The Next Mayor

The Daily News presents an interesting scenerio (hinted at in an earlier post) today: How about Tom Knox and Jannie Blackwell teaming up?

The logic is as follows: Blackwell wants to be City Council president; Knox wants to be mayor. Blackwell brings Knox votes in West Philly, Knox brings Blackwell support for her attempt at the job now held by Anna Verna.

Mark McDonald and Dave Davies report:

Tomorrow, Blackwell, 61, a four-term councilwoman, says she will make her endorsement for mayor. In the last few weeks, she said her choice had narrowed to Knox and Congressman Chaka Fattah. Yesterday, she wasn’t hiding her warm feelings for Knox.

Blackwell is leader of the 46th Ward in West Philadelphia and when Knox showed up last week, she introduced him as her “friend” and said that he’d do a good job as mayor.

“Tom Knox came forward and said he was supporting me and he thought I’d be good, that I cared about people and am honest and that I’d be a good leader in Council and that he was supporting me as president,” Blackwell said later.

This is not a done deal -- and Knox's people say they have not talked to Blackwell about the Council presidency, and Knox himself says this isn't political dealmaking.

Again, from the story:

Josh Morrow, Knox's campaign manager said that Knox spoke in Blackwell’s favor at the ward meeting without a specific political quid pro quo in mind.

But, said Blackwell:

“What I’m looking for is a partnership,” she said. “I’ve been here long enough to have an opinion on what is needed. I’m interested in someone with forward-thinking ideas and an openness and willingness to form a partnership to deal with the problems.”

If it happens, what does this mean for Knox's "outsider" claim?

We seem to have emerged from the blog blackout that we had about an hour ago. I wasn't able to start an open thread for folks to comment on Congressman Brady's performance on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane.

If you heard it, feel free to comment. If you missed it, you can listen to the podcast and let us know what you think.

And please, we've already gotten plenty of posts that unfairly challenge everything from the Congressman's literacy (for the record, he reads very well) to his diction (some folks probably didn't like JFK's Boston patois). Please keep the discussion to the more substantive issues that were discussed by Congressman Brady and Marty.

So, we've all written about the so-called "527" ads attacking Tom Knox, playing our role to spread the message for free.

And we know that the group called Working People for Truth has paid for air time to broadcast the message.

Here's my question: Have you seen the ads?

Please note: I am NOT talking about the Brady campaign's attack ad, which is labelled that it is paid for by the campaign (and ends with a big "FAKE" stamped across Tom Knox's mug shot.)

I am talking about two other ads, one called "Record" and one called "Service." I haven't seen the ads (and they aren't on the Internet anywhere that I can find, which doesn't surprise me.)

I've posted the scripts behind the cut so you can check them out.

But the question is, have you seen them?

Michael Nutter announced today that he has raised $3.4 million dollars for his campaign. That's to date, since he announced his candidacy.

Still, that's a lot of money.

And some of it has been coming in lately: $325,000 was contributed in the last four days alone.

We'll see fund-raising disclosures by the other candidates this week -- the deadline to report is Friday -- but by releasing this news early Nutter is clearly trying to underscore the idea that he's peaking in prime time.

A recent poll -- and the ad starring his daughter, Olivia -- may be erasing any fears out there that a vote for Nutter is a vote lost, which is something that more than a couple of people had expressed to me in the weeks before his momentum seemed to turn.

It's not on their website yet, nor is it on NBC 10's site (or if it is, it's as hidden as the rest of their political reporting), but SurveyUSA has released it's latest poll. Josh at FFR215 has all of the numbers so I'll let you click over to him to check that out (and one of our commenters posted them too if you care to find it) but I'll just say that it appears folks are coming around on this Nutter guy.

I continue to express reservations about the accuracy of the SurveyUSA poll due to the recorded-voice, push-button-answering method of the poll. But I guess if you just stick to comparing numbers across time for the same poll instead of across different polls, you can get some idea of how support for a candidate is moving. Polls are just a snapshot, though, and it remains to be seen what the picture will look like in two weeks from today.

For those of you who with access to Comcast's Video OnDemand service, there's yet another way to get some information about the candidates, straight from the horses' mouths as it were.

"Candidates On Demand" is available in the "Get Local" section of the VOD service.

Notice, WHYY also has a button in the "Get Local" section which can take you to all of the video content that we've been doing for The Next Mayor Project.

Union sources tell us U.S. Rep. Bob Brady will get the endorsement of several member locals of the city’s blue collar union tomorrow -- though the umbrella organization, AFSCME District Council 33, will remain neutral.

The sources said president Pete Matthews decided District Council 33 would endorse no one in the Democratic primary, even though Brady was the overwhelming favorite in a straw vote of union delegates last month.

Matthews is close to State Rep. Dwight Evans, sources said, but many members were uncomfortable with his willingness to consider changes in the city’s employee pension system.

Matthews decided to allow the 13 member locals to make their own choices, and many, including local 427 representing sanitation workers, will go with Brady.

One source said the unions endorsing Brady represent about 6,000 of the roughly 10,000 workers represented by District Council, the largest city employee union.

Brady has already been endorsed by the police and fire unions. U.S. Rep. Chaka won the nod of AFSCME District Council 47, 3,500 member white collar union.

Remember Ken Smukler, the Brady aide who had to resign very quickly last week after it was disclosed that he worked for Brady's mayoral campaign, in violation of the city campaign-finance ordinance?

A fact that came to light when it was revealed he met with a local PR operative to stir up "independent" attack ads against Tom Knox?

He is trying a new approach.

He's created his own attack ad, bought one spot on Channel 6's 6 p.m. newscast -- and posted it on YouTube. (He also made sure the city's reporters knew it was there.) His hope is that the community will love this ad so much that they will donate to a 527 to keep it on the air.

The ad targets Knox's background in payday lending, his contract with the Convention Center (misidentified in the ad as a "city" contract) and his Maryland HMO. You can see the ad here, or read the script below the jump.

Now, I am not boosting Knox here. And I sure don't have a problem with other candidates challenging his record or his claims, aggressively, in advertising. Good for Bob Brady for putting his money, and his name, to his attack ad.

But I began to suspect something was up when I realized that precious few of us have actually seen the 527 ads that everyone has heard about. Perhaps they've been written about, talked about -- but not really aired that much?

And now -- an attack ad by disgraced staffer Smukler -- which was carefully leaked to the media (with an embargo of exactly 6:30 p.m.) so we can all carry, at no cost to Smukler, the story of his one-man campaign?

And that ad sitting on the Internet with a virtual collection box in front of it?

I'll just quote this Knox release verbatim. I think it's pretty clear.

PHILADELPHIA – Tomorrow morning, Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Knox will announce his recommended ballot for Philadelphia City Council. All candidates supported by Knox are committed to putting an end to pay-to-play politics in Philadelphia.

Invited to attend:

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell

Councilman Juan Ramos

Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown

Vern Anastasio

Cindy Bass

Bill Green

Cecil Hankins

Matt McClure

Matt Ruben

Sharif Street

There will be some relatively big endorsement announcements today, from elected leaders backing Dwight Evans, to Jannie Blackwell endorsing Knox and Knox endorsing City Council candidates, to an oddity: most of the locals that make up the powerful city blue-collar union group District Council 33 will go for Bob Brady, but DC33 itself will not endorse.

So that led me to compile a list -- no doubt I have missed something, so just comment if I have -- of endorsements to date in the race.

There are some large groups here. I know that the police (endorsing Brady), fire fighters (Brady) and Pentecostal Clergy Political Action Committee (Fattah, and it represents more than 50 churches with 25,000 members) will be able to get their vote out on Election Day. But some of the other groups...which are smaller, and have members that live outside the city and can't vote...

What role do those endorsements play?

And what role do pols who endorse other pols play, except to let voters see the dealmaking before we have to go to the polls? (We appreciate that, by the way.)

Please discuss.

Marcia Gelbart has an story in today's Inquirer that repeats a familiar refrain of the politically connected in this election: This election is kinda, well, boring.

He focuses, among other things, on a lack of political posters and buttons this time around.

"I don't think I have any political buttons. You have any buttons?" he asked. Handed a small orange one with a picture of the Liberty Bell, from U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah's campaign, Street said it was the first Fattah button he had seen.

I've heard variations of this comment before -- that this election is "boring," "quiet," that the candidates haven't inspired enough heat.

I wonder what it really means?

I know I am too close to it, but even when I step back I find that comment a little suspect. It may be that in some ways this election is "boring" -- if by "boring" you mean that there is a lack of blood in the water. At this point in the traditional Philadelphia election, we're supposed to be in High Philadelphia Campaign Mode -- meaning candidates with knives drawn for each other, dirty tricks, and unsavory alliances with people who can deliver voters to the polls on election day. (You could almost hear a sigh of relief, of "This is how it's supposed to be!" among Political Philadelphia when we had that Frank Keel-Tommy the Loan Shark flap last week.)

We don't quite have that yet. We have five major candidates who stubbornly want to compare crime plans and debate how much influence the mayor has with the state-run schools. The acts that seem like name-calling -- the attacks on Tom Knox -- are at their core a question of campaign-finance reform, its strengths and its weaknesses.

And then there is the matter of campaign finance, which has sidelined PACs and unions and given many big-money Philadelphians a easy exit from this race, since it's inexpensive to give to all candidates -- and a few employers, including some big law firms, have told their monied people not to give at all.

High-minded candidates and the absence of big money in this race -- and the glaring exception to that, the endless money of Tom Knox -- have made it different. It's also meant that voters are having to think harder about who to vote for, which is leading to a high number of undecideds late in the election. (I am concerned it will also lead to low turnout.)

But that's why political Philadelphia finds this election really hard to deal with. The changes aren't enormous, but they are enough to unsettle professional politicians, even the smart ones (and I would include John Street in that.) When you've given yourself to a system that runs a certain way, and then things change, it's hard to handle.

I am not sure, however, I would trade unlimited campaign finance donations for more buttons.

Continuing on her week of in-depth interviews with the candidates, Marty Moss-Coane will have Michael Nutter in the studio at 10 AM today.

Since someone may be reading this blog for the first time, I'll once again include this link, which you can use for instructions on how to listen live to WHYY 91FM via the interweb's series of tubes. Or, you can go the old fashion way and tune your old Philco to 91 FM. a link for the podcast of the show. Just right click and save as to download the whole show and listen at your leisure.

Here's the promo for the show:

Today at 10 am RADIO TIMES will feature former City Council Member and Philadelphia Democratic mayoral candidate Michael Nutter. He is a former Philadelphia City Councilman who was first elected in 1991. He represented the City's fourth district that includes Wynnefield, East Falls, Mt Airy, Overbrook, Manayunk and Roxborough. He resigned on June 27, 2007 to become eligible for a mayoral run. He recently served as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority Board; and currently serves on the Board of City Trusts, which manages the City's charitable assets. He is also the current Democratic leader for the 52nd Ward.

Consider this your open thread to discuss candidate Nutter's performance.

(Edited to add) Apparently, Nutter's appointment with Marty Moss-Coane didn't rate a mention on his published itinerary for today.

Now that Michael Nutter has approached front runner status with his statistical tie with Tom Knox in the last two public polls, can he expect to become a target of the same kind of challenges (I am no longer using the words "negative" or "attack" to describe such tactics unless they are factually incorrect or go after personal aspects of a candidate's life that have no bearing on his ability to govern) that Tom Knox has faced?

The scuttle, from at least one independent observer whom I've talked to, is that Mayor Street will be setting his sites on Nutter and going public with some challenges. It never helps to be the subject of criticism by the sitting mayor when you're seeking to replace him, regardless of how low that mayor's approval rating is. But on the other hand, it might play into Nutter's overall change message, and solidify his message of "I am not John Street," in the minds of voters when they step into the booth on May 15th.

Thoughts?

What if you threw an endorsement party and nobody came?

At Knox's event this morning -- where his support of Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell was made public, as was Blackwell's support of Knox -- Knox was to endorse an odd set of City Council candidates.

But only three -- Vern Anastasio, Matt Ruben and Jannie herself -- showed up. And Vern and Matt wouldn't commit to a Blackwell presidency.

Now, many of the people on the Knox list are associated with other candidates, so that makes sense that they wouldn't show. But still, the whole thing is just weird.

Evans will pick up the endorsement of residents of public housing tomorrow. And -- as a smart Daily News reporter pointed out to me -- check out where he's having it.

Mayoral Candidates Dwight Evans will be joined by representatives from the Resident Leadership of Public and Assisted Housing tomorrow, May 3rd, at 11:30 AM in front of the Abbottsford Homes to proudly accept endorsements from this broad coalition of supporters.

...That of the Northeast Times.

The Inky has just posted a story on Philly.com that says Alex Talmadge has been subpoenaed by the city ethics board. This isn't a terribly surprising development, given the fact that the board had promised to examine Talmadge's "Working People for Truth" group closely. Sounds like Talmadge is going to give the ethics board the same info he'll have to file with the state on Friday -- contributions, spending, etc.

But the real scoop is farther down in the story. Someone fell for Ken Smukler's plot:

The group ... laid out $35,000 this morning to purchase time for ads that are to air tomorrow and Friday, TV station records show. That ad was produced by political consultant Ken Smukler, Talmadge said.

