Tom Knox and Jannie Blackwell join forces?
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?
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.