Antonio Villaraigosa seemed destined to become the next mayor of Los Angeles. He was a charismatic Latino politician in a city where Spanish is more than a second language. He had been a successful speaker of the California assembly and had the endorsement of everyone from the outgoing Republican mayor to the state's Democratic Party and its Governor.
So why did he lose? Because James Hahn, 50, the mild-mannered city attorney and fellow Democrat who most people figured would get lost beside the flamboyant Villaraigosa, turned out to be the better street fighter. With a tough, tightly focused campaign that...
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