Oh, good grief, someone stuck dollars in Smukler's online donation jar?

Told you it was a day of endorsements...Here's the latest roundup. Click here for the full list.

Nutter picked up the endorsement of the City Paper and the PhillySkyline site. Tomorrow he'll be endorsed by Clean Water Action as well.

Fattah picked up the endorsement of the Philadelphia Taxi Owners Association today, and tomorrow he'll be the pick of the "Valiants," the African-American firefighters association.

Dwight Evans basked in the approval of a long list of state senators and representatives:
State Sen. Anthony Williams, Sen. Leanna Washington, Sen. Shirley Kitchen, State Rep. Michael McGeehan, Rep. Tony Payton, Rep. Curtis Thomas, Rep. Babette Josephs, Rep. William Keller, Rep. Harold James, Rep. James Roebuck, Rep. Ronald Waters, Rep. Jewell Williams, Rep. Cherelle Parker, Rep. John Myers, Rep. Mark Cohen, Councilwoman Marian Tasco, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, Councilman Juan Ramos, Sheriff John Green, and City Commissioner, Edgar Howard.

And Tom Knox picked up his first endorsement, that of endorsement of El Hispano, the bilingual weekly newspaper.

Programming note: I will be sending in a few live reports from tomorrow morning's Chamber of Commerce/Delaware Valley Healthcare Council of HAP forum, which kicks off at 8 a.m. Event information can be found here -- and registrations are still being accepted.

So, check in here before you listen to Marty Moss-Coane's interview with Tom Knox at 10 a.m.!

So we're underway quickly at the Chamber of Commerce/Delaware Valley Healthcare council forum.

Knox and Brady are no-shows.

And moderator - and Daily News reporter - Dave Davies just asked a good question:

"Tell us about a recent experience that shows your leadership traits."

The answers ranged from the illuminating to the familiar:

Evans: Discussed the privatization of Martin Luther King High school, and said that for him it illustrated that there had to be a crisis to get people to take brave action.

Fattah: Discussed his development of the CORE program to get students to college, and touched on the city's extraordinarily high dropout and poverty rates, which he called the major problems facing the city.

Nutter: Talked about his role in re-starting the Wage Tax cuts that were almost halted by Mayor Street (which was a home run in this crowd, which marched in the "briefcase brigade" up Broad Street and got the small cuts reinstated).

Taubenberger: Brought up his business-building cred as head of the Northeast Chamber. Had a sobering quip about a bakery that used to be one of the chamber's smallest members - but has since closed.

(Wendy bumped up slightly to make the chronology clear -- W)

We're getting right down to the issues this morning: SEPTA funding and taxes have already been addressed. Here are the most intersting things so far:

Fattah has discussed his interesting idea for an incentive to lure businesses from other cities: Tell them that, if they move operations to Philadelphia, they can pay either the rate they were paying in their old home or pay Philadelphia's rate, whichever is less. The incentive would be good for 5 years and is designed to remove tax concerns from the decision of whether to move a business to Philly.

Evans has played on his experience in Harrisburg, talking about the need to work better with the legislature to fix the hole in mass transit funding - as well as the crisis in the city's maternity wards, which have been closing. He talked specifically about aligning the city with Gov. Rendell's broad health care plan, which seems like an excellent point.

Nutter and Taubenberger both backed the Tax Commission suggestions for re-working the city's tax code. They are the strongest on tax cuts this morning. Nutter also managed to deliver shout-outs to his work on disclosing city contracts and ending pay-to-play.

The city's Minority Business Development Council - as it had existed - was soundly (and, to be honest, deservedly) trashed. Nutter pointed out that the Convention Center (hey, didn't he used to work there?) did better in minority contracting. Evans suggesting outsourcing business development - it's not clear if he means minority business development or more broad business recruitment - to a non-government agency.

Tune in to 91 FM right now or click here for instructions to listen live on your computer.

Download the podcast of Tom Knox's hour with Marty Moss-Coane on this morning's Radio Times.

Here's the promo copy:

Today at 10 am, RADIO TIMES will feature Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Knox. He is a businessman who has managed and owned a number of companies in the Philadelphia region. Until 2006, he served as Chief Executive Officer of United Healthcare of Pennsylvania. He has worked as a state rehabilitator for Fidelity Mutual Insurance, served as Chairman of Crusader Bank, and served briefly in Mayor Ed Rendell's administration as deputy mayor for management and productivity reporting to Rendell. He lives in the Rittenhouse Square area of Center City.

Have at it!

Oh, do they. Frank DiCicco, Jim Kenney, Marian Tasco, Donna Reed Miller, Joan Krajewski, and Bill Greenlee - obviously, none of them on the official Tommy-Jannie ticket - today opposed the idea that a candidate for mayor is making his will known on who should be council president. Usually, such deals are shielded from the public eye.

Mayoral candidates State Rep. Dwight Evans (D), Congressman Chaka Fattah (D), former City Councilman Michael Nutter (D), and Al Taubenberger (R) all signed the "Fair and Clean Elections Pledge" this morning, calling for public financing for city races.

I should say that Dwight Evans gave a strong shout-out to public financing at the Chamber breakfast this morning -- also calling for free ad time on TV for candidates.

Twenty-five other candidates for city office also signed the pledge. Want to see if your gal or guy did? Check it out here.

The pledge was created by Common Cause Pennsylvania, MoveOn.org Political Action, Philadelphia Forward, and Public Campaign Action Fund -- and released on Young Philly Politics.

From the press release:

“We have already taken a strong step towards making our elections cleaner and fairer,” Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg of YoungPhillyPolitics.com said. “But now it is time to finish the job, and make Philly a model for cities for others to follow. Do we really want New York, with its partial public financing law, to have a fairer system for their elections than ours? We can do better than that.”

PS: If you are interested in the mayoral candidates' positions on other ethical issues, check out their responses to the Committee of Seventy's Ethics Agenda.

That would be Bob Warner's piece on Unity 2001, the PAC that is run by one of Brady's congressional aides. It's also headquartered at Brady's 34th Ward office.

The real question here: Are unions skirting the campaign finance laws by giving the max - $20,000 - to Brady, and then by giving money to PACs that also gave to Brady?

From Bob's story:

The Daily News reported in February that three labor unions that gave maximum $20,000 donations to Brady last year - the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters, Plumbers Union Local 690 and the Washington office of the painters union - also made significant donations to other political organizations supporting Brady.

Unity 2001 was one of the PACs cited by the Daily News.

Nearly all the money that Unity 2001 raised in 2006 - $52,500 out of $56,000 - came from the same three unions that gave maximum donations directly to Brady: the carpenters, the plumbers and the painters.

Is here:

On tomorrow's editorial page. From the press release:

“When people talk about Philadelphia, they talk about a city on the verge – not of bankruptcy, but of greatness. That’s why the next few years matter so much. That’s why we endorse Michael Nutter for Mayor.”

“Nutter has the intelligence, the vision, and the experience necessary to take this city into its rightful future, and to rewrite the old “corrupt and content” story of machine politics, insider deals and pay-to-play,” according to the editorial.

Check out what's being offered in today's Clout!

What a mayoral campaign! ...

As state Rep. Curtis Thomas said Wednesday, "Vote like you've lost your mind!" Because, if you've been paying attention, you have.

The bad news is that in 11 days, all this will be over. The winner of the May 15 primary will be elected mayor in November over Republican Al Taubenberger (unless the city’s tiny GOP band concocts a mind-altering drug to reverse the party registration numbers.)

The memories of the craziest election in Philadelphia history will live on, however, thanks to Clout. We’ve produced a limited edition, high-quality set of mayoral candidate trading cards.

Each of the eight candidates has a card featuring photos and autograph on the front with statistics and a fun facts cartoon on the back.

Collect ‘em all, trade them for Phillies cards. Put the losers in your bicycle spokes after the election!

Here’s how to get your own set: Send an e-mail to mayorcards@phillynews.com with your name and address. Or send the same information to Clout Mayor Cards, Daily News, Box 7788, Philadelphia, PA 19101.

Yes, this is for real - I saw the prototypes - and they are really funny. They're even autographed. As they should be.

We interrupt this blog to tell you about a really cool event.

On Sunday, at 8 p.m., The Next Mayor project will give you your best chance yet to see the five major Democratic candidates in action.

We will present a Candidate Forum, which will be broadcast - live - on WHYY TV12, on 91FM and on both www.TheNextMayor.com and www.WHYY.org.

But wait, this gets better.

This is not your standard, stilted candidate debate. This is a discussion among the five candidates, moderated by WHYY's Marty Moss-Coane. And the candidates will hold this discussion in front of an audience made up of civic groups from throughout the city who have been a part of The Next Mayor's Community Network.

(I'd like to see the candidates try to dodge a tough question when an advocate for the city's children, or for business, or for crime victims is sitting right there in front of them.)

In fact, those groups helped write the questions for the forum.

Helping us to present this forum is the Philadelphia Inquirer's Great Expectations project -- and some of the citizens who are helping to inform that effort will be in the audience, too.

And it gets even better!

After the forum, the audience will discuss what they heard in a special Town Hall meeting -- which will also be broadcast on TV, radio and the Internet. The events will also be re-broadcast on TV12 and WHYY's digital channels, made available via Comcast On Demand, and archived on this site.

Please tune in to watch (8 p.m. Sunday - set the TiVo) and visit here to comment.

We deeply appreciate your interest and attention to one of the most important elections this city has had in years. Obviously, we're very proud of this event, and we believe it will help you make up your mind about which candidate you believe will best serve the city.

Although, sadly, it's not because someone realized that a disgraced former Brady staffer making his own Knox attack ads and begging for money on the Internet to air them is really smarmy.

It's because of a lawyer's letter.

Bob Warner reports in today's Daily News:

An anti-Knox group calling itself the Economic Justice Coalition for Truth had purchased about $40,000 worth of airtime to run the ad last night on stations WPVI (Channel 6) and WCAU (Channel 10).

Each station backed away after receiving a threatening letter from Knox's lawyer, Paul R. Rosen. The letter alleged that the ad was "false, misleading and illegal," and suggested that the anti-Knox group had tried to circumvent the city's campaign-finance laws.

The charges were denied by Alex Talmadge, a lawyer involved with the anti-Knox group.

Actually, WVPI says in Bob's story that it pulled the ad not because of the lawyer's letter but because of an "internal review that began before the station received Rosen's letter."

(Wendy ETA: Did you notice the Smukler quote at the end of the Inquirer's story on the nature of this race's 527s? " 'When you confront a guy who essentially says, 'I am going to spend whatever it takes in order to get into office,' recognizing that the other candidates face severe spending limitations,' Smukler said, 'I look at it as a moral imperative to do the 527.' ")

This, published in today's Clout, does take some explaining.

As Clout says:

Mayoral candidate Michael Nutter has been bashing lame- duck Mayor Street in his TV ads. Last week both were at Alma de Cuba on Walnut Street for the "Dining Out for Life" AIDS fundraiser.

Street was on his way upstairs when he passed Nutter. Spotting a photographer, Street stopped, announced, "Here's something that'll make some noise - I mean make some news," and dramatically hugged Nutter.

You will not be seeing this photo, snapped by colleague David Lee Preston, in campaign ads.

Besides the baseball cards, and the picture of the day, Clout also raises an intriguing question:

Where's Tommy the Loan Shark?

He's been gone since the now-famous Frank Keel flap (we've got the audio of the whole affair here), which was a week ago. His buddy, Jim Nixon, explains that TTLS has been taking finals.

Oh, and on a far more substantive point:

Clout quotes the governor on the subject of Tom Knox. Yesterday, the Inquirer quoted Rendell saying Knox was "abrasive." (I actually thought the entire quote sounded honest and was relatively positive: " 'One of the immediate challenges is to get the city's finances under control; no one is better than Tom' ... The downside: 'His abrasiveness. In the political process you have to suffer fools and bite your lip. I question whether he can achieve that.' ")

Still, Rendell wanted to get the record straight:

"Obviously neither Tom Knox nor anyone in the administration, myself included, single-handedly turned around our budget deficit," Rendell told Dave Davies, "but Tom was a very important and vital part of that initiative, and his work was responsible for significant cost savings and productivity enhancements.

"If he was elected mayor," the governor added, "he would know how to cut costs and wouldn't be afraid to kick some butt in the bureaucracy."

As I write this, we are nine minutes away from the 5th and final candidate interview on WHYY's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane. Today's guest - Dwight Evans.

Click here to listen live (if you do it now, you'll hear an interesting story from the BBC about the elections in France).

Here's the promo copy for the Evans interview (just to catch everyone up):

Philadelphia Mayoral candidate #5: DWIGHT EVANS. He is a democratic candidate for Mayor and currently serves as state representative for Pennsylvania's 203rd district in Northwest Philadelphia. He also is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. This is his second run for mayor. He ran unsuccessfully in the 1999 democratic primary. Evans is founder of the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation, a community development organization in the city's West Oak Lane section.

I'll have the podcast link after the show is over for those of you who missed it. And here's the podcast of today's interview with Dwight Evans. Yes, I'm talking directly to the one caller who said he only heard the show with Brady and that he wished he could have heard all of them. Get connected, dude!

Have at it in the comments!

So we've obtained a copy of a lawyer's letter to NBC-10 over the attempt to air the Smukler ad.

