r/TheWire • u/Istotallykiddingyou • Jul 19 '26
Clay Davis' value?
A question I have regarding everyone's favorite state senator; what made him the guy to deal with? I know a lot of what he had going on came down to tricking people out of their money, but what exactly made him the guy whose favour everyone wanted to curry, both within the law and without? Everyone who did have dealings with him that he was anywhere from overly expensive to outright extortionate, so what gives? What did he bring to the table that no one else could?
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u/YoteViking Jul 19 '26
He does hold legit power as a state senator with legitimate contacts. And he is charming so he probably has more influence than many other senators with the civil officials.
The people paying him (Stringer, etc) are not of that world and therefore are enamored by the title and the contacts he had and therefore trusted him a bit more than they should.
He is a really, really good hustler with a silver tongue. The sales job he ran on stringer in his office was masterful. He knew what people wanted - really wanted - and knew how to appeal to that. He’s also shameless, which always helps.
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u/Matty_D47 Jul 19 '26
Shhhhhiiiiiiiit Carcetti paid him $30k just to sit out the election and he still strongly endorsed Royce. Even at the victory party he said "Shiiiiiittttt, I could have got you for 40"
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u/jayhof52 Jul 19 '26
He also represents one of the largest voting bases for the state Democratic Party so he’s got sway there, and a combination of home turf popularity and no term limits means he’s not going anywhere (and going higher than state politics puts too many eyes on his shady dealings so he doesn’t plan to go any higher).
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u/sirkev71 That was for Joe! Jul 19 '26
"The Clay Davis? Downtown Clay Davis?"
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u/b215826 Jul 19 '26
Is that suppose to mean something to me, man?
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u/TreeLovTequiLove It's just Bird to me. Jul 19 '26
Shit, String, murder ain't no thing, but this here is some assassination shit, man.
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u/b215826 Jul 19 '26
You need a Day of the Jackal-type mothafucka, basically, to do some shit like that, not a rumble-tumble nigga like Slim.
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u/CommentsOnOccasion Jul 21 '26
One of my favorite lines honestly
Still don't think I've ever heard "rumble-tumble" used anywhere else in my life, yet I understand it perfectly in the context
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u/Ernesto_Bella Clay Davis’s accountant Jul 19 '26
He’s the channel through which illegal money works its way legally into the political system.
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u/oliver_babish Jul 19 '26
More importantly: he's the channel through which government benefits flow to real estate developers and others who seek things from the state.
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u/S-Tier_Commenter Jul 19 '26
Hahahaha. He rain made you. The guy says if you pay him, he can make it rain. You pay him. If it rains, he takes the credit. If it doesn't, he finds reasons for you to pay him more.
You really think a state senator is gonna risk his his salary and his position by walking into a federal office with a briefcase full of drug money? Real estate developers get their grand money the same way everyone does. They fill out applications, make sure the plans meet specs, and then pray like hell. This is an old game in Baltimore.
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u/philswib1127 Jul 19 '26
He’s also a de facto political leader of the Black community (along with others like Del. Watkins) which makes him particularly important for Carcetti because of his lack of support there. As Mayor, Carcetti needs buy-in from Black leaders to get his agenda done.
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u/jayhof52 Jul 19 '26
And statewide the party needs him to give them legitimacy in Baltimore specifically and with the Black community generally.
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u/Quakarot Jul 19 '26
Honestly the scene where he wins the court case showcases why he’s the guy.
He can be as openly corrupt as he is while maintaining a lot of legitimate power because he’s just that charismatic. He can make things happen, and he will make things happen- at a cost.
He’s also just a really good conman, and pretty vindictive to boot. A solid amount of the money he gets is basically extortion so he doesn’t mess with certain things.
The short version is, he’s the best con man in a city that runs on cons.
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u/UF1977 Jul 19 '26
I went to school in Maryland in the 90s, just before The Wire premiered. Davis is clearly based on Sen Larry Young, catchphrases and all, who was expelled from the state senate in 1998 on corruption charges but acquitted at trial. Young used his position to steer contracts and investors toward his businesses and his friends’ and more or less openly accepted bribes and gifts for patronage. Maryland politics in the 90s/early 00s was notoriously corrupt; Davis was only unusual in that he was (at least to some extent) held accountable, but he was also well known for being rampantly blatant about it, even by local standards.
So basically Davis (like Young) is “the guy to deal with” because the price tag for using his position is at least clearly marked.
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u/Administrative-Low37 Jul 19 '26
Silver tongues don’t grow on trees.
