those who have historically uplifted and preserved the city’s culture.
However, that quickly devolved into a display of sore-losership and finger-pointing and boogey-manning and windmill-tilting that is, unfortunately, commonplace in New Orleans.
“There were different forces that were lined up together to get this result,” Thomas, who placed 3rd in the mayor’s race with 19% of the vote, said during his speech. “Watch the reporting. Go back and read he articles. Watch the relationships.”
He continued, “Every resource. Every system. Every organization is at play. The devil don’t want 99%. The devil want 100%. But if we stick together and fight to make sure our kids and families and systems that represent New Orleans, they can't have it.”
I’ve sat and listened to a lot of hot air in my time, and one thing I do know is that a clear sign of someone who's grasping at straws to cope with the sting of an election loss is someone who talks in abundant generalities and throws a lot of vague jabs.
He spoke of nameless “forces.”
“They have revealed themselves,” Thomas said.
“They cannot come to us in sheep’s clothing anymore,” Thomas said.
“What we see coming from Washington and Baton Rouge is probably one of the most well-funded, sophisticated marketing efforts that I’ve seen in the history of modern-day politics… And it is very good at turning sister against mother and brother against brother. And it is very good at identifying where the resources are and who should control them.” Thomas said.
And to all of this, I want to ask Thomas directly: If there’s an enemy here, Oliver, why not name them? Why not tell us who they are? I’d like to know.
Are they voters in District E, your district? Let’s use the Ninth Ward as an example.
In the Ninth Ward, Helena had 5,189 votes. Oliver had 4,705 votes. Duplessis had 3,985 votes. Are those 9,174 voters the “Devils,” which is basically a byword for Deplorables, in cahoots with Washington and Baton Rouge, trying to undermine your message and your success?
Or are the "Devil's" individuals who didn't endorse/vote for you? Are they Cedric Richmond, Jason Williams, Pastor Tyrone Smith, Chief Kenny Young, Renee Lapeyrolerie, Barbara Major, Blaire Boutte, Troy Carter, Hispanic Leaders, Asian Leaders, Black Voters in the East?
Is New Orleans one big dump truck full of deplorables now that you've lost?
Anybody who's capable of being even halfway honest with themselves knows this is crazy talk and sees that this is someone who campaigned on bringing the city together until they were defeated.
Thomas also takes plenty of time to bash the media for “pushing” Moreno's win. And I can go back and read the articles, like Thomas requests we do, and see that the reality is that the majority of coverage was reports that Moreno led in polls and campaign financing.
I understand that neither of those numbers were pleasant for Thomas. But that doesn't make them any less facts. And as each poll came out, and no matter what went on, Moreno held a steady lead with a 4.5% margin of error. You add the margin of error to her 49-50% polling, you get 55%—right where she landed.
I think one of the most insulting and egregiously false accusations Thomas made was that there were “Wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
We know what he’s insinuating: Black leaders came out and endorsed Moreno. But they did not do it in some roundabout way. We aren’t stupid. We saw what happened. These Black leaders who endorsed Moreno did this publicly, transparently, and made no excuses, and did so without double-talk.
Toward the end of his self-admittedly “petty” speech, Thomas states, “If nothing else, this election is a light to show what’s coming. Pay attention to what they write. Pay attention to what they project… Even if they have the information, what they can't get away with is that if we stick together, they cannot get away with dividing us and splitting up our community. This city is extremely important.”
Here’s where I’ll say I agree with Thomas. I hope people pay attention to what I’m writing now. Because we both agree that this city is extremely important and special, and after this old administration, Lord knows we must hold our new leadership accountable—all of them.
I want Thomas to continue to fight for the city he claims to love and wants to fight for. However, with the things he said and the shameful terminology he chose to employ, Thomas undermined everything he campaigned on. That speech sewed needless division.
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