Everyone in the nation (or just about everyone) knows about Detroit and, depending on your views, see it as a nice place to visit or live in or a festering Hellhole of crime and poverty. Your views depend on how you enjoyed your visit or the news reports you see/read/hear about, which leads me to the point of this post.

The August 2 primary is closing, and the current Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is lagging in the polls due to multiple scandals in the cash-stripped city, some of which he has leased a luxary SUV for about $25,000, which was meant for his wife and paid for a trip to the Bahamas using the city's credit card.

Here you will find the candidates and their positions (via Detroit Free Press):

Sharon McPhail: http://www.freep.com/news/politics/mcphail -bar122e_20050722.htm" title="http://www.freep.com/news/politics/mcphail -bar122e_20050722.htm" target="_blank"http://www.freep.com/news/pol...

Freman Hendrix: http://www.freep.com/news/politics/hendrix -bar121e_20050721.htm" title="http://www.freep.com/news/politics/hendrix -bar121e_20050721.htm" target="_blank"http://www.freep.com/news/pol...

Hansen Clarke: http://www.freep.com/news/politics/clarke- issues20e_20050720.htm" title="http://www.freep.com/news/politics/clarke- issues20e_20050720.htm" target="_blank"http://www.freep.com/news/pol...

Kwame Kilpatrick: http://www.freep.com/news/politics/kilp-ba r119e_20050719.htm" title="http://www.freep.com/news/politics/kilp-ba r119e_20050719.htm" target="_blank"http://www.freep.com/news/pol...

Now, for the record, I do not live in Detroit, I live in Flat Rock, close to Monroe County, but I see the commercials for the mayoral race, so I decided to comment on it.