Barry Making His Return In a Much Different D.C.
At the core of Marion Barry's quest for political revival are true believers like Benjy Little. In Barry's four terms as mayor, he funded Little's recreation center, employed his parents and gave him a series of summer jobs.</br></br>"I call him my father," said Little, 30, of Anacostia, who survived a bout of drug addiction to become a school mediation counselor and start a small music magazine. "Marion Barry is the only person I had."</br></br>But more than 20 years after Barry first rose to power, Washington has fewer and fewer Benjy Littles, with direct personal and economic ties to the political machine Barry built as the dominant power in city politics over decades.</br></br>As Barry mounts his latest comeback attempt, he faces a city that is wealthier and whiter -- and a government that is less devoted to political patronage -- than it was in his heyday. And much of his traditional constituency has moved to what Washingtonians jokingly call Ward 9 -- Prince George's County.</br></br>That Barry is still regarded as a formidable force is testimony to the enduring power of his politics. They are populist and personal, giving him a fighting chance to overcome demographics and voting patterns that are shifting against him.