Laura Berman

Uneasy sits the crown Kilpatrick created

As the survivor of the Detroit political fray she is, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick oozes a sense of entitlement. After six terms as the congresswoman from Michigan's 13th District, she's accustomed to reigning from, not running for, her Washington, D.C., seat.

But former state Rep. Mary Waters and state Sen. Martha G. Scott shared a single televised platform with her over the weekend on Devin Scillian's "Flash Point," and refused to curtsy.

Rather than being celebrated as the dynastic queen who spawned the city's ruling prince, the congresswoman is suddenly being held accountable for the sins, real and/or imagined, of her high-profile son.

Political family

That's the double-edged sword of political nepotism, now making its usual appearance in the Metro Detroit election scene. In Oakland County's race for Probate Court, lawyer Mark Frankel -- who is married to Oakland Circuit Court Judge Nanci Grant and primed to "inherit" father-in-law Barry Grant's Probate Court bench seat -- forcefully plays down the family connections.

On election questionnaires, including the League of Women Voters, he deliberately omitted mentioning the family judges, even when asked specifically about his wife's profession.

Isn't that evasive? "It is," he admits, "but you can't win. If you mention the relationships, people think you're trying to run on them. If you don't mention them, people accuse you of hiding them."

The congresswoman's offspring, with his criminal case pending and the city in a state of extreme disarray, has made her once-secure seat suddenly vulnerable. Waters has built a campaign around the Kilpatrick/Kilpatrick connection, in her now-notorious "yaw's boy" billboard-and-TV campaign. Those ads are nervy but also effective, displaying the mother's demagogic streak ("too many people died for us," she wails, as if her son's romantic affairs and deceptions are a racist frame-up).

Campaign turns to smears

In the YouTube age of politics, no unguarded moment of emotional excess goes unpunished. And getting to real social and economic issues, as Scillian tried repeatedly to do, is less compelling.

On Sunday, Kilpatrick sneered at Waters for failing to know how many government departments there are, and -- attacked -- reverted to a schoolyard smear. "You can't even carry my bra," she huffed at Waters.

Martha Scott and Kilpatrick argued about who might vote more D.C. dollars to the 13th District. "We move on. We do what we do," the congresswoman said, brushing off criticism of her son.

Not too many years ago, her son was a reflection of her glory, a source of public pride. Today, with the Kilpatrick dynasty in disarray, she's clutching her crown.

You can reach Laura Berman at (248) 647-7221 or lberman@detnews.com.