"Not Fuckin' Nutter!"
Johnny Doc counters our Nutter endorsement.
To hear John Dougherty tell it, Michael Nutter is a self-aggrandizing opportunist who takes credit for others' accomplishments, plays politics even when it comes to religion and hypocritically cries for ethics reform despite having no-bid-contract skeletons in his closet.
And that's just the stuff the union boss rattles off the top of his head. Dougherty says he has a whole notebook filled with more nuggets that he'd happily share.
"Listen, I don't have any problem with what he does, OK?" Dougherty explains, "but I have a major problem with how he portrays himself. It pisses me off. He seems to be this week's fad. I mean, Mike Nutter, Michael Nutter. I don't even know what he's going by these days. He changes positions as much as he changes his name."
Yep, we're in for 12 ugly days, folks.
On Monday night, Dougherty, whose name always surfaces amid election-time controversies, agreed to handicap the race over a few Miller Lites at Local 98's business office. The conversation started with Dougherty trying to guess who City Paper would be endorsing in today's issue. (The correct answer elicited this column's headline and fueled his "counter-endorsement.") Before we could go on, one of his two cell phones lit up with a must-answer caller ID. Seems the unions are keeping an eye on the blogs and, having adapted to the changing political discourse, are responding to "knucklehead" accusations. At issue was a post — he says he knows whom they're coming from, but I'm not name-printing — that intimated Local 98 guys are smashing windows with Brady signs in them.
"I want you to get on there," he said into the phone, smirking, "and write about how some guys in Nutter hats smashed your windows because you had a Knox sign, and guys in Brady sweatshirts beat up your grandmom and impregnated your dog. Your male dog! Then say, 'C'mon, let's knock this stuff off!'" (By sunset, the Metro's election blog would speak to a pregnant — genderless — dog and busted windows, but not the grandmom.)
Spending the next hour on the race, here's what I gathered: Dougherty hates Nutter moving up in the polls; he respects Dwight Evans but doesn't give him a shot; the rumors of a blood feud with Bob Brady are (slightly) exaggerated; and 98 may not officially endorse anyone because he thinks Tom Knox and Chaka Fattah can both win. So as not to be the lone translator, I offer Dougherty's words:
On Evans: "He's as prepared as anybody to be mayor. As a neighborhood guy, I respect what he's done in his neighborhood. And he's a nice guy to deal with. I don't know what it is. He just doesn't connect with voters."
On the "Chairman": "He's the best politician this city's had in a long time, and he's awesome when he's managing the status quo. He makes everybody feel like they're the most important person in the world when they're dealing with him. The question is, 'Does he remember them tomorrow?' One of his campaign's biggest mistakes was assuming that the Northeast and South Philly are the same neighborhoods [Frank] Rizzo had in the '70s. Well, they're not. But, the upside is that he's a down-to-earth guy who knows how to get things done."
On Fattah: "Well-versed on every topic. Really smart. He's never asked for anything for himself. He's getting a better response in the white community than he gets credit for. This is what I hear people say after they've dealt with him: 'We expected less and got much more.' If your issue is poverty, then it's him. I'm not sure he can sell the airport, but at least he's thinking."
On Knox, with whom he recently powwowed at the Famous: "Everybody's saying, 'No record, no record, no record.' Well, no record is better than a broken record. We have a record number of deaths. Record deficits in our schools. Especially at a time when the pension's not being handled right, I gotta take a look at that. ... There's something to be said for not having to worry about what you say."
Which brings us back to Public Enemy No. 98. After noting that Nutter "has a very good media-driven campaign; it's Neil Oxman at his best," he slammed the former councilman for crying reform despite "voting with John Street somewhere in the vicinity of 96 percent of the time."
"When he chose to run for mayor, he decided to separate himself from Council. Now he wants to be Mr. Good Government? He does things because some think tank tells him to," claimed Dougherty. "Name one person he's worked with who's supporting him. I mean, if people are scared to be with you, what does that say about your ability to lead? His former friends and allies are now the people he wants to throw out!"
Rantin' and rollin', Dougherty then listed seven or eight people who he says had more to do with settling the brief 2004 Convention Center strike that Nutter claims as a personal victory (including Carol Campbell). He also says that Nutter nearly botched the smoking ban, held up a West Philly church relocation over political differences, and did less redevelopment work for his district than (Doc foe) Frank DiCicco.
"Nutter looks for issues that raise his public profile, issues that have a nice upside without doing the hard work," he concluded. "At the end of the day, people start worrying if their vote counts. And it's not a black/white thing; it's who's going to help me with my problems. That's why I still think it's going to come down to Knox or Fattah."
Also In This Week's Cover Story Section
Can Philly Fix Itself?
Better Know an At-Large City Council Candidate
On the Undercard
I dont know how they got in charge, but the people who are able to think, need to stop moving out of the city, and start attacking these people.
That flip-flopper! I hear Nutter sometimes lets his good friends also call him "Mikey". Only someone who is HIDING something would find the need to constantly change their name. So what are you hiding, Mr. Nutter? How about you tell us your middle name!
Ah, I love Philly politics. To hell with these corrupt hacks.