Dwight's Plight

Dwight Evans may be the most qualified candidate in a crowded primary field.


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Published: Apr 18, 2007

If it were about résumés alone, Democratic mayoral candidate Dwight Evans may be the most qualified candidate in a crowded primary field, but is that enough to get him elected? Trailing in the polls and in fundraising, he is the least known of the pack and that's too bad, considering Evans probably has the least amount of negatives out of the five Democrats looking to take over City Hall.

He has no real political baggage to speak of, with the exception of 1999, when he last ran (unsuccessfully) for mayor, receiving less than 5 percent of the vote. Lacking money and a strong political machine, as well as the power and connections to overcome the John Street operation, Evans was out.

But he's not out of his day job, where he's breezed to re-elections since 1981. He serves in the House representing the northwest section of the city and has managed to maintain his seat as Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and sits on the House Committee on Committees and the House Rules Committee. A strong advocate for education, he says that educating the youth will eventually alleviate most of the social ills facing the city.

Plus, he knows how to work with House Republicans to get legislation passed. As a trade-off for playing ball with the GOP, Evans supported the then-GOP majority's decision for the state to take over the city's school system, Philadelphia Parking Authority and the Pennsylvania Convention Center, which drew the ire of his fellow Democrats. But Evans enjoys his independence of the party apparatus and began the progressive moment of the Northwest Coalition almost a decade ago — now the base of his support.

Evans has some really good ideas on moving the city forward, if only someone would listen. Take, for example, his plan for a green city. At a February candidates forum, a key topic was the use of renewable energy. Evans said that the first priority for the city should be to address the massive problems of PGW, the overpriced, poorly run, city-owned patronage haven. He stressed that PGW is so much in debt that should it collapse, there is no plan in the event of an emergency bankruptcy.

As a powerful House member, Evans has the ability to introduce legislation to limit the purchase of handguns to one per month; ban assault weapons; and implement severe penalties for failing to report lost or stolen guns. And as Appropriations chairman, he has experience with budgets. But can he relay that message to the residents of Fox Chase or Wissinoming, where his base is extremely weak?

Evans is behind on fundraising to get his message out, and polls currently have him in last behind Tom Knox, Chaka Fattah, Bob Brady and Michael Nutter.

He should not have wasted precious resources on piggybacking on Knox's unsuccessful lawsuit to try to knock Brady off the ballot. Even if Brady doesn't win, he will still remain the party chairman and, as such, Evans will have to work with him. It is obvious that Evans' ally, NAACP President J. Whyatt Mondesire, most likely pushed for Evans' participation in the litigation in hopes of Evans landing in a less-crowded field. This appears to look like Evans is too easily led along, des-pite the perception that he is independent.

Evans has some really good plans to move the city forward, but he lacks the sales pitch to convince voters that he's the man for the job. He has a little over three weeks to change that.

The Democratic Money Wars

West Coast finance moguls Ron Burkle and David Geffen aren't the only ones competing against each other for a presidential candidate. Out in Lala Land, Burkle is raising millions for Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton while Geffen is raking it in for Barack Obama. Here in Pennsylvania, a financially smaller but no less significant fundraising effort is happening for Clinton and Obama within the same law firm.

Mark Alderman, chairman of the ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¼ber firm Wolf Block, is a member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee and is busy coordinating efforts here, while the firm's partner, Alan Kessler, is the state's finance chair for Clinton.

Last month, Kessler organized a fundraiser for Clinton, raising more than $500,000; he has been close with the Clintons for years and was the finance vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Alderman, who says he chose his candidate after his good friend John Kerry opted out, has scheduled a big day for May 22, when Obama will spend an afternoon here in the city ending with an evening gala.

"There is something going on here," said Alderman of the Obama craze. "I hope we can keep it up."

(rcpatel@aol.com)