Fenty responds to Gray's handling of streetcars in budget; Gray suggests staff responsible for late night cut, says he's now "supporting streetcars"

From a mayoral debate last week (via Mike DeBonis in the Washington Post).

It can't be the shenanigans that were pulled around the streetcars the other day -- wherein we had a balanced budget, we had the streetcars completely paid for, and at 2 o'clock in the morning, the city council, drafted by Chairman Gray, took the money away only to use it, to spend it on pork and other pet programs. And they found $47 million out of thin air and added that to the budget...

The Fenty campaign seems to see an opening here and Gray is on the defensive over his mishandling of the issue. Also via Mike DeBonis:

In an interview Wednesday night, Gray suggested for the first time that the streetcar change was due to a staff error and that he did not approve the wee-hours reshuffling....

The bad news for Gray: Neither explanation bolsters the image he's trying to project over the next 100 days...

"I am where I said I was," [Gray] said Wednesday. "At the end of the day, I'm supporting streetcars."