It's early, really early, but here is City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. standing at a corner in West Baltimore, a bevy of mostly young volunteers waving Mitchell for Mayor signs all around him.
Such is the life of an underdog candidate for mayor whose campaign is marked by an old-fashioned, grass-roots strategy that includes door-knocking, phone banks and that most inglorious of all things, sign waving.
A week later, Mayor Sheila Dixon appears at a Southwest Baltimore neighborhood with an entourage -- 50-people strong, including some of the city's high-level officials, as television cameras and reporters trail her.
This is door-knocking, mayoral style. A campaign event, it's not. There is no campaign literature, no "Dixon for Mayor" T-shirts.
But the subtext is hardly subtle.
The white plastic baggies handed out say "Mayor Sheila Dixon" in large print and include yellow door-hangers with "Operation Protect" written on them, and again, "Mayor Sheila Dixon."
"We want to go out to figure out how we can be proactive to work with the community," Dixon says in a pre-walk pep-talk to a group that includes about a dozen firefighters, top brass from the police, fire, housing and health departments, community activists and young City Hall aides.
As the incumbent, Dixon has the inherent advantage of showcasing her platform the most natural way: through her work.
And she has the resources on hand to deliver on the promises -- as she's doing in this neighborhood right here, right now.
Dixon and Mitchell are among eight candidates competing in the Sept. 11 Democratic primary for mayor. Other candidates include Del. Jill P. Carter, schools administrator Andrey Bundley and Frank M. Conaway Sr., clerk of Baltimore's Circuit Court.
Dixon and Mitchell have raised the most money and were leading in a poll conducted for The Sun last month, though Dixon has a formidable edge on both fronts.
Some of Dixon's challengers say she is crossing the fine line between mayor and candidate by using her office as a platform for her campaign. Furthermore, they say, she has failed to articulate a specific platform. Unlike most of the other candidates, her campaign Web site has no issues listed, aside from her crime plan.
Then there is the city's revamped Web site -- featuring a prominent picture of the mayor and sometimes additional photographs of her.
