I've got a pet theory we're going to test out today. I theorize that mayors have to be

smarter and more results oriented than congressmen who are technically higher in the

packing order because you can get elected to Congress

and literally accomplish nothing for decades.

Just evocatively jibber and give floor speeches.

Do nothing, yet remain a beloved fixture,

bloviating on behalf of your idiot constituents.

But if, as mayor, you just chug around giving speeches and shaking hands and yelling partisan

talking points, but nobody's picking up the garbage and the town water turns pink,

voters are gonna vote you out.

When stuff breaks down at the federal level, we

kick the can down the road.

When stuff breaks down at the municipal level, we get mad. We elect new people

or we move. So I theorize, pound for pound, mayors are smarter than legislators.

And I'm also curious... mayors are smarter than legislators.

And I'm also curious as to what they actually do.

Like in my mind, all mayors wear sashes and top hats

and ride around in parades. Possibly they call upon

Batman. But that can't be right, can't it? Mayors can't just be the cartoon

version of what I thought mayors were in my childhood. So today I'm going to

interview a mayor of one of the United States top 20 largest cities about the

nature of his job and the problems major cities confront.

...