The names of 15 candidates will appear on Tuesday’s Detroit Mayoral Primary ballot.  According to our recent WXYZ-TV/Detroit News poll conducted by Lansing-based Epic MRA, the three frontrunners are Dave Bing, Ken Cockrel, Jr., and Freman Hendrix.  No surprises there. 

With the exception of two candidates who didn’t respond to my invitation, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing all of the men and women running for mayor.  They are articulate and well educated.  They have interesting ideas and passion for the job.  Some of them would represent real change from business as usual in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building.  

When I concluded the studio taping of this Sunday’s Spotlight on the News program (9:30 am broadcast) with six of the lesser known mayoral contenders, I couldn’t help but think, “What if these doctors, engineers, accountants, etc., had received a lot more local media exposure?   Would today’s frontrunners still be the frontrunners?”   Barack Obama beat eight well known Democrats and one Republican to become America’s 44^th president.  Would he have done so without a lot of well earned national media attention during his two years on the campaign trail?  It’s a question we journalists should ponder as we gear up for four mayoral elections in one year.