NEWS . Political Notebook

The Name Game


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Published: Nov 15, 2006

P hilly Republican ward leaders rarely defy the endorsed ticket on Election Day. Democrats, on the other hand, are notorious for cutting candidates off sample ballots that are handed out to voters at the polls.

So it came as a bit of a surprise when GOP City Council at-large candidate Scott Cummings claimed he was cut from 55th Ward leader Chris Vogler's ballot of party-endorsed candidates on Election Day. Cummings, like Vogler, lives in the Northeast; both also work for the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Cummings was chosen by GOP ward leaders to appear on the ballot for a special election to fill the council seat left vacant by the 2005 death of at-large City Councilman David Cohen. Cummings lost to Bill Greenlee, Cohen's former chief of staff, who was selected by the Democratic ward leaders.

Cummings said he did not understand why Vogler cut him, but assumed it was a "personal issue."

Vogler is a powerful ward leader, son of 21st Ward leader Walt Vogler, and an ally of GOP House Speaker John Perzel. Cummings may run next year for the 6th District seat if Councilwoman Joan Krajewski decides not to seek another term.

"I'm taking the high road," said Cummings, who was endorsed over Greenlee by the Northeast Times.

For his part, Vogler denied cutting Cummings: "He would not have won my ward if I cut him. Believe me, when I want to cut someone, they'll know it. I only took Scott off [the sample ballot] for an hour when I saw there was a ballot around that had Rick Santorum , Ed Rendell and Scott Cummings' names on it."

He added that he was upset when he saw that the Democratic governor was on the ballot while Perzel went unmentioned. Vogler assumed that Cummings had a hand in it, Cummings denied any involvement.

"If there was a ballot out here with my name on it and I didn't know where it came from, I would certainly find out where it came from. And, I heard some of Scott's people were doing stuff in [state Rep.] John Taylor 's ward that bothered me," responded Vogler, who declined to elaborate.

Kevin Kelly, chair of the Philadelphia Federation of Young Republicans, said that he didn't care whether Vogler had a personal issue with Cummings; he said Vogler should just do his job as ward leader.

"He ought to suck it up," said Kelly who has been actively trying to energize city Republicans. "All I want is a viable party and to engage the party in valid issues and ideas. Otherwise, it's just a one-party system."

Vogler said that Kelly lives in Center City and has no idea what the results were in his Northeast ward. He said that none of the party leadership — neither Michael Meehan nor Vito Canuso — had approached him about the matter.

Bush Wacked

After the fallout of last week's elections, Sidney Blumenthal's latest tome, How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime (Princeton University Press), is selling briskly. Blumenthal was the former assistant and top advisor to President Bill Clinton and has penned articles for Salon, The Washington Post and The New Yorker.

Bush Rules is a compilation of his work chronicling Bush and the Iraq war since 2003.

Bush's approval rating has dipped to an all-time low of 31 percent since last week's general election and Democratic takeover of the U.S. House and Senate.

"Even under his one-party rule, [Bush] was even disdainful of his own Republican committee chairs."

"Bush must now begin to deal," Blumenthal said in an interview. "This is something he never had to do before. Even under his one-party rule, he was even disdainful of his own Republican committee chairs. He never engaged in the sort of politics that presidents engage in. This begins his learning curve."

So, what does he think comes next for the newly empowered?

"I think the most important thing for the Democrats is not to use Bush as a model for leadership," said Blumenthal, adding that he sees Hillary Clinton as a viable presidential candidate.

Though Democrats have had their hands tied under Bush, Blumenthal maintained that they have not been able to offer a streamlined, cohesive message that defines them.

"The Democrats have had no spokesperson because they have held no power," he said. "The Democrats have been dysfunctional, but in the long term, they will build coalitions, unlike the Republicans who like to say they are a big tent but can't hold themselves together."

To hear more of the dish on who might be the next great leader, check out the National Constitution Center's Citizens' Constitutional Conversation today at 6:30 p.m. National GOP pollster Ed Rollins and Democratic strategist Stan Greenberg will serve as panelists and former Time Magazine columnist Margaret Carlson will moderate.

(rcpatel@aol.com)