Youch.

There are some very, um, strong statements underlined and in bold. Let's just say the province of the ad -- and whether or not the groups that were paying to air it are violating the campaign finance law -- are the least of its claims.

Take a look for yourself.

Is that it raised $64,500 from three groups:

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers -- which gave $50,000 of that amount
The ironworkers union
The sprinkler-fitters union

That's from its campaign finance filing, which we got at a quick press event that was just held (conveniently) in our building today.

At the event, the group -- led by attorney Alex Talmadge -- said its Ken Smukler-created ad had been rejected by Channel 3 as well. They called for help from the ACLU with this series of station denials.

And they called on the stations to pull a Knox ad that calls Economic Justice for Truth "illegal." They called that claim "blasphemous."

All the campaigns and political action committees must reveal their latest campaign-finance filings today. We'll bring them to you in concise "The Economics Of" posts as they come in today.

(Wendy ETA, at 6:42 p.m.: Economic Justice for Truth also said it plans to prepare a defamation suit against Knox, his campaign and his attorney, and file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against the local TV stations.)

I know it's easy to get sucked into talking about the polls, the money, the horserace, "men in fish suits," Milton, shady alliances and all the other fun stuff that makes Philadelphia politics a real contact sport.

But...

We have to remember why we got into this project in the first place - to discuss the issues and how the next mayor can and should tackle those issues.

No issue looms larger in Philadelphia than race relations. Just because this campaign has been free of the divisive appeals to race that we've seen in the past, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be the time or the place to have a frank and open discussion about race. With many of the candidates enjoying that elusive "cross-over appeal," this may be the perfect time for one or all of them to engage in this discussion. So far, they've been pretty quiet about it. That's good because of lack of divisive appeals, bad because we haven't moved forward.

Thankfully, some folks who have given this a lot of thought and are very passionate about it are talking about it. Please go to YPP and join in the discussion that has been started by this fantastic piece by YPP's Dan UA.

After you read that, feel free to share some of your thoughts here as well.

Here's the skinny on Dwight Evans' fund-raising:

He's raised $1,426,899.61 since Dec. 31, and received another $5,144.03 in in-kind gifts. He had $1,273,355.93 left over from the last filing period.

After expenses, he's got $542,825.42 in cash left for the final 11 days.

Here's the skinny on Al Taubenberger fund-raising:

He's raised $8,825 since Dec. 31, and received nothing in in-kind gifts. He had $5,100 left over from the last filing period.

After expenses, he's got $11,622.52 in cash left.

Please feel free to comment on them...

From Tom Knox:

From Michael Nutter:

Chaka Fattah, as he announced that his "groceries for guns" programs have collected more than 1,061 firearms yesterday, mentioned something else: A tipline that he started with the Citizens' Crime Commission paid a $1,000 reward for an anonymous tip that led to the arrest and seizure of a 41-year-old ex-felon with four firearms -- including an AK 47.

Fattah is doing the "groceries for guns" effort with City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and a coalition of community groups.

In the groceries for guns program, anyone who turns in a weapon -- no questions asked -- will get $200 in vouchers for groceries. The next exchange will occur in about a month, "in a neighborhood east of Broad Street," the Congressman said in a press release.

NCFO SEIU Local 1201, which represents 3,200 blue-collar employees of the School District of Philadelphia, has endorsed Chaka Fattah for mayor. (A full list of endorsements is available here.)

From the press release:

"Chaka Fattah is a man with vision and a man with integrity," said Local 1201 President George Ricchezza. "He is a man who understands what's best for the people of Philadelphia, and best for the members of Local 1201."

"Some people think a mayor can't address poverty," Fattah said. "This endorsement by Local 1201, and the endorsements I have won from other unions and community organizations representing Philadelphia's working people, is a respectful but forceful rejection of the idea that we should ignore the plight of 25 percent of our citizens who are poor."

Here's the skinny on Bob Brady's fund-raising:

He's raised $1,978,040 since Dec. 31, and received another $14,818.23 in in-kind gifts. He had $389,513.35 left over from the last filing period.

After expenses, he's got $386,124.89 in cash left for the final 11 days.

I'm now using Bob Warner's figures, so the format has changed slightly.

Here's the skinny on Chaka Fattah's fund-raising:

He's raised $1,287,771 since Dec. 31. He's raised a total of $1,685,981 in the race, and, after spending, has $210,843 left for the final days of the campaign.

Note, however, that fund-raising does continue...

I'm now using Bob Warner's figures, so the format has changed slightly.

Here's the skinny on Michael Nutter's fund-raising:

He's raised $1,682,527 since Dec. 31. He's raised a total of $3,396,289 in the race, and, after spending, has $537,116 left for the final days of the campaign.

Note, however, that fund-raising does continue...

And note that in this case, there was a slight screw-up in the online file that led some outlets to mis-report Nutter's numbers. We based this report on the paper filings themselves.

I'm now using Bob Warner's figures, so the format has changed slightly.

Here's the skinny on Tom Knox's fund-raising:

He's raised $3,519,680 since Dec. 31. He's raised a total of $9,038,784 in the race - $8 million from himself - and, after spending, has $871,620 left for the final days of the campaign.

Note, however, that fund-raising does continue...

I know I should have started this thread before the debate started but better late than never.

If you watched the debate on WPVI tonight, don't worry, Jeopardy will be on tomorrow night at 7pm.

No wait... if you watched the debate on WPVI tonigh, feel free to comment on what you saw.

I'll start.

Welcome to front-runner status, Mr. Nutter!

Congressman Chaka Fattah faced it; businessman Tom Knox has seen it for weeks now. And now it seems the attention -- and, in this case, attacks -- that come with higher poll numbers have come your way.

Catherine Lucey was at tonight's Channel 6-Philadelphia Tribune forum, where the exchanges were fiesty:

“The question is, where is the councilman’s passion for the plight of those in our city who are jobless?" Fattah asked of Nutter. "We need to have someone who’s mayor who’s focused on the broad issues of the day.”

“I know Michael Nutter; he’s a great guy, he’s hardworking. We know what his passion is. We know he wants to clean up government. I want to know how we are supposed to expect at this point that he has a passion for education. Why hasn’t it been demonstrated over the past 15 years?” Fattah asked.

Nutter responded that “anyone who has a child in any school in a district I’ve represented knows that I have a passion for public education."

Nutter did not strike back at Fattah and during a portion of the debate when the candidates were given the opportunity to question each other, he declined.

After the lively session Fattah – who in the past has avoided making negative attacks -- made no apologies, saying “if I offended the darling of the media, I’m sorry, but this is a debate on the future of the city.”

Also at the debate, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady and State Rep. Dwight Evans came down on businessman Tom Knox, who has poured his personal millions into his campaign. Evans noted Knox’s lack of a record on public safety while Brady said he had donated to Republican candidates. (Knox explained that his wife was a Republican and that his own donations to Democrats vastly outweighed her contributions to politicians like President Bush)

And now, these guys are going to take their scrapping to The Next Mayor's live, televised event on Sunday at 8 p.m. -- watch it on WHYY TV12, listen on 91FM or watch it on The Next Mayor. We'll be asking them about the issues of the race -- in front of a studio audience of civic groups that work hard every day to improve the city.

Personally, I can't wait.

It's called "Reform."

Tonight at 8 p.m., The Next Mayor project will bring you a very special chance to see the candidates live -- and talking about the issues of the race.

We will present a live candidates' forum, which will be held in front of an audience of Philadelphia civic groups, and broadcast on WHYY TV12, 91FM, and simulcast on www.thenextmayor.com and www.whyy.org.

The moderator will be WHYY's Marty Moss-Coane. And, of course, I'll bring you live updates on the blog so you can join in the discussion as well.

I am very excited about tonight's event. Please turn on your TV, fire up your computer and join in!

But that's not the only event we'll bring to you today...

This afternoon, I will be moderating a forum among city council candidates. I'm doing the 9th district, with Marion Tasco and Ray Jones. This is part of the Inquirer's Great Expectations project (It's at Einstein Medical Center, at 1:30 p.m., if you'd like to stop by.)

This is an excellent chance to see these guys up close and personal. I will file a report after the event, but come by if you can...and check out the Great Expectations site for details of other candidate events.

(edited to add - Dan P.)
Click here for instructions on how to watch or listen live on your computer starting at 8PM. And feel free to use this thread for comments on the debate. You can also participate in the Town Hall Meeting by emailing yourvoice@whyy.org.

Here's an open thread on our LIVE candidate forum, brought to you by The Next Mayor. Tune in online, on WHYY's TV12, or WHYY's 91FM -- tune in and start commenting!

Good morning!

We'll be linking to audio and video of last night's Next Mayor forum as soon as it's ready.

In the meantime, one of the best things I read in the papers this morning was John Baer's column handicapping Ed Rendell's influence in the race.

Rendell said that Evans was best qualified to be mayor. The impact of that statement is complex, but let's just sum up by saying the endorsement (oh, right, Rendell says it isn't one, though how that's not an endorsement I cannot imagine) helps Evans, obviously -- but also helps...Knox.

Plus, Dave Davies has a new takeout on Nutter's potential performance and Bob Warner explains one reason, if you are searching for one, that voting for Milton could help the city (he's got some taxes that need paying.)

Eight more days...

We hear that a new group, called "One Step Closer," is trying to buy ad time for Wednesday through Monday. We did find a political committee called One Step Closer in IRS records, based here in Philadelphia and listing Leslie Arbuthnot (she's served as a director of alumni affairs at Wharton and is now with a group called Inroads, which supports minority youth) and Dr. Harold J. Wright, as president, as contacts...

They are said to be developing an ad on violence.

Time to pull out the big guns, folks...

Barack Obama has started soliciting for Chaka Fattah.

From the e-mail sent to Fattah supporters:

"All his life, Chaka has been a true champion for Philadelphia's neighborhoods.

"When blood stained the streets of his community in the 1960s and 1970s, Chaka shared his home with neighborhood teens that his family had convinced to reject gangs and turn around their lives.

"In 25 years of public service on the local and national levels, Chaka has never forgotten his early life lesson: the key to breaking the grip of violence in our most hard-pressed communities is to replace desperation with hope.

A reader points out that David Axelrod is the likely link between the two campaigns.

Read the entire e-mail after the jump.

The attacks are intensifying on the new guy at or near the top. From a Dwight Evans press release:

Dwight Evans will be joined by a 20-year police veteran to discuss mayoral candidate Michael Nutter’s proposal to institute a “Stop and Frisk” policy in Philadelphia tomorrow, Tuesday, May 8th at 10:30 AM on the corner of 52nd and Market Streets. Evans has repeatedly disagreed with Nutter’s proposal, calling it tantamount to racial profiling. Evans announced for Mayor before more than 1,200 supporters on December 11th; his campaign slogan is “A Safer Philadelphia – Block by Block.”

Someone who is not in the Knox camp says that the Knoxies are buying $868,565 in ad time between tomorrow and next Monday.

$826,565 on broadcast, $42,000 on cable.

Of which candidate you'd vote OFF the ballot. It's on philly.com. Scroll down the page to below our cute little Next Mayor button.

(Though we had nothing to do with it.)

OK, folks, it's the last debate...it's Chris Matthews...let's see what happens.

Welcome to the open thread for the Channel 10 debate tonight at 7 p.m. (Note that our partner WHYY is one of the sponsors.)

Now, I am going to be on and off the computer, so I am COUNTING on you folks to keep track of the zingers -- and the actual informative discussion, if any.

From tonight's Channel 10 debate, as reported by the Daily News' Catherine Lucey:

When the panel asked Nutter if he was concerned about the program turning into racial profiling, he said he was most concerned about the number of African Americans being killed. He also noted: “As a person who has been black for 49 years I think I know a little bit about (civil rights).”

A few moments later Fattah – who criticized the “stop and frisk” proposal throughout the night – said, “I’m sorry the councilman has to remind himself he’s an African American.”

(Josh over at FFR215, who was there, has a separate entry on the reaction to that comment -- go check it out.

And then, back to Catherine's reporting...)

Fattah also suggested Nutter had made a “racial appeal” by mentioning slain African Americans.

Brady also took some queries on crime – specifically how he was going to pay for the additional police officers he has promised in his safety plan. Brady avoided giving any specifics.

“I’m going to give them what this city needs to be safe. How much does it cost for somebody’s life? I think they’re priceless,” he said. “Whatever money it takes to keep this city safe. I’m going to find it.”

Fattah took some heat over his plans lease the airport and use the funds to support his anti-poverty programs. State Rep. Dwight Evans said that the numbers in the plan “don’t reconcile” and Nutter suggested that Fattah might want a “plan B.”

Fattah also said he’d be prepared to raise taxes to fund his anti-poverty effort.

Knox – who has painted himself as an outsider reform candidate – was asked about his endorsement of City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who opposed ethics reform legislation. “I know she’s voted against it, she explained her reasons for voting against it and I accept it,” Knox said.

Knox also took a beating from Brady who accused Knox of contributing large amounts to Democratic candidates to gain political access.

“No you’re looking for good government,” said Knox, growing high-pitched. “You’re telling me any tie you give people money you’re looking for access.”

Knox then noted that Rendell had said in an interview that he would “kick butt.”

“I can kick butt and yours will be the first to go,” he said to Brady.

