Brown Out in DC

Lagging in the polls and struggling to raise money with the primary on Tuesday, Michael Brown saw the writing on the wall and withdrew from the Washington DC mayor's race yesterday. Brown threw his support behind City Council President Linda Cropp, who is currently running second in the polls.

Brown, who was tracking fourth in the five person race, said he couldn't "... watch a political novice, a man without the courage and strength required to run the city, attempt to steal this race from someone who has seen the city through its worse times...," as to why he is supporting Cropp. Those remarks apparently were aimed at front runner Councilman Adrian Fenty who holds a ten point lead according a recent poll.

Brown's support for Cropp didn't surprise pundits since the Cropp family and Brown's are very close and have been for decades.

The first act of support by Brown, the son of the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, was to call the other two candidates in the race, Councilman Vincent Orange and former Verizon exec Marie Jones and gauge their interest in withdrawing, but both declined to do so.