Party Night

by Mary F. Patel

Maybe it wasn't Chelsea Clinton's gay pub crawl in Center City last weekend that pushed her mom, Hillary, over the edge to a win Tuesday night, but it was a good night for the Clintons nevertheless, as the Democratic presidential candidate did well enough to stay in the game.

Last week it looked like Hillary Clinton's Democratic rival, Barack Obama, might do well enough in Philly to hurt Clinton statewide. It didn't pan out that way.

"We're back in the game," said Richard Schiffrin, a local attorney who raised more than half a million dollars for Clinton. Schiffrin was standing on the sidelines of a packed ballroom at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue. The crowd seemed to be more media than guests.

Pennsylvania was a real deal-breaker for Clinton — if she didn't win here, it was all over for her. Obama has more states and delegates in his pocket, which is probably why he wasn't in town last Tuesday and chose instead to focus on other upcoming primaries.

Tuesday's result makes Gov. Ed Rendell look good, as he not only came out for Clinton early, but perpetually shilled for her on national nighttime cable talk shows — particularly when she was taking a beating in the press and being pressured to drop out of the race.

At the party, Clinton warned the crowd of a long road ahead.

"This is a huge transforming victory!" she said as she took the stage with Chelsea and Bill to Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" (those Clintons love their retro rock anthems).

She gave a lengthy speech on America's troubles (high mortgages, high prices of gas and health care, and the war), and her intention to fix all those ills. She didn't include many specifics, but promised to have that dialogue as the campaign continued.

Meanwhile, across town at a South Philly restaurant on Passyunk Avenue, state Sen. Vince Fumo was having an even better time than Larry Farnese, who was having a pretty good day himself.

Farnese beat John Dougherty and Anne Dicker in a three-way Democratic primary for the First District senatorial seat. Fumo, who currently holds the seat, is not running for re-election. He faces indictment for improper use of his Senate staff and the funds of local charities.

Still, the last thing Fumo wanted to see was his longtime nemesis, Dougherty, the business manager of IBEW Local 98, take his vacated seat.

Earlier in the day, at the Famous Fourth Street Deli's traditional power lunch — where the political elite, journalists and gawkers gather to eat huge pastrami sandwiches — it had seemed like the race was Dougherty's to take.

The Fumo crowd, a regular presence at this biannual lunch event, was conspicuously absent. Word was that Farnese was behind and every Fumocrat was needed to man the polls.

Dougherty, who was the Democratic City Committee's endorsed candidate, arrived with great fanfare. His campaign had spent considerable cash: Residents in the district received three pieces of Dougherty campaign literature in the mail daily.

The literature was clever, particularly one with the Philadelphia Flyers logo which appeared to suggest that the hockey team endorsed Dougherty.

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Rendell's image also appeared on some pro-Dougherty propaganda, though Rendell had not explicitly endorsed the union head.

Fumo strongly supported Farnese, and looked pleased as punch at the victory party, which was attended by Fumocrats and others like Angel Ortiz, who is a rival of Dougherty because Dougherty supported Juan Ramos for Ortiz's former City Council seat.

Farnese had originally intended to run against state Rep. Babette Josephs, but abandoned that plan after Dougherty ally Bobby Gormley entered the House race, severely diluting Farnese's chances.

Perhaps the persistent negative news coverage of Gus Dougherty, who's not related to John but is a friend of his, helped Farnese out. Gus recently pleaded guilty to theft, tax fraud and bribery, and will go to trial soon on two remaining counts.

"Political upsets [are] one of the greatest feelings of empowerment in the world," observed Thom Cardwell, who helped raise money for Farnese's campaign among the city's LGBTQ community.

Supporters also credited Farnese's campaign manger, Renee Gilinger, for her strategic planning during the campaign's down times.

(rcpatel@aol.com)