Unsolicited Advice Column (Part 4 of a series of articles about the Los Angeles mayoral election)
By Bobby M. Reyes

{xtypo_quote} 'Garcetti, who has an Italian last name, pointed out that he could also make a historic breakthrough — as the city's first elected Jewish mayor (one was appointed in the 1880s, but only for a year)'. -- As reported by L.A. Times reporters James Rainey & Maeve Reston {/xtypo_quote}

T hus, mayoral hopeful Eric Garcetti, in a moment of political hara-kiri, told the audience and the people watching on KTLA-TV (Channel 5) his wish to become the "city's first elected Jewish mayor" on Sunday, May 5, 2013, at the USC's Galen Center.

To read the entire account of the said televised debate between Eric Garcetti and Ms. Wendy Greuel, as written by L.A. Times reporters James Rainey & Maeve Reston, please copy and paste to your browser this URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mayor-debate-20130506,0,4949642.story

The political handlers of Eric Garcetti and perhaps the candidate himself probably made the biggest blunder in this year's mayoral election's run-off on May 21, 2013. They wanted perhaps to remind Jewish-American voters of Mr. Garcetti's historic aspiration to become their "first Jewish mayor of Los Angeles" to win their votes. Mr. Garcetti and Company probably thought that in a real-close contest with Ms. Wendy Greuel, the Jewish ballots would become the deciding swing votes.

But such a political stunt of involving the Jewish voters is a dumb move on the part of Mr. Garcetti. Ms. Wendy Greuel does not portray her goal of becoming Los Angeles' "first woman city mayor" and not the "first Christian female city mayor." After all, there is a separation between church and state. And ideally, religion has no place in politics.

While we live now in a spirit of Christian ecumenism and religious tolerance, there are still Christians that blame the Jewish people of killing Jesus Christ. Probably some Islamic voters of Los Angeles would vote for Mr. Garcetti's opponent simply because they hate the people from the Land of Judah and their descendants in America.

Perhaps in his desperation -- as Wendy Greuel has totally obliterated Mr. Garcetti's 10-point edge and in fact she now leads the polls -- Eric Garcetti repeated during the May 5th debate his ambition to become the city's "first Jewish mayor."

It was not the first time that Mr. Garcetti has trumpeted his Jewish ancestry. As early as January 2, 2013, he reminded Michael Finnegan of the Los Angeles Times of his Jewish roots. Yes, Mr. Garcetti wants to lead "a city that votes (and lives and dies) along ethnic lines," to borrow the words of Mr. Finnegan (emphasis supplied).

Contrast the apparently-divisive ethnic-lines' view of Mr. Garcetti with Wendy Greuel, who started her first city job with then-Mayor Tom Bradley. It was Mayor Bradley who taught his staff members, including Ms. Greuel (who worked for 10 years for his Administration), how to fashion a "Rainbow Coalition" before even the term became a popular phrase among civil-rights advocates.

If this "Unsolicited Advice" column is right, Los Angeles will elect its first woman mayor (and not its first Jewish mayor) on May 21, 2013. Mr. Garcetti simply has committed many mistakes in this mayoral campaign and this "Jewish blunder" probably is right up among the top errors in importance and significance.

Eric Garcetti invokes Latino-Jewish ancestry in mayor's race