But it is funny, and gives a small window into, well, civic reputations. But only if you don't take it too seriously.

Did you see this?

The Inquirer reports:

Democratic mayoral candidate Bob Brady received a cell-phone call threatening his life just before he took part in last night's debate.

The call came around 6 p.m., just as Brady was entering the National Constitution Center, said his campaign spokeswoman Kate Philips. Though the caller reportedly threatened to kill him, Brady thought it a hoax, she said.

Nonetheless, at his staff's urging, Brady, a congressman, reported the threat to Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, who in turn alerted Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross, Philips said.

OK, this gives me a chance to say something that has been on my mind.

There's one week to go until election day. Thus far, Philadelphia should be proud of the election it's had. There are five qualified candidates, who through months of campaigning stayed on the issues, appeared before an endless parade of civic groups to explain their ideas, and even -- with the exception of the one candidate who didn't have to -- stayed within campaign finance law.

Now that we are in the final days, the expectation is that this race will go nuts. Because that's what Philadelphia elections do. Just last night we had a death threat, a shouting match -- and the ugly insertion of racial divisiveness into the campaign.

We don't have to do it this way.

This election should -- and still can -- stay above the bare-knuckle grudge match level of traditional Philadelphia politics.

Sorry to sound like a hopeless optimist, but really, if we want better for our city, it does start with better elections. If we can't hold an election without the ugliest features of Philadelphia politics, then we have no right to complain about the ugliness of old-fashioned Philadelphia government.

Catherine Lucey has more on the new independent political committee "One Step Closer." It seeks a $90,000 ad buy -- which Tom Knox considers a light snack -- and plans to go after Michael Nutter.

Another political action committee has surfaced in the mayor's race, buying about $90,000 worth of TV airtime this week.

One target of the ads - from One Step Closer, a Philadelphia-based PAC founded in 2005 - may be mayoral candidate Michael Nutter.

Harold Wright II, president of One Step Closer, said in a phone interview that the group is concerned with several issues, including Nutter's proposal to permit police in high-crime areas to "stop, question and frisk" people suspected of carrying illegal guns.

And more from her story:

Past contributors to the group have included major donors to both Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady, as well as Mayor Street.

Its expenditures last year included $19,900 in consulting payments to Shawn Fordham, a top political adviser to Street.

Ooh, and check this out! Disgraced former Brady staffer Ken Smukler has turned his rejected ad into a ... radio commercial!

Smukler said yesterday that he'd converted one of the TV ads into a radio commercial and that two Clear Channel stations, Power 99 and Q102, had agreed to run it beginning in tomorrow morning's drive time.

Now that all of the debates are wrapped up, we can try to compile links to all of them so that if you missed any of them, you can check them out again.

I found a couple but I'm going to need help with the NBC-10 debate. If anyone finds that link, feel free to share it in the comments. I recorded it to DVD but I'm pretty sure there are some copyright issues that prohibit me from uploading it in its entirety onto Google Video.

Anyway, here's what I found so far:

CBS-3 Debate that aired on April 15th.

ABC-6 Debate from Drexel U. on May 4th.

Podcast of KYW 1060AM "Breakfast with the Candidates" from April 30th.

Like I said, I haven't been able to find the debate that aired on Channel 6 on Sunday, April 22nd or last night's NBC-10 debate. Any help there would be much appreciated.

Video of our own debate is currently processing on Google Video and should be available by the end of the day.

(Wendy edited to expand a bit - W)

Where's taxes in this race?

Jon Stein, head of Community Legal Services an advocate on behalf of Public Benefits and Welfare Law at Community Legal Services -- and even more interesting because he served on the Tax Reform Commission and came to sign on to its manifesto for reformed, and lowered, taxes -- has sent us an e-mail in which he says Nutter is really the only candidate out front on tax cuts. Tom Knox, though a businessman, isn't.

Myself, I went and looked at what the candidates have said. Nutter does call for continuing the reductions to the Wage Tax, for gradually eliminating the Gross Receipts portion of the Business Privilege Tax over a five-to-seven year period, and for reducing the Net Income portion of the BPT to the current rate of the Wage Tax -- among other reforms. Read his plan here.

Fattah's fiscal stability plan calls for replacing the Business Privilege Tax with a Net Profits Charge -- and he said he'd do it in his first budget if elected mayor. He supports continued reduction of the wage tax. He also suggests luring new business by offering established businesses, with five or more employees, the option of paying the same local taxes paid to its prior jurisdiction for the first five years it operates in Philadelphia.

Evans says in his workforce plan that he's committed to wage tax cuts and that he would "look to" the work of the Tax Reform Commission for other ways to make city taxes "fair and balanced."

Please discuss.

And what about ethics?

There's the RESULTS of the R.E.F.O.R.M. ballot, which are out today. Now, this is one handy chart. It shows exactly what the candidates think about each of the suggested reforms -- and there are additional charts for City Council as well.

See, this is why I've been so grumpy about Ken Smukler's effort. I certainly am not trying to support Tom Knox. I just think the products of such independent attackfests are so disgusting.

Smukler, as we reported, has re-done his ad for radio -- and added a little bit.

There's now a voice-over at the beginning, which says:

"The following is the television ad Tom Knox didn't want you to see. It will now be played unedited. So sit back, listen, and picture ... sharks."

And then the audio for the ad plays.

At the end, the voice-over returns:

"In his demand to pull this ad from the air, Tom Knox said the use of the term 'credit heroin' was, quote, an attempt to associate his name with the sale of heroin. unquote. For the record, we have no reason to believe that Tom Knox ever sold heroin."

OH GOOD GRIEF.

In an endorsement this morning.

So Dwight Evans is getting the endorsement of the Philadelphia Tribune. Whatever happens in this election, I give him credit for the liberal use of food metaphors.

Josh over at FFR215 says radio stations considering the Ken Smukler ad that we mentioned earlier today have also gotten a lawyer's letter.

And that Brady has received a second death threat. What is wrong with people?

Takes on Michael Nutter...

I just want to make sure this gets out on the record.

Has everyone noticed the attempt -- largely by the Knox folks -- to make political experience a negative?

It's been deployed against all the other candidates, but it does seem to be concentrated around Michael Nutter. That may be a reflection of his recent status in the race.

Obviously, this isn't new (Knox did it in the weekend debates, and before that too). But it is intensifying. I was thinking about it after the new Knox ad, and when I checked out some of the mailings sent to voters in the Northeast, which label Nutter a "14 year politician." It was just so...odd.

I know all of you have your favorites in this race. But set those aside for a second. And let's just muse on the idea that being in public service is a negative. True -- and we should throw all the bums out? False -- and we should celebrate a public service career?

To sum up...

Michael Nutter gave testimony to the State Judiciary Committee waaaaay back in August (remember August? One declared candidate... stifling hot weather...), that included the basic points of his crime plan. Included in the plan, this point:

3. Get handguns off the streets by encouraging more frequent police use of their Constitutional stop & frisk powers recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court, the most effective method known for reducing gun violence (as shown in 5 separate tests in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis).

On January 8th (Elvis' Birthday, thank you very much), Chaka Fattah released his "Plan for a Gun Safe Philadelphia," an event I attended and wrote about extensively. On page 3 of the plan, you find:

Designate Patrol Officers to Go After Illegal Guns. With our existing police force, we will designate specially trained patrol officers in each Police District to go after illegal guns and the criminals who are most likely to use them. This targeted enforcement has been proven to be effective in other cities. A 1992-93 study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's Lawrence Sherman showed that targeted patrols in an area of Kansas City, Missouri with a murder rate six times higher than the city as a whole showed a 49% drop in gun crimes and a 65% increase in gun seizures. A 1997 study in Indianapolis showed that targeted patrols in one high crime district reduced gun crimes by 29%.

Hmmm... Kansas City... Indianapolis. Interesting. Could he be talking about the same stop and frisk plan that Nutter had talked about in August. I know he spent a lot of exploratory fund money on putting together his teams of experts to write up this policy papers. Maybe one of his experts saw Nutter's testimony. (Actually, Fattah said that Lawrence Sherman was one of his advisors so it's likely that this idea came directly from the guy who has done the most work on the issue). Since I was at the event, I asked. Surprisingly, he said yes.

Ok... continuing on...

About a week after Fattah released his plan, Nutter released his "Safety Now" plan.

Folks on YPP have been debating the point about both Fattah and Nutter having this point in their crime plans and why Fattah is able to attack Nutter for "stop and frisk" when he has it in his own plan. To their credit, they've been talking about this apparent similiarity in the two plans for at least as long as I have. Today's debate is long and there are a lot of comments in there by people who don't really understand the subtleties of the plan, preferring instead to stop reading at "stop and frisk" and make up their own interpretation. It seems that the essential point is that the difference between Nutter and Fattah on this point is that Fattah didn't include the phrase "stop and frisk" and Nutter will actually do it.

Today, Dwight Evans jumped into the mix with his own event to criticize Nutter's plan and point out his own record on crime (in a way that left me strangely hungry). However, when Evans was on Radio Times with Lawrence Sherman back in July, he didn't seem too critical.

And finally, now that the Inquirer's Great Expectations blog has picked up on it (Fattah feeling frisky, too?), I guess people have finally figured it out.

I couldn't care less about the "stop and frisk" plan itself. If anything, I was actually pretty sold on it when I heard Lawrence Sherman and civil rights attorney David Rudovsky come to terms on how the city could implement it in a constitutionally-protected way. The plan seems to deal directly with a pretty big problem that we're having here without running afoul of the state legislature or all of the other NRA folks who continue to keep us from keeping the guns out of the bad guys' hands in the first place.

What I do care about is hypocrisy. Nutter has put out a plan. A plan that, rightly, should be scrutinized and explained fully. But for Fattah to criticize a point that his own plan includes smacks of that hypocrisy.

The press, including this site, should be looking into the background of the plan and whether it could actually lead to a violation of people's civil rights. We should also be sensitive to the attitudes that many people have about the police department, probably based in experiences dating all the way back to the Rizzo era.

Should that distrust lead us to handcuff the police and take away a power that the Supreme Court has said that they have? No. If anything, we need to rebuild a level of trust between the police and citizens in Philadelphia so that those citizens believe that these searches are being conducted according to the law.

I've heard that a lot of media outlets are picking up the ball and running with a point I've been making since Elvis' birthday. My question is, what took you so long?

After asking Tom Knox "where's the beef" while holding empty buns, and pointing out that Nutter's record on fighting crime is "all sizzle, no steak," Dwight Evans is going after Fattah for his "agenda for tax increases."

I welcome your thoughts in the comments about what food metaphor might make an appearance tomorrow.

Here it is.

You can see our debate from Sunday night and a whole lot of other candidate forums here.

The Keystone Poll, published in today's Daily News (go buy yours for 60 cents, it's worth at least twice that today) says there is definitely a new leader in the mayor's race:

Nutter: 31 percent
Knox: 21 percent
Fattah: 13 percent
Brady: 11 percent
Evans: 3 percent
Undecided: 21 percent

Pollster Terry Madonna told the Daily News that Nutter's advertising - especially that Olivia ad - seemed to turn the tide.

Interestingly, Nutter is also the top second choice of voters, with 22 percent. (You can delve deep into the poll numbers on our Keystone Poll page, here.)

HOWEVER.

This is important.

Madonna also pointed out that this has been an extremely volatile race, and will continue to be so. One in five voters is still undecided. (Look, folks, time to make up your minds. Check out our revised candidate pages on the main site if you need help.) When the pollsters pushed those undecideds to choose, one in seven remained stubbornly in the "I don't know" camp.

Plus, two in five voters reported they were "still making up their minds" -- even though they've expressed a preference for one candidate. They sound very, very changeable.

Now, I'm no G. Terry Madonna, but I do listen when he and other smart political observers talk, and those people suggest two things:

Unless something crazy happens in the next week, we could have a mighty low voter turnout on Tuesday. (By the way, the pollsters say the data suggests that Knox's vote increases with higher turnout.) (Wendy edited this point to correct.)

And this race is far, far from over, with plenty of room for even a fourth leader to emerge -- or a return of one of the other two guys who were at the top at one point or another.

Please discuss...

One Step Closer, the independent attack group that we told you about earlier this week, is having an press event today at 10:30...and, OMG, guess who is going to be there?

From the press release:

Todd Bridges, formerly of "Different Strokes" and Bernadette Stanis, formerly of "Good Times" will visit Mel Wells at One Day at a Time to encourage voters to participate in the elections process.

Meanwhile, check out their ad:

Thank goodness for technology. The recent newsmaking debates will be rebroadcast in a number of formats over the next several days, making it very easy for anyone who missed them to catch up.

The NBC 10 debate -- featuring Chris Matthews and the controversy over race -- will be rebroadcast Thursday night at 7 p.m. on WHYY, which was one of the co-sponsors.

And the current city administration deserves big props for this: They are going to rebroadcast one of the most significant issue forums, the February forum at St. Joseph's University on crime, until Election Day. It will be shown on the city's Channel 64 at 1 p.m., 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. daily.

I have to say, we asked them to do that, and they were very responsive, which I thought was cool.

Meanwhile, our Next Mayor forum, as well as many other forums, are available On Demand if you're a Comcast customer.

And we're keeping track of ALL the debates and forums on the Internet for you. Check the full list out here.

