Jonah,
Finally, at lower-middle age, a Claim to Fame! Back when Dennis was Mayor of Cleveland and my mom was a liberal activist, he lived on our street and I was his paperboy.
I actually admired his populist stance against Cleveland bankers, that drove the city into default. It was a courageous stance based on principles he believed in.
He has survived politically in Cleveland with a base of aging ethnic eastern European Catholics, such as myself. Obviously, as this base marches on to oblivion and his own need for a Legacy calls, he is scrambling towards the mainstream Democratic Party. We used to call this “selling out”, back in The Day.