The Brady Crunch

$100 says Bob Brady never thought he'd have this much campaign trouble.


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Published: Apr 4, 2007

I'll bet anyone $100 that Bob Brady and his supporters never thought they'd have as much campaign trouble as they're currently having. When Brady was first pushed in by both Vince Fumo's machinations and Jonathan Saidel's surprise decision to drop out, Brady seemed poised to thunder into contention, most likely making the race between him and his congressional compatriot, Chaka Fattah.

Instead, his campaign has been beset by problems, some inherent in his candidacy, but far too many of his own making. Let's start with the recent spate of problems connected to his financial-interest statement and Tom Knox's efforts to get him kicked off the ballot.Whether through commission or omission, Brady failed to list the pension he receives from the city.Should he be kicked off the ballot for that?Probably not.But the damage to his campaign has been deep.

First, his campaign looked like a gang that couldn't shoot straight when it first said that this was a mistake, and then that is was not a mistake.Then, on the stand under oath during the hearing, his rambling and evasive responses did far more damage than a week of media coverage questioning his mental capacity could.

Then, there's the issue of his pension from the carpenters, which grows by more than $1,000 monthly even though testimony at the hearing revealed he does little, or no, real work for it.Should that be investigated? Probably, but since District Attorney Lynne Abraham recently endorsed Brady, don't count on it.

There's also the fact that his wife earns six figures being an office manager for a company that won a no-bid contract from the city, a company owned by one of Brady's chief fundraisers and a close Fumo ally. Seems a little cushy, right?Unfortunately, these arrangements are too typical. And that's the inherent problem with Brady's candidacy: He is an ultimate insider and deal broker in a year voters want change.

His campaign has tried to acknowledge that up front and turn weakness into strength by saying he brings people together.But the changing theme of their campaign — "Bob Brady works" — is a cloying, hackneyed catchphrase that doesn't tell anyone anything. Another phrase they use, "Bringing people together," isn't much better, especially since he is primarily recognized for bringing insiders together.

Brady's campaign has hurt itself by not building a strong policy platform that could be used to signal he cares about the basic operations of the city.Yet, they have a limited number of policy papers and none that explain how he is going to manage the looming budget crisis — it's only the biggest threat to Philly's future — while keeping all his promises.

Fundraising seems to be tougher than expected. (Reports are due this week.) If it wasn't for the rise in the limits, he'd already be done.Given those problems, it remains an open question whether it was a strategic mistake to begin airing television commercials as early as they did, since they have been unable to sustain it. But what other choice did they have? They were running last in the polls, and evenwith their boom-and-bust advertising, they've been unable to rise above third.

The one real strength of Brady's campaign is his field effort.During petition season, he blew away the other candidates.He has offices across the city, with some pretty smart, talented people working for him. The truth is, Brady may still win. After all, maybe he can coax enough life out of a creaking ward structure. But consider this: Unions — once considered the bulwark of his candidacy and students of the zeitgeist — are hedging their bets and either refusing to endorse anyone or someone else.That's a bad sign for Brady.

(editorial@citypaper.net)