Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

We don't want ethanol subsidies. We want promises. And money.

by Brian Howard

I think I've got whiplash. Pennsylvania's looming April 22 primary has bounded between perfunctory and decisive so many times in the last month, it's only fitting we find ourselves somewhere in the middle. As staff writer Tom Namako pointed out on our staff blog, The Clog, earlier this week [March 10, "PA Matters! Really?"], while Hillary Clinton's wins in Ohio and Texas do mean that Pennsylvania will now help determine the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, the race is so close, Pennsylvania won't actually decide anything. At least not where getting to the magic number 2,025 is concerned. Maybe Indiana and North Carolina will have their own mini Super Tuesday on May 6. Or maybe John Edwards' 26 little delegates will settle things at the convention. (Aw. I <3 John Edwards.) But I digress.

On one hand, it's nice to be needed. As our news department lays out in the Pandering Guide, because we've got a meaty 188 delegates on the line, we get to make demands. We don't want vague notions of change or experience. And we sure as hell don't want ethanol subsidies. We want promises. And money. To fight crime and poverty. To fix our infrastructure and bolster our urban farms. And we want to know that discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens won't be legislated in the form of some asinine defense-of-marriage act. Dance, candidates, dance. Leverage is kind of great.

On the other hand, what does where we are say about where we are? It's halfway through March and the Democratic party is as split as it could possibly be. Are we making demands of a politician John McCain will spend the next few months lining up in his sights? As the March 8 issue of The Economist points out in "Obamaworld versus Hillaryland," Obama has united the "wine-track" Democrats — reform liberals looking to save their souls — while Clinton has united the "beer-track" Dems — labor liberals looking to save their jobs. Will the party have time to reunite its factions once/if a nominee is chosen? Let me return to Namako: "Want to really matter, Pennsylvanians? Organize for a landslide."

Odds and Ends

The nature of the work we do is to be in the moment. Which is why it always feels a little strange when it comes time to submit work for awards competitions — to have a panel of judges look at something you published independent of its place in the time-space continuum. But good storytelling endures, and City Paper did very nicely for itself at this year's Keystone Press Awards, taking home 11 awards in its division: four first places, six second places and one honorable mention. (For a full rundown, visit the awards page.) We also swept the weekly distinguished writer awards, as Namako took first and Doron Taussig took second.

I don't need an independent panel to tell me that these guys do awesome work — read Namako's look into trends in homeless services or Taussig's profile of the Media Mobilizing Project, a West Philly group looking to level the playing field for political activism, for proof. But it's nice to get confirmation.

Suds and Bands

City Paper's first-ever Beer Week Beeramid is entering the home stretch. The field of 16 local beers has been narrowed to two: Flying Fish's Belgian Abbey Dubbel and Nodding Head's Grog. Finals voting runs through midnight March 17 at citypaper.net/beeramid. And the Philly Rock Shootout — a bit of gamesmanship between our music department and Y-Rock on XPN — has reached its final stage. Our band, Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer, will take on Y-Rock's Dr. Dog. Hit citypaper.net/shootout and download Jon Solomon's latest Local Support (citypaper.net/podcast) to hear the finalists.

(bhoward@citypaper.net)