News from today...

* The One Step Closer folks say their ad is getting a small edit -- we'll post the new version as soon as we get it -- but should be on the air today.

* Bob Brady was endorsed by UNITE HERE! Local 274, representing 16,500 active and retired workers in laundries, hotels, casinos -- CASINOS! -- food service, apparel and textile factories, and other industries. The campaign pointed out that 16,000 of the workers currently reside in Philadelphia.

* Fattah spent some time this morning talking about his emergency preparedness plan, following the arrest of suspected terrorists planning to attack Fort Dix and Philadelphia's U.S. Coast Guard facility. One of his ideas: Using the airport as an evacuation facility.

* Finally, Brady appears to be stirring up some action on Knox. Brady and Teamsters Local 115 President Jim Smith "will join former Knox employees" at 3 p.m. at the abandoned Kasser Distillery plant where "ghosts of Tom Knox’s past business practices still haunt them."

I like a campaign with some good writing in it.

Dave Davies of the Daily News just saw Chaka Fattah at his emergency preparedness event. (See this post for a brief description of one of his ideas).

Afterward, Fattah expressed his concern about the press. Many local newspapers (including the editorial board of my employer, the Philadelphia Daily News) have endorsed Nutter; the Philadelphia Tribune endorsed Evans.

"I think it's wonderful that the press wants Mr. Nutter to win," but, he said, "On May 15, you'll be talking about how the polls were wrong again ... the media can't pick the mayor, the voters will have their say."

With less than a week to go before Election Day, we're way past the point at which we should have been discussing the primary elections for City Council.

It looks like WHYY News plans on doing some features about certain City Council races but we won't be able to get to them all. The papers, meanwhile, have been focusing a lot lately on making endorsements in those races. There has been some reporting, but clearly not enough considering how important those positions actually are. Afterall, we can focus on The Next Mayor all we want but whoever that ends up being will have to work with the 17 folks who occupy City Council chambers.

I'll open a thread like this up every day to see if we can generate some discussion about any of the City Council races. Feel free to use the newspaper endorsements as a jumping off point. I also encourage you to check out our Headline Archive to review the stories that have been written about these races and candidates.

Finally, to end where I probably should have begun, check out the Committee of Seventy's Election Information Page for links to the answers given by City Council candidates in response to Seventy's ethics agenda.

I'll work on compiling the headlines from the archive on to one page for each of browsing. Until then... to the comments!

File this one under "Quality of Life" issue. A while back everyone was talking about how dirty certain neighborhoods are and wondering what could be done about it.

Well, one innovative group has picked up the ball (of trash) and is running with it.

Check out this release about "Pick Up Philadelphia" and this brief outline of the project. I know I'm one of those do-gooders that's always picking up trash in my neighborhood... though ever since the tetanus, no so much with the rusty metal trash.

Shows the changes the group was asked to make, apparently by the TV stations. (Wendy added: I have transcribed the two scripts below the jump for comparison's sake.)

No food metaphors in his latest release, but Evans did provide a pretty cool cartoon airplane.

There's another airplane that represents Evans poverty fighting record (it's in the air, apparently) but I accidentally deleted it before I could upload it to the server and the Evans folks made sure to let me know where I could get that picture, so in the interest of equal time (in talking about one candidates press release), here it is:

By the way, does Chaka Fattah Air fly to Mexico? I need a vacation.

Chaka Fattah's latest press release.

During Monday's debate, Fattah said that he is so committed to expanding funding for after school programs that he would be willing to cut in other areas of the city's budget or consider raising taxes to do so.

"My opponents want fiscally irresponsible tax cuts for wealthy businesses. I want after school programs for every child. The choice is clear," Fattah said.

You gotta give Fattah credit. He's sticking to his plan, even in the face of what is, politically, the very dangerous territory of dicussing tax increases in the nation's highest (or 2nd highest depending on what measure you look at) taxed city. I can admire it. In many ways I can even agree with it but as a campaign strategy... I don't know if I'd do the same.

Thoughts?

Let me interrupt the furor for a second to do a little best practices reporting... not because this is necessarily a best practice but because it's really cool:

Henrico County recently tested a prototype of a new technology that, its makers say, could put an end to high-speed police pursuits.

There is hope that the technology, known as the StarChase system, and other recent technological advances could revolutionize the way officers deal with fleeing suspects.

Read about the whole thing, here.

I may have just opened the door to a barrage of criticism that this is a violation of civil rights from afar.

Jack Handy once said, "If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”

Well, if small potted plants could vote, it looks like they'd be voting for Brady.

I don't usually use this blog for product placement (Diet Dr. Pepper tastes just like regular Dr. Pepper), but when that product is supporting one our mayoral candidates, I can't pass it up.

So, the latest on the "One Step Closer" ad (an independent ad attacking Michael Nutter) is that it has been rejected at NBC 10.

6 ABC and Fox 29 are said to still be thinking about whether to run it. And CBS 3, has run it, according to the group.

Pair this info with the news that radio stations are cool to the idea of the now-on-radio Ken Smukler ad, and I am wondering if the broadcast stations of this city aren't getting an attack of concience, seeing these independent ads, unfettered by campaign finance limits, as what they are: smarmy. (I've said before, attack with your own campaign money and put your name on it, and good for you. Hide behind some shadowy, outside the rules group, and ... yuck.)

Verrrry interesting.

Though a lawyer's letter may have more to do with the fate of that Smukler ad.

And I still think the real purpose of these groups is to stir up media coverage. And yes, we've done our job with that today.

More news of the day...

The candidates were out and about throughout the city yesterday. Chaka Fattah was scheduled to visit Catholic Social Services' Beacon program at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in West Philadelphia; this is part of his weeklong "Keeping Our Kids Safe" tour.

And the tourin' will continue today!

The candidates all have a full schedules of meet-and-greets...among them:

You can catch Bob Brady Takin' it To the Streets throughout the day -- and he's having another endorsement (times and places here)

Michael Nutter will kick off his Get out the Vote effort tomorrow afternoon at the Convention Center (didn't he used to work there?) and

Dwight Evans will be working the Broad Street line in the morning and hanging at Reading Terminal from 11:30 to 1 p.m.

Though, as Bob Warner reports in today's Daily News, he had said last week he would not put more of his personal fortune into the campaign.

From the story:

On Sunday, Knox contributed another $1 million to the Knox for Mayor campaign, and on Tuesday he added another $250,000, according to campaign finance disclosures filed this week with the city commissioners.

And a good time to start talking about the polls themselves, and guarding the fairness and welcoming nature of them.

Our partners at the Committee of 70 are going to put a corps of 500 - 500! - trained citizen and legal volunteers at the city's 1,681 polling places on Tuesday.

From the press release:

“We are expecting a wild ride next Tuesday,” said Zack Stalberg, Seventy’s President and CEO. “Seventy is getting ready for every contingency by building a network of citizens and organizations who are equipped to resolve problems either on-site at the polls or in court if necessary.” Stalberg noted that, although Seventy has “been in the business of helping voters” for over 100 years, this is the largest, most sophisticated and ambitious program in the organization’s history and in the nation.

That program includes:

* 74 field teams of two to three citizens, each responsible for about 25 polling places in one ward, to resolve minor disputes and assist voters, polling officials and poll watchers.

* 22 two-member legal teams to respond to more complicated issues that cannot be resolved on-site by the field teams.

* 11 Team Leaders experienced in Election Day operations to review complaints for assignment to field teams, legal teams or by local enforcement authorities (Police Department, District Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General).

* Three call-in and dispatch centers staffed by citizen volunteers who document complaints and refer them to the Team Leaders.

This election, more than any other recently, will be decided on the strength of which candidates get their loyal voters to the polls. (Dave Davies took at look today at what each candidate will do to ensure these voters vote, including who is paying for consultants and who is relying on volunteers.)

That lends itself to shenanigans. In fact, having an election in Philadelphia pretty much guarantees shenanigans - people who feel pressured to vote a certain way, people who feel harassed voting, and worse. On election day, we'll be listening to 70's volunteers to find out what they are experiencing, and we will bring it to you as it happens.

Signe Wilkinson has a new animated cartoon out, this time on the insertion of race into the race...

And (especially given the news today) we should certainly remind everyone to revisit her take on Tom Knox's contributions to his campain...

Oh, and she's got one for Milton Street too!

...are examined in this piece in the Inquirer today.

Street made at least three fund-raising calls on its behalf...and, obviously, it involves Shawn Fordham, one of Street's closest advisors.

I just have to call more attention to the political action that will happen outside of City Hall today, when advocates for children and youth will form a human chain around City Hall to call on the next Mayor to "expand afterschool programs, support youth violence reduction programs and use systems that serve children."

"In addition, pies will be given out to the public to symbolize the need for “kids to get a fair piece of the budgetary pie.”

The rally is sponsored by Philadelphia Safe and Sound and the Philadelphia Children’s Commission. Fantastic.

I remarked a while back that with all of the endorsements coming in for Michael Nutter, he could wallpaper his den with them. In this ad, he sorta' does that:

Guess the Philadelphia Weekly endorsement didn't come out in time to make this ad... or they didn't want to use the Digital Underground cover.

Just posted on our Candidate Forum page, clips from the Vote For Homes! Coalition's candidate forum from April 26th. VFH! did a great job distilling the event down to a few very edible clips that speak specifically to questions that were put to the candidates.

Bonus footage: Sister Mary Scullion gives an intro and dispels the notion at all nuns are like the one who choked me by my plaid tie in grade school.

And if the candidates' position on homelessness and issues facing those who live on the edge between having a roof over their heads and being out on the street, check out their 2007 Voter's Guide.

...will someone please think of the children?

Well, a lot of folks have been thinking about the children. Primus inter pares has been the Philadelphia Children's Commission. They've compiled perhaps the most complete guide available for voters who consider the welfare of the city's children to be their number one issue.

We'll just keep 'em coming and then wrap up with one post on the weekend viewing.

Remember how Todd Bridges was coming into town to help the "One Step Closer" PAC "encourage voters to participate in the elections process?"

Well, according to the Daily News' Dan Gross, Bridges may be "encouraging voters" but he sure isn't allowed to touch them.

Whatchu gawkin' at, Willis?

Bridges spoke of his experiences at the One Day at a Time (2532 N. Broad) rehab clinic. The actors dined Tuesday at Warmdaddy's (Columbus & Reed) with a group including Shawn Fordham, a consultant to One Step Closer and a top aide to Mayor Street.

INDEPENDENT ATTACK PAC REPORT: At a 3 p.m. event....

In City Hall.

Which seems relevant. I guess we will find out exactly how it's relevant soon.

INDEPENDENT ATTACK PAC REPORT: According to the group...

"We have decided to table our efforts to force 6ABC and Clear Channel to air our spots. These efforts will be addressed through the FCC after the election. For the next 125 hours, we will be focused on one mission – telling Philadelphians the truth about Tom Knox."

Instead, they will do robo-calls to over 75,000 households of the radio ad, which the group reveals was indeed pulled from Clear Channel "after being contacted by Knox lawyers."

They'll also put it on sound trucks through the city...groan.

They also promise "Aerial advertising and election Day visibility events staged around the city."

From the press release:

"Tom Knox will not intimidate our group from telling the truth. No matter how many lawyers he throws at us, we will find a way to get our message out."

To borrow... ok, to steal outright... from Stephen Colbert, I challenge any of our readers to find a way to download any of the many campaign ads out there on Youtube from any of the candidates, remix it and set it to music or your own narration and post the final product back on Youtube.

Apparently, there are web utilities out there that allow one to download videos from Youtube. I'm not quite saavy enough to use them but I'm sure somebody out there is.

Of course, we'll link to some of the funnier ones from here here and the best one (that's safe for public television) will be played during our Election Night coverage (loooooong after the polls have closed and there's nooooooo way it influence the outcome) on Channel 12 (with proper credit to the creator).

Try to keep it lighthearted and funny but let's have some fun with this. Go for it folks.

Condemning the One Step Closer ad as "blatantly racial” and decrying Knox's broken promise not to put more of his own money into his campaign...

(edited to add by Dan) Here's the release for the One Step Closer and here's the one for Knox.

I wondered if he was going to finish off "comparison week" (not to be confused with "Shark Week") with a comparison to Brady. Apparently he is.

It'll be interesting to see where he goes with this. Brady's ideas about school reform are actually somewhat reasonable but I guess it gives Evans a chance to let everyone know who or what "he carried the water for."

Now... what metaphors or cool graphics will we be treated to tomorrow? (edited to add: I gotta say, I miss the food metaphors)

Brady - the Big Cheese?
School Reform Agenda Doesn't Hold Water? (with picture of a leaky bucket)

What will it be?

Two pieces were aired on WHYY this morning about the race for City Council.

In this one, WHYY's Susan Phillips talks to Matt McClure about his race against Carol Campbell and Curtis Jones in the 4th Councilmanic District. You may remember Campbell as the Councilwoman who was chosen by the assembled ward leaders to replace Michael Nutter in the 4th when he resigned to run for mayor. She is also a ward leader in West Philadelphia's 4th Ward. McClure is an attorney who lives in East Falls. Curtis Jones is the former head of the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation. Inquirer has endorsed McClure. The Daily News Editorial Board chose Jones. Most pundits think this race will be close but with the profile being as low as it is, I'm hard-pressed to predict an upset victory by a challenger. Your thoughts are welcome.

