Michael Anft put it rather aptly when he wrote that African American women, along with a handful of predominately white male deep-pocketed campaign donors, spin Baltimore’s electoral world. I don’t think the creative class is any more dictatorial than say, Paterakis or Angelos and their ilk. The difference is, for as long as they’ve held influence in Baltimore politics, you don’t often hear from Paterakis or Angelos. Interestingly enough, this is partially how Rolley can be perceived as the “white candidate” despite Rawlings-Blake receiving thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and political support from deep-pocketed white males.

Of course, did anyone foresee that a white male from the suburbs of Washington, D.C. would become the dominant figure in Baltimore City politics? But O’Malley built a political organization that acknowledges the racial and cultural dynamics at play in this town. He ran on a “tough-on-crime approach” (and I think we all know what that means) yet managed to win re-election with almost 67 percent of the vote. Organization is critical. It’s as you say: winning over Baltimore means grinding out slow victories.

The other issue the creative class has, at least that find, is that they are a dictatorial bunch. They work in a competitive, streamlined world that doesn’t put up with inefficiency and ineffectiveness kindly. They showcase plenty of creative talent, but patience is not a driving virtue. If the creative class were to some how usurp power in one big play (say, I guess, pushing a candidate for mayor into office) maybe their style can start to be reflected in local government. But, it’s not going to work that way. To win over Baltimore is grind out slow victories and. Allah forgive me for bringing him up, but the way that Adam Meister help take out Belinda Conaway using a media/tech pulpit is current successful example of taking the local approach.

The creative class’s dictatorial mentality also tends to willfully ignore the delicacy of Baltimore’s racial dynamics. Do tech-savvy white men know how to filter their blunt approach with the dynamic that is the city’s culturally rich African-American body politic? How many start-up workers were marching in the city’s Trayvon Martin rally, or listen to WOLB? Those are cultural divides that, say, Boston ignores, or, say in D.C., is being gentrified away.