Who are the Deciders?

Pols are predicting Bob Brady by two percent.


	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: May 9, 2007

As the Democratic candidates make a final scramble for votes, seasoned pols in late state Sen. and dealmaker Buddy Cianfrani's South Philly domain are predicting Bob Brady will win by 2 percent over Michael Nutter, Tom Knox, Chaka Fattah and Dwight Evans.

Their reasoning? Mayor John Street and the black vote.

Last week, Street stood front and center at the Sheet Metal Union Hall for the Democratic City Committee's spring fundraiser. The majority of the district's ward leaders endorsed Brady, so he is the official party candidate. That means it's Brady's campaign to win Ã¢â‚¬â€ if committeepeople do their job.

Besides, Street has no option but to endorse him. Brady stood by Street in the fall of 2003 when the fed-planted bug found in the ceiling of the mayor's office threw his re-election against GOP opponent Sam Katz into a tailspin.

Today, Street's political future hinges on one of two candidates winning the primary: Brady or Fattah (Hello, D.C. He's having a wonderful day). Street will be nowhere if Knox or Nutter gets in office and probably not much better off with Evans.

While Street's ineffectiveness as mayor is clear, his political base of supporters is still strong. In North and West Philadelphia, where ministers add a dash of voter awareness to their sermons, block captains are a formidable group. There, in Street's stronghold, people come out to vote, which makes them a far greater force than the Birkenstock-clad white liberals backing Nutter.

Without the black vote a candidate can't win, and those votes will be split between Brady and Fattah, with the rest going to Evans, who is also attracting some white liberals.

Meanwhile, the Democratic City Council at-large primary race could change the council environment if the sons of two mayors seize enough votes boosted by their aggressive campaigning.

Bill Green, son of former mayor Bill Green, could slip in. (Rumors abound that the elder Green had been financially generous with his son, as indicated by the numerous full-page ads in the Inquirer.) And Sharif Street, the first challenger to raise some serious money, could well benefit from his father's connections.

Incumbent City Council at-large members Jim Kenney and Blondell Reynolds Brown will most likely be re-elected, while challenger Ben Ramos and incumbent Juan Ramos could either cancel each other out, or offer enough name confusion for Ben to get in.

In the district Council races, Ballard lawyer Matt McClure may eek out a small-percentage win over Councilwoman Carol Campbell in the Fourth District. McClure, busy slamming Campbell for what he calls "illegal donations," demanded that the City Commissioners, also up for re-election, investigate the incumbent's PAC to see whether she accepted money from corporations. (Campbell won a special election last year to fill the vacancy left by Nutter's resignation; this is her first real election.)

Finally, back in South Philly, a poll conducted by Anzalone Research last week showed Councilman Frank DiCicco with 51 percent to challenger Vernon Anastasio's 16 percent.

On the Bench

Judicial races remain barely a blip on the voting radar. Supreme Court nominees Seamus McCaffery and Debra Todd are both sitting judges on Superior Court and are endorsed by Democratic State Committee. McCaffery has a shot over another high court candidate, Common Pleas Court President Judge C. Darnell Jones, who is not endorsed by the party but is getting support from locals. McCaffery should pull ahead; he has statewide recognition from his days in the Eagles Game-Day Court.

Mike Erdos and Ellen Green Ceisler also have a good chance in their quest for seats on Common Pleas Court, while Joe O'Neill, a longtime pro-bono lawyer for Democratic City Committee, will get enough support for one of two seats on Municipal Court.

Top contenders for traffic court judges, where you do not need a law degree, are Mike Lowry and Sandra Mills.

The Gay Way

It was a big weekend for the gay community as politicians were busy courting their vote. At the nightclub Pure, a cocktail meet-and-greet was held Saturday night prior to the annual Equality Forum dinner.

Dan Anders, recently nominated by Gov. Ed Rendell to a vacancy on Common Pleas Court, is helping to coordinate the judicial vote for the gay community so, naturally, he was busy that night.

The Equality Forum event, hosted by executive director Malcolm Lazin at the National Constitution Center, was well attended, although some complained that there were too many speeches. However, Rendell, considered an ally of the gay community, got everyone's attention with his remarks, as did former tennis star Martina Navratilova,who was honored for her efforts on gay and lesbian rights. J. Mickey Rowley, Deputy Secretary for Tourism and the highest-ranking openly gay official in the state, commandeered two of Rendell's tables.

The only mayoral candidates who showed up were Tom Knox and Republican Al Taubenberger.

Knox paid for a full-page ad in the program book honoring lesbian pioneer Barbara Gittings, who recently passed away. But Thom Cardwell, a guest that evening, was not impressed with Knox's efforts to reach out to the community. "So, he knew Barbara, what, all of two and a half minutes?" asked Cardwell.

(rcpatel@aol.com)