For a complete wrap-up that includes soundbites from Fifth District Challenger Haile Johnston, At-Large candidate Marc Stier, At-Large incumbent Jim Kenney, Seventh District Challenger Maria Quinones Sanchez, and Eighth District Challenger Irv Acklesburg, check out this feature piece by WHYY's Joel Rose.

You can use this thread to share scuttle about these races and to ponder this question...

My opinion about the likely outcome of the 4th District race notwithstanding, do you think we're on our way to a Council election of "historic" proportions? Could we see a change in seats that we haven't experienced since 1951? I realize most people who read this blog are pretty connected to what's going on so you'll have to put yourselves in the frame of mind of the typical voter. That's not to say "uninformed" but more like "a little less informed."

If you care to, you can also make your predictions for each race and we'll see who comes closest.

In case you missed any of the hundreds of policy recommendations that Congressman Fattah has released there over the last several months, he's making it easy for you.

Now you can find them all in one book (sure to be a best seller). No word on whether they plan on releasing a print version for mass consumption.

I remember helping out on a similar kind of book during the 2004 campaign. It was written by my candidate, me and an intern with contributions from two or three other folks and edited by our communications consultant.

This one is the product of a collaboration of Fattah and his army of policy committees from the exploratory days. Kinda makes me think I was underpaid.

A reminder that tonight at 7pm on WHYY TV-12, you can see a replay of the NBC-10/Chris Matthews Debate from Monday night.

That's 7pm on TV-12.

Set your VCRs...

INDEPENDENT ATTACK PAC REPORT: You know, I think I am going to let Mayorpalooza have at this one.

That would be about Street's angry words for the Inquirer after a reporter came to his house late last night looking for comment on his ties to One Step Closer, the independent group behind the anti-Nutter ads.

Marcia Gelbart has this report...

Evans goes big with the Rendell quote and his support from the Black Clergy and the black police association...

The event was designed to get volunteers revved up for the get out the vote effort Tuesday. All the other campaigns will be revving up their get out the vote efforts in coming days, too.

But among the cheers and the chanting, Nutter, who is the front-runner in the race for mayor, expressed his respect for the strength of the other candidates:

“I learned a long time ago that when you take your eye off the ball is when you get hit in the head…the election is in 5 days, and that’s the poll we want to win," he said, according to Daily News intern Nolan Rosenkrans, who was there.

“There’s 4 other people out here ... and they are serious people. This is a campaign, it’s not a tea party.”

And yet, he got in some zingers. Among them:

“I’m just a poor guy from West Philadelphia trying to get a job," he said. The "other guys have a job, and the other guy obviously doesn’t need a job, I really want the job!”

And he didn't bite when asked about independent attack ads. “I’m looking forward to seeing my ads on TV. I don't have time to worry about what other ads are on TV -- I haven’t seen a TV in a good while. I'm focused on this campaign, and what people in this room, and all over Philadelphia, care about -- which is crime, public safety, jobs, educating our kids.”

(Wendy edited to add: Apparently, Brady disputes the claim that he's allowed ward leaders to vote for Nutter. I will bring you the latest as soon as we get it.)

Today's Clout says that candidate and party boss Bob Brady has let it be known that, if ward leaders don't deliver votes for Brady himself, Nutter would be OK.

From the column:

"We can live with [Nutter]. He's smart, he understands the system and he always asks the right questions," said one ward leader who is backing Brady. "God forbid, if it's not Bobby, he can live with Michael Nutter."

This ward leader said, "If my committee people have trouble for some reason [with voters] who don't like Bob, I'm telling them, 'Give me Nutter!' "

Said another Brady-loyal ward leader: "A [party worker] grabbed me and said, 'It's OK.' I said, what do you mean, 'It's OK'? He said, 'If you have to do some Nutter, it's OK with Bobby.' "

West Philadelphia ward leader Ralph Wynder said that Brady had given him the OK to endorse Nutter, "although he is still asking for whatever votes he can get. He hasn't given the go-ahead to send his votes another way."

"Bob showed me the respect to let me make the decision I wanted to," Wynder said.

And the ruling, which is expected later today, could have major repercussions for Democratic city politics.

Basically, Campbell will agree to stay out of the financial affairs of the Democratic City Committee's two political action committees, which will also -- and this is my favorite part -- agree to "ongoing monitoring" by the Ethics Board.

As a candidate for Council, Campbell can have only one political committee at her disposal.

Wow.

Candidate Fattah has taken issue with Signe Wilkinson's latest cartoon.

Here's the letter:

To: Dan P.
From: Chaka Fattah
Subject: Daily News Prints Offensive Cartoon About Violence

PS- You can also support my campaign by making a contribution online here or signing up to volunteer on Election Day here.

Asking the crowd, "Are you ready to rumble?" Chaka Fattah rallied supporters at City Hall earlier this afternoon.

Fattah reminded the crowd that when he ran -- succesfully -- for Congress in 1994, KYW intially reported he'd lost that election.

"The truth was, we had won in a landslide. We had won by 58 percent of the vote. We had won in Chestnut Hill and North Philadelphia. We had won in Center City and West Philadelphia. We had won across the board! And do you know what is going to happen on Tuesday?

"Let me tell you what's going to happen on Tuesday. We are going to win this election!"

Fattah reminded the crowd of suppoters of his issues...

"When [voters] go to the polls looking for someone who is making a way for their kids to go to college, there's only one name on that ballot that they can push," he said. "Some have tried to make me the insider and Mr. Nutter the outsider. They are trying to turn what's white, black, and what's black, white. But Philadelphians are not going to be fooled. I've created more affordable housing than Nutter and Knox combined."

And he denounced the Daily News' cartoon today.

"I believe in free speech, and I love the cartoonist for the Daily News. But to put a cartoon in which, because I say you have to protect people's constitutional rights, that means we are offering up our young people to be shot is insulting to our intelligence," he said.

"It's an insult to the lives of people spent not in the ivory towers of newspaper editorial rooms. I have been out on street corners. I have been shot myself trying to help young people be protected."

Fattah -- in full rally mode -- compared himself to Street Sense, the horse who went from early favorite to fading to win the Kentucky Derby, and told the crowd:

"We're going to win this one on May 15. Let's see if they can get that headline right on May 16: 'Breakthrough Fattah!' "

All the campaigns are holding rev-up-the-base events all day -- and will continue the heavy campaigning through the weekend.

Settled with Carol Campbell.

The independent Philadelphia Board of Ethics today reached a Settlement Agreement with the Democratic City Committee’s two Political Action Committees (PACs) and Councilwoman Carol Campbell. Under the terms of this agreement, Councilwoman Campbell agreed to refrain from taking any action whatsoever to authorize or influence the financial decisions of the two PACs. The settlement agreement was reached after the Ethics Board’s investigation discovered credible evidence that Councilwoman Campbell was directing the Democratic PACs’ campaign contributions and other expenditures to influence Tuesday’s primary election in violation of the City’s campaign finance law.

Want to make sure I get this out there...Dwight Evans held an event today to compare his record on education to Bob Brady's.

He was in front of Constitution High School to lay out his education cred. Evans worked for the takeover of the schools and has actively supported educational options, including charters, for city kids.

The accompanying press release, by the way, showed a liberal use of scare quotes:

Dwight Evans discussed Bob Brady’s “agenda” for school reform today on the public sidewalk in front of the new Constitution High School for American Studies. Evans has repeatedly taken issue with Brady’s proposed “solution” for improving schools in Philadelphia: simply giving the Mayor one more appointment on the School Reform Commission.

The final hours of the mayoral campaign are, well, nuts. Just check out their itineraries for the weekend.

The candidates will spend the weekend hopscotching around town in a whirlwind of meet and greets, endorsement appearances, diner meals and – at least in the case of Dwight Evans – bowling parties.

Evans’ birthday is May 16, so he’s having a pre-birthday celebration on Saturday. Evans also put his Saturday morning workout AND dinner at Ms. Tootsie’s on his schedule, which he calls the “Evans Express.” Honestly, bowling parties and soul food are definitely the way to end a mayoral campaign.

Chaka Fattah will be spreading his mojo, endorsing Council candidates throughout the city Saturday.

Fattah will endorse Blondell Reynolds Brown and Bill Green for at-large, Curt Jones for the 4th District, Cindy Bass for the 8th, Ray Jones for the 9th and Maria Quinones Sanchez for the 7th, between meet-and-greet stops.

Michael Nutter is hosting a pre-Mothers’ Day picnic Saturday at The Mann Music Center in West Philly, with food and entertainment provided. He’s bringing his daughter and top pitchgal, Olivia.

Bob Brady will start Saturday at the Rhawnhurst Peewee League Opening Day … and good for him … and, after a ride on the “Takin’ it to the Streets Caravan,” will end up with a “Northeast/Center City bar tour.” (He had a “Northeast Bar Tour” scheduled Friday night.)

Again, something that sounds both fun and necessary after the wild ride of the last week.

And guess who was recently endorsed by the Tavern Owners Association of Philadelphia?

Sorry, I don’t have a Knox schedule.

On Sunday, several of the candidates will be at Sunday’s Race for the Cure, and they’ll be working the church circuit too, drumming up support for Tuesday.

So it’s the final day before The Big Day.

I think it would be a good idea to issue three programming notes at this point.

1) We will be live on this site throughout today, and then all day Tuesday from polls open to the final races are announced. Dan and I will bring you anything significant as it unfolds, and link to the best coverage we can find on the race.

2) We’d love your help. Today and tomorrow, send us your stories from the final days of the election. And send us your photos – even your audio! We’ll share what you are experiencing – good, bad, weird, funny -- with the rest of the city.

Just e-mail thenextmayor@whyy.org.

3) Finally, we will not go away on Wednesday. The pace of news may slow down, but The Next Mayor is committed to covering the issues of the mayor’s race through the general election in November.

I can’t tell you how much fun this has all been. Even when things got … testy … toward the end, this has been a new kind of election for the city of Philadelphia, and our little project has been an experiment in a new way to cover it. We’ve learned a ridiculous amount.

Personally, I cannot wait for the next two days – and for the stretch of time afterward to explore what the summer and fall will tell us about man who is likely to be the Next Mayor of Philadelphia.

I realize it's the end of the campaign. I realize there are undecided voters that need wooing, and I understand that in politics, sometimes you have to challenge the other candidate's ideas.

However, you do NOT have to challenge their religion.

Today's Inquirer reports that there were fliers left outside of at least two Catholic churches in the city accusing Michael Nutter of abandoning his faith because it was politically advantageous.

"Remember that Democrat Tom Knox is a practicing Catholic," the flyer reads. "Michael Nutter? He was Catholic when it was convenient for him, so he could get a quality Catholic education. Now? He quietly left the Catholic Church to become a Baptist, probably because his polls told him it would be a smart move."

The flyer had a red headline and Knox's name at the bottom in red, but there was nothing on it to indicate who was responsible for the literature. It was placed on car windshields outside at least two Catholic parishes in opposite ends of the city.

Knox says it wasn't him. "Believe me, it's not me doing that - there are some things you just don't do," he told the Inquirer.

Nutter didn't buy that. From the story:

"It's clear to me, based on the other filthy literature Tom Knox has been mailing out, that this is clearly more of his nasty tactics," Nutter said, brushing off Knox's denial.

In fact, Nutter had some choice words for Knox, calling him a "scumbag."

Bob Brady was also attacked -- which may give an inkling that the candidates' internal polls say his numbers are better than recent public polls suggest:

"Bob Brady? He admitted that he never attends Mass," the flyer said.

Yesterday, holding up his hands and shaking his head, Brady would not address the issue. "I'm not going to respond to Tom Knox," he said.

Again, Knox denies he's behind the flyers.

Obviously, we don;t know who did them, but they are repulsive. Where are the guys who used to debate policy in front of groups of involved citizens?

I'd like to put one other thing out there.

About those mailings that Nutter refers to...

There is one mailing, which is labeled as Knox for Philly ad, which uses a Daily News photo from a recent Clout. It's a funny picture of Nutter and John Street -- we used it here.

It's taken radically out of context and presented as proof that Nutter has a chummy relationship with Street. Which is, obviously, not true.

However, the real problem is that the picture in question was given to the Daily News for one-time use. We certainly didn't give permission for it to be used.

Just want to get that out there.

I just heard a new radio ad on KYW 1060 attacking Nutter.

It brings up his eConsult contract (Nutter has since stepped down), a fund-raiser thrown by a local law firm that Nutter had aided, and other city deals.

Interestingly, the ad said it was paid for by "Philadelphia Future Phuture."

Wendy ETA: Hey, it's not Philadelphia Future, it's Philadelphia Phuture -- Johnny Doc's PAC. Which is running a very similar ad in the Inquirer today.

Dan ETA: I just wanted to chime in since I received an email requesting that it be made perfectly clear that the ads in question are in no way connected with the Philadelphia Future (with an "F") PAC.

