This press release from the Nutter campaign just further solidifies what I think is Nutter's 5-word answer to what his campaign is about. In the release Nutter says:
For too long Mayor Street has allowed city government to become bloated and wasteful. Every department in this government has the ability to become more efficient and to cut costs.
"The Insider" in today's City Paper talked a little about what "message" is, calling it:
what voters take into the booth with them — their impressions of, likes and dislikes about, and reasons to vote for or against someone.
Here's my guess at the "message" that Nutter is hoping voters bring into the booth with them: Nutter is not John Street.
It remains to be seen (a)if that will be an effective message, especially if other candidates try to grab a piece of it and (b) if he'll be able to get that message out in an effective way (ie without just saying it).
If he's successful on both parts, which he could be considering that he's the only candidate running a campaign as if he were running against Street, then he may very well be be able to tap into the 58% who view Street as "unfavorable". That's a pretty big chunk of people.
Comments (3)
And the flip side is that Fattah = Street
Posted by The Flip Side | February 22, 2007 3:46 PM
Fattah is already making that case himself, he has said numerous times he believes Street has been a good mayor. In that poll, 58% of people seem to disagree.
Then again, in a 5 way race 42% is a pretty big #, too.
Posted by Milt | February 22, 2007 4:48 PM
I think that once Nutter starts running commercials he will be able to gain some ground by making it clear that he does not approve of Street's running of the City. Evans and Knox will probably be forced to offer some criticism of Street sooner or later. I dont look for Fattah or Brady to ever explicitly criticize Street's leadership which may be a big mistake in the end. Street is not popular and being connected to him can't be an asset.
Posted by sj | February 23, 2007 8:34 AM