Deletion of Earl W. Smith

Comment: Sorry, but candidates for office - even congressional office, much less state office, very much less city office - are not notable unless they have received the required press attention to pass . Mr. Smith has not. A search of Google News http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22earl+w.+smith%22&as_user_ldate=2000&as_user_hdate=2011&scoring=a&sa=N&start=10 finds a bunch of dead guys and one felon of the same name, but nothing at all about this Earl W. Smith. If he wins election he will be notable as the mayor of a major city, but as a candidate he is not
Stance: delete
Cited policy: Wikipedia:Notability (WP:BIO)

Comment: at this time. It would violate  to speculate whether there ''will be'' sources covering Mr. Smith in detail as the election approaches. What is clear is that, despite lots of people burning lots of electrons, we can't find reliable, independent sources doing so now. Indeed, I basically put out a challenge well over a week ago to verify some basic biographical facts that I couldn't find any independent verification for, and we seem unable to do so. Thus,  and  both suggest deletion, without prejudice against re-creation if the new article actually has, you know, real sourcing meeting notability criteria
Stance: delete
Cited policy: Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not (WP:CRYSTAL||WP:BIO||WP:V)

Comment: Nominated by the major opposition party to oppose the mayor of a major U.S. city, he has received significant coverage in major local media such as http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/14/gop-picks-former-police-spokesman-to-face-coleman.html?sid=101 the Columbus Dispatch and clearly meets  criteria #3
Stance: keep
Cited policy: Wikipedia:Notability (WP:POLITICIAN)

Comment: There are certain things listed in the article that, if verified in a reliable source, would constitute passage of . However, I can't verify them - specifically, that he had an article in Columbus Monthly Magazine profiling him in 2000 (I found nothing at the Columbus Monthly site http://www.columbusmonthly.com/past_issues/#2000 to verify that claim), or that he was the Fraternal Order of Police's Police Officer of the Year in 2002. Frankly, I'm having trouble finding independent sources that verify anything but the bare facts of candidacy and that he was once a cop. If that continues up to the closing, then I don't see that we can do much besides delete the article
Stance: comment
Cited policy: Wikipedia:Notability (WP:N)