I thought the poll rules, as reported in the usual press release from the DA's office, would be useful:

The following regulations apply to all polling places:

a. No partisan political activity may take place within 10 feet from the entrance to the polling room. No electioneering is permitted within the polling place.

b. Police and peace officers must remain 100 feet distant from the polls unless they are in the process of voting or have been summoned by the Judge of Elections to restore order within the polls.

c. Campaign buttons may not be worn by Election Board members or Watchers while they are inside the polling room.

d. Printed or written campaign leaflets, sample party ballots or other partisan materials may not be distributed inside the polls, or left or stored there during the course of the election.

e. Suggestions of any kind as to which party or candidate to vote for are not permitted inside the polling room.

More frequently asked questions below the jump.

The latest NBC 10 SurveyUSA poll released Monday, shows Michael Nutter with a healthy lead over the second most popular Philadelphia mayoral candidate, Tom Knox.

Here are the results:

Michael Nutter: 36%
Tom Knox: 25%
Chaka Fattah: 13%
Bob Brady: 12%
Dwight Evans: 6%
Undecided: 5%
Other: 2%

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

INDEPENDENT ATTACK PAC REPORT: So a source says that they've seen the Economic Justice for Truth PLANE in the sky above Center City. It said, "Tom Knox = Shark" (or something like that).

Just got this invite in the e-mail...

South Philadelphians for Knox," an ad hoc group of residents from South Philadelphia from all walks of life who are supporting Democrat Tom Knox for mayor. Joining the anticipated crowd of 300 to 500 people will be rock and roll hall of famer CHARLIE GRACIE, who is celebrating his 71st birthday and will perform live at the event; legendary Philly DJ BOB PANTANO; and the next mayor of Philadelphia, TOM KNOX.

WHAT: Get Out The Vote Rally and party for Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Knox.

WHEN: Tonight! Monday, May 14th from 7:00 to 10:00 pm.

WHERE: Swan Caterers, 2015 South Water Street in South Philadelphia (near Front and Snyder).

CONTACT: Frank Keel

I haven't been on the blog too much lately because I've been preparing for tomorrow night's Election Night coverage on WHYY TV-12 but I feel compelled to jump on real quick to make everyone aware of this fantastic feature piece that was written and produced by WHYY 91FM's Susan Phillips.

Susan takes a look back at several of the key points in the campaign as they have been defined by the appearance of television ads by certain candidates and compares the power and effectiveness of mass media television to the GOTV and grassroots efforts of candidate field operations and party machinery. Councilman Jim Kenney, candidates Michael Nutter, Chaka Fattah, Bob Brady, Tom Knox and Dwight Evans, and others lend their thoughts to this piece.

It's really well done and the kind of thoughtful, in-depth piece you may have come to expect from WHYY. (Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to become a member now... besides, our spring pledge drive is over).

The piece ran this morning during Morning Edition and is also running this afternoon but in case you can't get to a radio or you just keep missing it, you can download it or just click on the link to open it up in your browser. I think you need Quick Time or Winamp or something that'll play an .mp3.

Enjoy.

So Chris Brennan has spent the day gumshoeing for the source of the attack flier questioning Michael Nutter and Bob Brady's Catholic cred. Here's his report:

If you look for the union labels – and the political messages printed above them – there were some curious similarities between a pro-Tom Knox flier circulated two weeks ago by electricians union chief John Dougherty’s political action committee and an anonymous flier used to attack the religious practices of Michael Nutter and Bob Brady outside local churches on Sunday.

Dougherty’s PAC, Philadelphia Phuture, put its name on the first flier, which quoted Knox saying he was “the only Democratic candidate for mayor of Philadelphia who supports school vouchers.” The flier’s union printing label, or “bug” as it is called in political circles, shows it was printed by Hare Brothers Printing in West Philadelphia.

The anonymous flier, which criticized Nutter for converting from Catholic to Baptist and Brady for allegedly not attending mass, also says Knox is “the only candidate for mayor who supports Catholic school vouchers.” This flier’s union bug also comes from Hare Brothers Printing.

Dougherty, whose PAC also started running attack ads against Nutter today in the Inquirer and on KYW-1060, went on Michael Smerconish’s WPHT radio show this morning to deny playing any role in the anonymous flier. Dougherty’s spokesman, Frank Keel, later reaffirmed that notion, adding that Dougherty condemned the anonymous flier as having no place in the Democratic primary.

Asked about the similar language in the two fliers, Keel said he would not be surprised if some “rogue agents” borrowed the wording to attack Nutter and Brady.

A receptionist at Hare Brothers Printing hung up on the Daily News and e-mails we sent to the company’s managers did not prompt responses.

Knox today told Bob Warner from the Daily News that he asked Dougherty about the fliers. “He said he didn’t do it,” said Knox, adding that Dougherty suggested it might be the work of another mayoral candidate.

Dougherty’s electricians have been doing field work for Knox’s campaign, including passing out fliers recently. Asked about the similarities in the wordings for the two fliers, Knox seemed to seek some distance from the union leader.

"You know, I can’t control John Dougherty,” Knox said. “I have no deal with Dougherty. I really don’t even talk to him.”

Tigre Hill, the filmmaker who created "Shame of a City," is looking for video of any problems experienced at the polls tomorrow.

Specifically, he's on the lookout for YOUR video of any evidence of "voter intimidation, illegal campaigning and other incidents that undermine a fair election" -- especially from independent attack groups.

"We need people to be vigilant about protecting voters' rights and to document dirty tricks," Tigre said.

"If you see something going on, get it on video with a camera or cell phone and upload it following the instructions on the Shame of a City web site," Hill said.

(Those how-tos can be found right here.)

Hill does have a favorite in tomorrow's race: He actively supported Michael Nutter for mayor, including hosting screenings of his movie as fund-raisers for Nutter.

Here's when and where they will be voting (in chronological order):

Michael Nutter: 7 a.m., at the John Anderson Center, 5301 Overbrook Ave.

Chaka Fattah: 7:50 - 8:15 a.m. at the Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd (3820 Oak Road, Near School House Lane between Henry and Wissahickon).

Dwight Evans: 8 a.m., at the Finley Recreation Center, 7701 Mansfield Ave.

Tom Knox: 9 a.m., at First Presbyterian Church, 201 South 21st St.

Bob Brady: 11 a.m., at 7060 City Line Ave.

Here's when and where they will be partying tonight (in alphabetical order):

Brady: Banquet Room of the Sheetmetal Workers Hall on 1301 South Columbus Boulevard

Evans: Franklin Hall (4th Floor), Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, 12th and Market streets

Fattah: Sheraton Philadelphia, Horizons Rooftop Ballroom, 17th and Race

Knox: Loews Hotel, Millennium Hall, 1200 Market St

Nutter: Warwick Hotel, 17th & Locust St.

Here's what they will be doing in between (links to their schedules today):

Brady

Evans

Fattah

Knox

Nutter

Let's assume you know who you want for mayor.

Let's assume you've settled on your City Council picks as well.

Are you ready for the other races?

Here are a few links that might help:

List of who is on the ballot (by ballot number)

League of Women Voters' Guide to the Primary online (includes row offices and judges, plus mayor and council)

Link to state judicial candidate recommendations (Supreme Court; Superior Court)

Links to city judicial candidate recommendations (Common Pleas; Municipal)

Links to "plain English" versions of the ballot questions

Plus...our voter information page

It's finally here, folks! I'm so excited.

We will be covering this very big day live throughout (and well into the next day too, I am sure). Our main site will be updated constantly -- but for the latest news and commentary, this blog is the place to be. Our roving reporters -- including journalists on the staffs of WHYY and the Daily News, as well as citizen journalists -- are traveling through the city all day, and will bring you what they see,

We'll also bring you live updates of any problems at the polls from the Committee of 70's poll-watching effort, which is bigger than it has ever been. (If you see something you believe needs to be investigated, call them at 215-557-3600.)

Also, don't forget that we want to hear YOUR polling stories, and see YOUR polling pictures. Comment on any of today's posts or e-mail us.

Finally, if you have video of problems , Tigre Hill -- of Shame of a City fame -- wants to see it. You could capture history in the making...

So get up, get your coffee and GO VOTE. No excuses -- here's your poll times and how to find your polling place, right here.

Welcome to Primary Day, 2007!

...at 7 a.m., and the Would-be Mayors start hitting them early.

By the way, our reporter at the polls right now, Nolan Rosenkrans, says there are pretty short lines at 7 a.m....

The scene that's Election Day in Philadelphia: Our reporter out today continues to visit lightly populated polling places (he's in University City now) ... and I continue to see Knox ads on TV blasting Nutter.

The most serious concern at the polls he found this morning: The voter who gets grumpy every election day because he wants to work at the polls, but they've been staffed by the same people since his parents voted there...

Get out and vote, people.

OK, folks, I am officially calling the morning turnout -- at least in West Philly -- LOW.

Nolan Rosenkrans, our reporter, is hitting polls in West Philly. He was just at 55th and Market, where a voting machine problem kept the polls from opening for an hour. Poll workers said in that time, only 10 voters showed up and had to be told to return.

What did you experience at the polls? How was turnout? Any problems with machines, etc? Any political shenanigans?

Remember -- we want your stories and your photos -- and Tigre Hill wants your video...

KYW is reporting that Tom Knox brought his dog with him to the polls.

We have an update on the morning's polls from the Committee of 70 And we quote:

1. Numerous polling officials appear to be unaware of how to lock the polling machines to ensure that Independent and Minority party voters only vote on ballot questions. Only registered Democrats may vote for Democratic candidates and only registered Republicans may vote for Republican candidates. All registered voters may vote on the ballot questions.

2. We have received more than 20 complaints about voting machines not working properly in the following wards: 60, 46, 4, 24, 8, 47, 22 and 30 (see ward map here ). Our volunteers are observing that many people are getting frustrated and leaving, especially in wards 46 and 24. We are telling polling place officials to use provisional ballots (paper ballots) and we are calling in the machine malfunctions to city authorities. The number to report machine malfunctions is 215-686-7800.

3. The voting process is taking on average about 45 minutes – please keep in mind that this timeframe is based on people voting from the hours of 7 am to 9 am, which is the peak morning voting time. The contributing factors are long lines, a very long ballot and polling officials uncertain about how to handle certain issues.

Knox has a slight lead.

So here's what we're hearing so far:

1) Low turnout in some parts of the city, particularly West Philadelphia early this morning, though we also have reports of high turnout in other parts of the city. So we'll see how that evens out.

Our commenters report:

"In Roxborough the voting areas were crowded. There were several teachers and other School District of Philadelphia voters, rushing to vote and get to work. My colleagues from Roxborough reflected the same scene. ... Several people had their decisions for the numerous questions ready before entering the booth."

"Voted in West Philly around 7:30 am...one of only two people voting at the time..."

"At 12 and Pine polling place, lots of voters. I was 40 in line at 7:45 a.m. ... ."

2) Voting times are loooooong. "On average about 45 minutes," reports the Committee of 70.

Our commenters report:

"I waited 45 minutes to vote, missing the train, and the line wasn't even that long; the ballot is just too big. Tell me again why we have to vote for judges, who aren't even allowed to have platforms!"

3) Scattered, though not serious, problems with voting machines. The biggest problems seem to be seen when independent or minority party voters try to vote -- and they CAN vote on the ballot questions, folks. Polling officials seem to be confused in those cases. Also, voting machine problems seemed to plague West Philly wards, specifically 60, 46, 4 and 24. Problems were also reported in wards 8, 47, 22 and 30 (a ward map is here).

This was my first election as a voter in the City of Philadelphia and let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed.

My plan to show up at 7am to avoid the lines was hopelessly ruined when the cat spilled a glass of water on the alarm clock, somehow freezing the display on 3:95. I'm not sure exactly what time 3:95 is but regardless with my alarm set for 5:45 and the clock not moving, it was a safe bet that I wouldn't be getting up on time. Score one for feline attempts to derail the democratic process.

After futzing around for a while, I finally made it out the door and got in line at my polling place, 2nd Ward 24th division at the Fleischer Art School on Catherine between 7th and 8th. This location serves as polling place for my division and those yokels from 2nd Ward 17 division. (I keed I keed, I love those fightin' 17ers).

Outside of the building, a Knox volunteer, taking the rule of being at least 10 feet away from the entrance to the extreme, stood about 100 yards away on the corner of 7th and Catherine. Two friendly Nutter t-shirt-clad women said hello and another woman with "ample room" for the Brady For Mayor button that she wore on her chest tried to give me the "official Democratic ballot." A Vern Anastasio volunteer attempted to hand me a bottle of water, which I passed up. My vote cannot be bought with mere water! It's gonna take at least a slice of pizza and a diet coke.

Upon entering, I dutifully took up my place in line and prepared to be part of the Democratic process. Four straight elections by absentee ballot had left me a little rusty and I was unsure whether I'd be able to perform when the curtain closed. Those Fleischer folks had the right idea, holding a bake sale just inside the front door. Fortunately, the proprietor of the bake sale, who has a future as a ward leader if she wants it, had the good sense to inform newbies like me that we had to go past the line, through another door, and sign in at the table before we get in line. Thanks, bake sale lady. If only all polling places had just delectable treats, maybe turnout would be higher than the anemic 35% it's expected to be today.

Fighting my way through with my garment bag and gym bag on my shoulder, with the "We Shall Overcome" running through my head, I made it to the table and presented my voter registration card. With technology perfected in the time when monks made copies of the Bible by hand, a kindly older woman took my registration card and wrote my name a on an un-lined, very unofficial looking piece of paper that contained a list of all of the other folks who had voted that day. I learned that I was the 69th voter to check in that day. I giggled. She did not.

