Tomorrow is primary day. Washington, DC voters will be going to the polls to determine, among other things, whether Adrian Fenty will serve another four years as the city’s mayor, or if current City Council chair Vincent Gray will take his place.

The election is, to a degree, a referendum on the direction of this city. A recent Washington City Paper poll summarized the fissure: DC’s newer–and whiter–residents support Fenty’s purported efforts to improve the quality of life in DC, while most established residents–many of them black–feel alienated by Fenty’s supposed disregard for the poorer regions of the city (a point deftly made by AWOL’s Steve Spires last week.)

On the eve of the election, check out this analysis by DCWatch’s Gary Imhoff. I found this bit particularly insightful:

Fenty’s apologists routinely minimize the administration’s disregard and disrespect for its citizens as just a matter of “personality.” But democracy depends on regard and respect for citizens. Fenty’s failure has not been one of personality or of “style,” it has been a failure to govern democratically.