The "Anointed One"

Listening to Pat Lykos on Michael Berry's show tonight, she blamed her loss in the 2000 D.A.'s race on Johnny Holmes "anointing" Chuck Rosenthal to be his successor.

It wasn't the first time, I've heard it said that Mr. Holmes "anointed" Chuck. The Chronicle has referred to it by those terms, too.

I was around in 2000, and I kind of remember things differently than Lykos and the Chronicle.

I remember that Chuck announced his candidacy the day the Mr. Holmes announced he wouldn't run again. I also remember that soon after that, Mr. Holmes said something to the effect that he wasn't going to endorse anyone unless an unqualified candidate (I believe his term was "nincompoop") was running. As a matter of fact, I remember Mike Stafford even quipping about it during a debate.

Stafford (at one of the debates) laughed that Holmes ended up endorsing Chuck soon after he (Stafford) had entered the race, and he jokingly stated that he hoped he wasn't the "nincompoop" Holmes had in mind when he made the original statement.

Mr. Holmes didn't "anoint" Chuck for anything.

In fact, he didn't want to endorse anyone. He even told Jim Leitner that he wouldn't.

What changed Mr. Holmes' mind in 2000?

I don't know, but it came after Pat Lykos entered the race . . .