She passed my card to the woman to her right who looked for my name and picture of my signature in the large book from the City Commissioner's office.

"That's Pohlig, with an 'h'," I said. "Pholig?" she asked as she opened to the page that undoubtedly contained the names of my neighbors Phinneus, Phanatic, Phuture, and every other ridiculous permutation of the letter "f."

"No, POLE-ig, P-O-H..." That's it, I'm changing my name to Smith. Finally, after trapping my right to vote on a page with my neighbors Pollack and Polzner, she found my name and I signed in.

And took my place at the back of the line.

Where I waited... and waited... My only consolation in the length of the line being that it looked like we in the 24th were kicking the 17th's butt in turnout. A hollow victory as the random 17ers came and went as if voting were akin to stopping by the ATM machine on their way to work. Yeah? Well I suffered for it. My feet were killing me. I'm a patriot!

I also noticed that ahead of me in line was Republican City Committee Leader Vito Canuso! Who knew? The titular head of the city's Republican Party lives in my division. I watched as he entered the booth, and 30 seconds later was outta there. Ahhh, the advantage of having no contested primaries in your party. I wonder if he voted for Al Taubenberger?

The woman with the Brady buttons accentuating her ampleness came in a started chatting with the folks at the registration table. Apparently her allergies were really getting to her. One of the ladies at the table whispered that she should take off the buttons while she's inside. I thought she should at least have left all the sample ballots out on the bake sale table before she got within 6 feet of the actual voting booth. She retrieved her inhaler and headed back out on the mean, pollen-filled, streets of my Bella Vista neighborhood.

As I neared the front of the line, with my handy index card that I had written the night before so that I'd know which traffic court candidates had unpaid parking tickets (I had to draw the line somewhere!), the woman who seemed to be in charge got a call on her cell phone. After hanging up, she announced to the crowd, "the first ballot question about the casinos has been taken off the ballot. If yiz want to vote on the casinos yiz gotta go to 9th and Montrose."

I half expected to see the crowd turn around and walk out. I explained to the guy behind me, who had a real quizzical look, that Casino Free Philly folks were setting up their own ballot boxes to gauge public opinion. I was quite proud of myself for being able to do it without using the words "fake" or "shadow."

Then the moment of truth. I stepped into the booth, told the woman my party affiliation, and started pressing buttons. The little red lights danced like the side of the Cira Centre on the night of Red Cross awareness campaign. Geez, there sure are a lot of Council At-large candidates.

Mayor... hmmm... where I can I write in the Mayor of Denver? In principle I should just leave that one blank. I feel like I have too much information. Let me see if I can remember the messages that they've been trying to brainwash me with.

Brady... something about safe driving through Center City at night...
Evans... he'll fix my table?
Nutter... daughter likes pizza... but I got a mailing saying he likes Mayor Street... maybe they both like pizza?
Knox... isn't he "the accident attorney" I'm always seeing on tv during my soap operas or are undertakers running television ads these days?
Fattah... don't know... haven't seen any ads about him but his wife seems pretty smart.

Ok. I'll just do what everyone else does and pick at random. Yay democracy!

Ballot questions. I'm in a disagreeable mood by now. Straight "no." Well, except for those ones about planning and zoning. They seem important if a little verbose. Why couldn't they just ask if I think the guy who ran that really good deli down the street should continue to be in charge of whether a condo tower can go up on top of the oldest church in the country?

Ok. Hit the green "vote" button and head on out.

I stop by the table on my way out to ask how many folks have been through. The old man who I hadn't noticed before asks me, in as curmudgeonly a way as possible, "Who are you? What's your name?" Don't make me go through this again I think as I answer, "Pohlig." "Your a poll watcher?" he asks, with even more hostility if that's possible. "Don't you have a list? Why are you asking?"

I just wanted to know. Do I have to be up to something nefarious? The kindly woman in sitting next to him assured him that I wasn't there to subvert the process, at least, not any more so than their friend with the Brady buttons or the woman who thought she'd send everyone to 9th and Montrose.

She told me that there had been about 80 voters through at for 2nd Ward 24th division by 9am and there appeared to be about 10 more in line. She said if it stays busy like that she expects "all of them" to vote. Wow, I thought, 100% turnout in my little division... how Saddam-esque. When my fiance goes to vote later this evening, I'll have to find out if she was voter number 610 out of 600. Why stop at 100%?

Please continue to share your experiences with us so I have something to talk about tonight during out Election Night coverage on TV-12 starting at 9pm.

Our commenters have sent us a number of tips of political shenanigans so far today. So far, we've confirmed:

"A half dozen guys" holding Knox = Shark signs were outside of the polling place in the First Presbyterian church on South 21st Street -- which happens to be where Tom Knox voted this morning. Our commenter says the hecklers "were disrupting the voting process and screaming obscenities."

So Sam Katz just appeared at the Famous 4th Street Deli, creating QUITE a stir. This is history, folks: He said this was the FIRST TIME that he has EVER been to the Famous!

Our source on the scene, Daily News city editor and political guru Gar Joseph, asked if this was the beginning of something else...a fall campaign, perhaps? Katz "just laughed."

Gar said he wouldn't even acknowledge the question.

Chaka Fattah is there right now, too, and the other candidates are expected to make appearances...

More from the polls, as reported by our commenters - who rock, by the way. None of this, by the way, is in any way wrong -- it just shows your usual level of active campaigning out there...

At 9th St. and Market: Vern and DiCicco troops out in force, but being pleasant.

At the polling place at Moore College around 7:30: There was also a loud announcement identifying the lone Republican in the room (so that the machine could be adjusted). There was some spontaneous laughter at that comment.

At each of the three poling places I went to: Vern A. has hordes of people handing out water, knocking on doors. This is not a good sign for Franky Di. True confession, I took a water even though I voted for Frank.

More from the same commenter…There are about 3 electricians (white t-shirts) at each of the three poling places I went to and there are tons young, idealistic kids (red t-shirts) knocking on doors. I "outed" the electricians by saying Local 98 and pumping my fist.

And more… [Sherrif candidate Michael] Untermeyer has a person at each place. It is interesting that they are all African-American

For real.

This is very serious. Police now confirm that two men, who were -- in a horrific touch -- wearing "Knox for Mayor" t-shirts -- entered a Knox satellite campaign office at about 12:56 p.m. and pulled a gun on a campaign staffer there.

The robbers demanded money. They got a canvas bag of money that was full of what police are calling "employee salaries" -- and I think we would call "street money" -- and left.

The campaign isn't sure how much money was taken.

Campaign Manager Josh Morrow is en route to discover what he called the "gory details" of the crime, but he quickly pointed to politics, not random neighborhood crime, as the cause. "How many crimes have to happen before Philadelphia decides it needs new leadership?" he asked.

Anyone seeing any video on the internets from any of these Election Day experiences? Let me know in the comments. I'm still looking for stuff to share with our Channel 12 viewers tonight.

Wendy updated a bit...
So it's become clear that a corps of people, with signs that read "Knox=Shark," are following Tom Knox around.

They were at his polling place this morning, and they were at the Famous in the early afternoon. Some of what passes for fun on Election Day was had as a group of electricians held up blankets to try to block any view of the signs, and there was a little pushin' and shovin'.

By the way, we're also hearing that there was at least verbal pushin' and shovin' between Knox and Nutter folks at a polling place in down in the 2nd ward...

Provided by philly.com's own Jonathan Tannenwald...

Sam Katz drops by...

Knox comes to the Famous and plants a big kiss on Jannie Blackwell...

Lynne Abraham has great taste in reading material...

Vince Fumo is in the house...

Chaka Fattah orders turkey with a side of votes...

Bob Brady makes his visit...

Michael Nutter says hello to the assembled pols...

The Daily News' Chris Brennan is on the scene of the Knox satellite office robbery.

A more details... It was the satellite office's manager who was robbed. And there may be surveillance video of the robbery.

Volunteers, understandably, were upset by the gun and by the loss of some of the office's money. "It's very cruel -- people have to be paid to work," said Rob, a volunteer who wouldn't give his last name.

Josh, another volunteer, said he found out about the job on Craigslist. The pay was $50 per shift and then $125 for election day -- all cash.

This office in the shadow of the El, and the front windows bear hand-written Knox signs: "Tom Knox, one of Frankford's sons, and one of Frankford's own..."

We'll bring you more when we get it. (Here's our first post on the situation.)

Our reporter is in the 21st ward right now, and says turnout is "moderate." There are some reports that traffic is picking up again after the afternoon lull...

In the meantime, I'm setting up our breaking news alerts for the rest of the night. If you want to get a special e-mail from The Next Mayor with the latest news -- including a winner, when we get one -- e-mail me here.

We'll also bring you the latest results on this blog until the bitter end tonight!

Daily News reporter Stephanie Farr was just in the 21st and in the Ninth Ward. She says she's seeing a "steady" flow of voters at the polls.

In the Ninth, they say they are expecting 50 percent turnout. As of this afternoon, they are already at 300 voters of 700 total in one Chestnut Hill polling place she visited.

Voters said they wish that the casino question had been on the ballot. Voters also said they had enjoyed the election, and that it had been "clean" -- until the end.

In fact, it was on that point that Stephanie got what must be considered the Quote of the Day:

It was clean -- until the final days, said one voter, when "everyone pulled their pants down and let it all hang out."

And we quote...

Based on the information gathered from our citizen and legal teams, voter turnout has been low to moderate as we head into the last hours of voting...

As of 6 pm, there were many complaints reported, but nothing that appears to be of a systematic nature. The majority of complaints have been about the length of time it is taking to vote, campaign electioneering, polling machine malfunctions, etc....

Finally, 70 reminds you: You have to be in line at 8 p.m. if you want to vote!

You know the "official Democratic ballot" -- it's the list of candidates endorsed by the Democratic City Committee that your committeeperson shoves into your door and in your hand at the polls.

Well, the city was awash in something else today. There were widespread reports of fake ballots all over the city -- in fact, the fakes were the reason for most of the four Election Court rulings today. Faux, it seems, is much the trend in election dirty tricks this year!

There were "official" ballots that listed Tom Knox as the pick of the Democratic City Committee -- when, in fact, that is Bob Brady; there were "official" ballots that came from independent groups, unions and PACs; there were even reports of sneaky ballots that had the wrong button numbers for candidates.

We have a clutch of them here. They certainly could be considered to be confusing. In many cases, it's not clear who paid for the literature -- a violation of election rules.

And now, we wait...

We WILL BRING YOU LIVE RESULTS as they start rolling in. You can:

LISTEN to WHYY LIVE

WATCH WHYY LIVE

AND CHECK BACK HERE FOR UPDATES!

The results have begun!

And it's Knox and Nutter, neck-and-neck. They keep flip-flopping the lead.

But we seem to be back.

And the latest is, with about 30 percent of the vote counted:

Nutter 31.77
Knox 28.84

With 41.64 percent of the vote:

Nutter: 33.46
Knox: 28.47
Brady: 18.39
Fattah: 14.40
Evans: 4.77

Oh, thank GOODNESS. We are back.

And with 44 percent:

BRADY 18.22%
BASS 0.36%
NUTTER 33.93%
FATTAH 14.25%
EVANS 4.81%
KNOX 28.28%
WHITE 0.16%
Write In 3 0.00%

With 51.46 percent of the vote:

Nutter: 34.83% with 52,084 total votes
Knox: 27.87 with 41,678
Brady: 17.74% with 26,529
Fattah: 14.02% with 20,960
Evans: 5.03% with 7,519

With 70.26 percent of the vote:

Nutter: 35.03% with 70,802 total votes
Knox: 28.03% 56,650
Brady: 17.70% 35,778
Fattah: 13.31 26,905
Evans: 5.45% 11,016

For at-large council seats, with 70.26% of the vote counted:

James Kenney: 14.92%
Wilson Goode Jr. 9.84%
William Greenlee: 9.50%
Bill Green: 9.44%
Benjamin Ramos: 7.04%

Among contested Democratic races:

District 1 (With 76.79% of the vote counted)
Frank DiCicco: 69.80%
Vern Anastasio: 30.20%

District 2 (67.78% of the vote):
Anna Verna: 80.06
Damon Roberts: 19.94%

District 4 (92.36%):
Curtis Jones Jr. 35.20%
Carol Campbell 33.65%

District 5 (76.35%):
Darrell Clarke: 68.75%
Haile Johnston: 20.08%
John Longacre: 11.17%

District 7 (91.30%):
Maria Quinones-Sanchez: 52.74%
Daniel Savage: 40.42%

District 8 (50.87%):
Donna Reed Miller: 34.58%
CIndy Bass: 24.49%
Irv Ackelsberg: 22.04%

District 9 (35.53%):
Marian Tasco: 69.44%
Cecil Hankins: 14.29%
Ray Jones: 10.23%

District 2:

With 78.52% of the vote counted:

Nutter: 34.97%
Knox: 27.35%
Brady: 17.28%
Fattah: 13.67%
Evans: 6.27%

The race for the Democratic nomination for the 2007 mayor's race, philly.com reports, making him the likely Next Mayor of Philadelphia.

Michael Nutter, at his speech: "We had a really good day."

That sounds like a smack to me.