7:58 AM: Thanks for following along. Enjoy the Duck Dynasty marathon or whatever that will fill the rest of your night. See you at the polls, next Tuesday.
7:56 PM: People on Twitter said things that made everyone laugh. And scene.
7:55 PM: Napoleon says big business and big money is trying to buy this race. Well, sure. But his whole the media is out to get him patter is just a pity party from a guy who has run a terrible campaign. Also, Mike Duggan used to sleep in Livonia.
7:53 PM: Mike Duggan has done 249 house parties. Take that Kid 'N Play.
7:52 PM: Neither man would offer Dan Gilbert a post in their administration. Nor would they outlaw pit bulls. Both would punish parents when their kids break curfew.
7:51 PM: Has the media been fair?
Duggan: Reasonably.
Napoleon: Absolutely not. (Of course, he doesn't return our calls!)
7:50 PM: From my colleague Lauren Ann Davies: "Quote of the night for me: "I need you to be specific." Thank you Carolyn Clifford!" Yep.
7:48 PM: Pensions. Napoleon is close to tearing up talking about the sacrifices police officers make and how he's angry that cops would have their pensions cut. It's easily his best moment of the night and the best defense of the pensions I've heard to date. If Napoleon was this passionate and direct on stuff, this race would be much closer.
Duggan is offering to craft an alternative bankruptcy plan to any plan from Orr that cuts pensions.
7:44 PM: This is random but does anyone else think Benny Napoleon has cold?
7:42 PM: More on who get public contracts. Wouldn't be fantastic if Detroit had an economy where minority and women businesses didn't have to be reliant on the largesse of government contracts to be successful and sustainable?
7:39 PM: Benny Napoleon will work with everyone to help the mentally ill. Mike Duggan will appoint Health Board members who care about mental health care.
7:38 PM: Lloyd Jackson is asking about mental health care, noting that many crimes are committed by the untreated mentally ill. Lloyd Jackson is cold winning the debate with the smartest and most relevant questions.
7:36 PM: Mike Duggan wants to establish a "culture of integrity." There will be half-day training sessions on the culture of integrity. Also, tip lines. Benny Napoleon puts you in jail when you're corrupt.
7:33 PM: Since no politician will ever answer the "who will be the voice of the children" question honestly, let me do it on their behalf: No one will be the voice of the children until such time as children make large donations to superPACs.
7:30 PM: Awww, a child is asking who will be the voice of the children? Awwww.
7:29 PM: Everyone is thinking about the children right now. Duggan will improve things for the children by demolishing abandoned houses. He hired DPS kids to work at the DMC. He wants other businesses to do the same. Napoleon worked with children with the Detroit Police. Kids hang out with him and he coaches Little League and he's helped kids pay for school.
7:25 PM: Detroit's national reputation, Duggan says, will turnaround when Duggan is elected mayor and all his business friends tell Rick Snyder to fire Kevyn Orr.
7:24 PM: Jewels! - Benny Napoleon. He will market the city because jewels!
7:23 PM: "There's some things you're going to regret when this campaign is over." - Mike Duggan responding to Napoleon's DMC attacks. Still not sure how either man thinks Detroit can fix itself without an EM.
7:22 PM: Duggan is telling old war stories from the DMC. Of course, a hospital is a business that can grow revenue. Napoleon says there was no turnaround at the DMC. Just a big bailout from Granholm and Ficano, lot's of fines and bond downgrades.
7:20 PM: Lloyd Jackson: How do you fix city without an EM? Boom. Question of the night.
7:18 PM: Car insurance redlining. Napoleon wants to create a Detroit insurance pool to compete for prices. Duggan wants to form a public option insurance plan.
7:16 PM: Mike Duggan says he''ll get the streetlights on by demanding more from repair crews. First reference to the DMC's 29-minute ER thing. If there was a debate drinking game, you would have to take a drink right now. Napoleon says the Lighting Authority won't be under the mayor's purview, so Duggan's plan is pleasant fiction. Duggan responds: What? The mayor appoints three of the five Lighting Commission seats.
7:12 PM: Mary Kramer, Benny Napoleon, and Mike Duggan all agree: Public contracts exist to create "economic opportunities," as Napoleon put it. Delivering services is, you know, secondary.
7:09 PM: Mike Duggan is doing a wonderful, wonderful job responding to this first question with an impressive filibuster thanking everyone and giving Catholic Central a shot out before something something response time. But Napoleon filibuster/bluster skills are also strong. Benny doesn't need response time because he's going to keep you from being a victim. Duggan has something ministers.
7:06 PM: The elderly are getting attacked! In their own homes!
7:05 PM: There are registered voters are at the Wright Museum. Also, questions from Twitter because that's a thing now as Joan Calamezzo once said. Carolyn Clifford asks the first question and it will go to Mike Duggan!
7:02 PM: The Detroit mayoral debate is taking place in Southfield. But they have an audience at the Charles H. Wright Museum so, you know, authenticity.
6:50 PM: Let's be honest. You all think Mike Duggan will win the mayoral election in a walk. He won the primary as a write-in. He has oodles of cash. He's run a better campaign. He's leading in the few polls we've seen so far. Deep down, in places you don't talk about when waxing high-minded about democracy, you believe the only thing left to decide if Benny Napoleon can salvage a respectable finish.
And that may all be true, but there is still a week left in this race and Napoleon could turn it all around. Starting tonight. Starting with tonight's debate. At least, that's the premise that getting us all to tune into this debate. Otherwise, you'd be watching something more interesting. A Storage Wars rerun or something.
Anyway, you're here now. So sit back, relax, and let's see if the comeback starts now. Well in about ten minutes.