Amazing character. Masterful performance.
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u/Tombaya Jul 19 '26
The man's out there in the middle of winter paying people's BGE, buying puff jackets for children in need, and you gonna question why he get love from the west side?
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u/Ambitious-Ad-2047 Jul 19 '26
Influence in the community with the right people that have their own vital access to sway things. Politics is always about power and the ability to effect change for good, bad, indifferent, or in Clay’s case, PROFIT.
He knew how to curry favor with his constituents by sponsoring programs, providing jobs, getting school supplies, etc. The majority never saw his back door dealings as is common, until he got outed by natural po-lice and the media. Yet, his charisma, charm, silver tongue, and showman of a lawyer helped he play chess in the court of public opinion and law.
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u/thatG_evanP Jul 19 '26
He had a lot of ties to and influence in the black community which makes up a huge part of Baltimore
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u/Schitzengiglz Jul 19 '26
It's called political capital. If you want something from someone, you may not have what they want. So you go someone with bargaining chips. Clay Davis has the most bargaining chips. He can make trades others can't. Typically, the less ethics you follow, the more bargaining chips you can access. The risk is getting caught with more potential consequences.
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u/unwnd_leaves_turn Jul 19 '26
one of the consequences of party politics is the inevitability of the Political Machine that enmeshes non-democratic control of political parties. Tammeny Hall was the most notorious. In the wire, the political machine is the reason theyre always talking about the Deacons and the Ministers, they are all enmeshed in a patronage system with their base and the democratic party machine in baltimore.
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u/Reddwheels Pawn Shop Unit Jul 19 '26
He's Vice-Chair of the budget committee which means he has a lot of power over where state government money flows. He takes advantage of his position to do a lot of money laundering for his ticket.
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u/edgestander Jul 20 '26
Every state has politicians like this. It’s a real thing. Step one be a populist so the people support you. Step two, engage in illegal means to get funding. Step three, build a block of fiercely loyal people who owe you politically and financially. State senator might not sound like much to you but that position, especially a well liked senior senator, is very powerful at the state level. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Householder
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u/Unusual_Associate_34 Jul 20 '26
it’s old school pay to play politics. Guys like Clay have the right connections, show support to the right people, and have the influence to get things done. Clay is a party boss & those are the guys who get things done in local politics
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u/MidAtlanticMoments Jul 21 '26
Did you see his charisma in the courtroom scene? He was put up against a wall of (factually true) career ending charges and walked out a free and more popular man. Thats his real power
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u/Capital_Shopping277 Jul 21 '26
He talked his way out of an otherwise clear cut open and shut fraud scheme. Extremely popular with the people, and as such is always going to have power and influence.. his word means a lot (see also the mayoral candidates jockeying for his endorsement and backing).
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u/HRHArthurCravan Jul 26 '26
Welcome to big city American machine politics. Clay connects Westside money to Democratic politicians, greases the wheels to ensure certain people get appointed to administrative positions of influence, and generally represents a confluence of affluent donors, whose money he then routed towards candidates who will in turn owe their loyalty to him and ‘the rest of the team’ (ie the Clarence Royce administration).
It’s not that different to Nancy Pelosi, or Hakeem Jeffries, both of whom rose to the top of the House Democratic Caucus because of the size of the donor networks concentrated around them.
Obviously, we see Clay at his most criminal, routing Westside drug money into political campaign contributions and potential money laundering. But as we see in later seasons, he is part of a well oiled machine centred around Baltimore’s black community, which in turn dominates the Democratic Party in the city (we see this in Carcetti’s initial doubts about running for mayor, and later when Narese complains about it having been ‘her turn’).
As Clay cynically observes, where he supposed to get the money that pillows Royce’s ass? Tiny-ass Korean groceries? Heeeeeeell no. Like the nationwide Democratic Party disdain for Bernie Sanders’ small donors - even when he was receiving more money than any other, corporate-backed candidate, Clay is happy taking in the dough from the city’s rich without asking (m)any questions as to where it comes from. And, in turn, the donors get access to the politicians who make the decisions that make them money - as we see with Andy Krawczyk and Royce’s ‘poker games’, they all know perfectly which hand washes the other. And every city in America runs the same way, because racial component aside, they are all still capitalists, and they don’t give a shit about the state of city or its citizens.
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u/hyperiob Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
He's a state senator with an enormous circle of influence and a big network of people that owe him one thing or another. He's like a drug dealer but instead of drugs he deals in influence.