Yum... Free Sushi

In the hailstorm of blogging that's taking place at the Democratic Convention in Boston, I've taken a liking to Harold Meyerson's missives. Meyerson's been to a boat-load of conventions - he's old enough to remember when they were, y'know, meaningful - so his instant opinions might be useful in comparison to the rest of the Wall of Blogger that's been mortared together for the week. Yesterday, he stoked the fires of the Antonio-to-run rumors (wasn't the guy supposed to be 'close' to running three weeks ago?):

There is more L.A. mayoral politics going on in the room at the moment than anywhere in Los Angeles. The mayoral talk in the room centers on the apparently happening candidacy of Antonio Villaraigosa; numerous delegates volunteer that Villariagosa has called them at some point in the past two weeks to ask for their support.

Villaraigosa, a co-chair of the Kerry campaign and the convention platform committee, enjoyed a coveted speaker's spot last night. Perhaps he's been waiting for his big week in Boston to pass before he announces his candidacy?

Otherwise, Fleishman-Hillard, the Hahn-aligned P.R. firm that's been trashed by a number of papers and blogs for overbilling the city, is hosting one of the more lavish Democratic fetes. That has a lot of local wags wagging. More Harold:

Earlier in the evening, while I was circulating among California's delegates on the floor of the convention, one L.A. city elected official who shall go unnamed (Jack Weiss, from the 5th district on the Westside) opined that no city-level official would be found within light years of the party, and Weiss -- a former prosecutor who is one of the mayor's stauncher critics on the council -- was unsurprisingly right. Mayoral hopefuls Antonio Villaraigosa and Bernie Parks, both in Boston, were predictably no-shows, and Hizzoner Hahn himself stayed scrupulously away.

Stay tuned for more awe-inspiring acts of political sacrifice.