Chaka Fattah will unwrap a shiny new race for Mayor on his 50th birthday. The congressman has been hinting that he will announce his candidacy for the 2007 race near his birthday, which is Nov. 21; but Monday, at a panel discussion at the Philadelphia Bar Association - covered by the Daily News' Mensah M. Dean - he was clearer than ever about it:
"I'm going to make an announcement on or before November 21. It's my 50th birthday, its a time to reflect on what one might do in the second act of their life."
Certainly, the campaign-like promises are flowing already. Also at the discussion:
As Paul Vallas, who was also on the panel, bemoaned the fact that he was still waiting for $10 million that Mayor Street had promised him, Fattah promised that if he were mayor the school district would be his "top priority" and that it "wouldn't be last to get money, they'd be first to get money."
Comments (7)
Lucky for him his birthday isn't before the congressional election.
Posted by Dave | October 16, 2006 4:43 PM
I'm certainly not voting for him. I think I'll write in Jerry Mondesire.
Posted by Philly Phantom | October 16, 2006 7:06 PM
I'm voting for Nutter!
www.nutterformayor.com
Posted by kevin | October 17, 2006 10:36 AM
After reading Dave Davies' article about the Street FBI probe vs. the Weldon FBI prove (linked to on the Next Mayor main page), I think I've developed some additional "objections to Fattah." I'm having a hard time believing that racial comment he made. It's about as blatant an attempt at emotional manipulation as Street's infamous "brothers and sisters" comment.
Posted by Dave | October 19, 2006 2:14 PM
I'm not much of a blogger, however, I found this piece on www.fattahxray.com interesting (Although I do not know who does the post, I think I concur:
For the first time in over a decade, the Democratic Party has the real opportunity to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives. At such a crucial juncture in the party and the nation's history, it is incumbent on all leaders to set aside their personal ambitions and work for the greater good of the party and the nation as a whole.
Can anyone doubt that a young mother struggling to raise her children in West Philadelphia would be better served if a progressive individual such as Lois Murphy Brown was casting votes in the halls of Congress vs. Jim Gerlach who is always a reliable vote for George Bush and the Republican Party.
That is why it is painful to watch what can only be described as the self serving actions of the senior member of the Philadelphia Congressional delegation (Fattah).
At a time when the closeness of area congressional races bespeaks their importance to the Democratic attempt to regain control of the House, Congressman Fattah has engaged in another counterproductive, selfish maneuver to position himself as the front runner for a possible mayoral run in 2007. A campaign that may or may not take place, depending ironically, on the outcome of this November's election.
As local candidates for both the House and the Senate struggle with fundraising to get their message and volunteers out for the election, Congressman Fattah has been draining precious resources by holding fundraisers with former President Bill Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama, two of the rock stars of the Democratic Party.
Coincidentally, Congressman Fattah is occupying what can only be termed as one of the safest seats in the country. The chances of Congressman Fattah polling under 90% of the total vote are slim. Losing is almost out of the question.
Yet, as the congressman callously diverts funds from area candidates who are in need, the window is closing on this once in a decade opportunity. The question remains what will the congressman do with the funds he has raised thus far? He is not allowed by federal law to convert any monies he has raised as a congressional candidate for a planned run at City Hall.
Posted by Esquisite | October 23, 2006 4:04 PM
I call shenanigans on Esquisite! I've seen that exact comment on at least one other blog. Plus most folks that read this blog or have paid attention at all know that fattahxray was set up by folks who don't like Fattah. Anyway, point is... I'll leave it up because it doesn't violate any kind of our ground rules (which are the same as attytood.com) but anyone who posts such stuff without coming clean (please, "I'm not much of a blogger," you've got to be kidding me) will have shenanigans called on them by me or one of our other frequent commenters.
Posted by Dan | October 24, 2006 12:09 PM
Sorry Dan,
But if you look up my blog history, you will see that I don't have much of one. In fact, the Fattah blog was my first! I saw some conversation on the blogs about Fattah and thought that the piece I posted was interesting and something I thought you guys would want to talk about.
Obviously, you don't want to talk about it. You just want to attack me. Anyway, I didn't write it. I just thought it was interesting. By the way, I'm not a fan of Fattah... but so what!?
Posted by Esquisite | October 26, 2006 8:38 AM