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."
Comments (27)
As I was walking down the street in my Nutter t-shirt, a white guy leaned out his truck and yelled, "Notta Nutter Ni**er!" One can only imagine how common that kind of ignorance must be in some areas of the city.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 12:05 PM
This behavior from the Brady campaign is disgusting. How low can this bottom feeder sink?
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 12:10 PM
This isn't any one campaign. This kind of political mud is across the board. It's a shame.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 12:14 PM
Why does Tom Know post anonymously?
Posted by Voice of the People | May 15, 2007 12:14 PM
Some Communications Workers of America (CWA) union members were just spotted in South Philly wearing Carpenter's for Brady shirts. They can't even come out representing their own union?
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 12:17 PM
A ferw points:
1) The CWA has also endorsed Brady, so they are still supporting their candidate
2)As the commenters pointed out, I do not believe that the victim of the first, nasty attack said that it came from any one campaign
3) Geez, that first attack. DISGUSTING.
Posted by Wendy | May 15, 2007 12:26 PM
Voice of the people eh?? Thats the problem with "our people" - they cant spell. The guys name (who your trying to trash) is TOM KNOX not TOM KNOW. C'mon dude my 8 yr old knows that.
Posted by Steve | May 15, 2007 12:26 PM
I have been working my polling station in west philly for nutter. It has been a very slow day. There are about a dozen other people there for other candidates. I am the only one who is not getting paid (I'm volunteering). Most of the "workers" are just sitting around smoking cigaretts- half of them have told me they don't even support the candidate whose t-shirt they are wearing they are just there to get paid. No one else is from my hood- they were all vanned in. One woman working for Shreif Street was yelling loudly and cussing about everyone but Tox Knox- I was this close to calling the DA's office but she calmed down when the local committeeperson hinted that she was about to get herself in trouble.
Lots of Knox vans driving around with Jannie Blackwells voice blaring- with no one really listening except the people working for Knox.
Posted by Liz | May 15, 2007 12:41 PM
No, the racial slur came from just an ordinary moron in a contractor's truck. I couldn't tell what type of contractor he might have been. It's always a little shocking to hear such blatant ignorance. And, yes, I do think a meaningful portion of Brady and Knox support is coming from these racists. Even if most people don't yell it on the street, you know it's a common sentiment in many neighborhoods.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 12:45 PM
I just voted and man it is a nightmare out there! Better off just going to the Wing Bowl!
Posted by joe the cop | May 15, 2007 12:47 PM
Also- only one Brady guy- who didn't hand out one peice of literature all morning. No Fattah guy at all- I'm not "deep" into west philly- but come on- everyone else has representation.
Posted by Liz | May 15, 2007 12:49 PM
Perfectly polite, pleasant, friendly volunteers at my polling place. No heckling, no nastiness.
Posted by Sbadeau![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/nextmayor/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 15, 2007 1:03 PM
Hey, I like Joe the Cop's idea - instead of these really long, annoying political campaigns, just make this part of Wing Bowl...I'd pay good money to see these guys scarf down tons of wings...
Posted by Wing Nut | May 15, 2007 1:06 PM
Hey, I like Joe the Cop's idea - instead of these really long, annoying political campaigns, just make this part of Wing Bowl...I'd pay good money to see these guys scarf down tons of wings...
Posted by Wing Nut | May 15, 2007 1:07 PM
Hey, joe - what do you mean?
Posted by wendy | May 15, 2007 1:19 PM
Anonymous:
No, the racial slur came from just an ordinary moron in a contractor's truck. I couldn't tell what type of contractor he might have been. It's always a little shocking to hear such blatant ignorance. And, yes, I do think a meaningful portion of Brady and Knox support is coming from these racists. Even if most people don't yell it on the street, you know it's a common sentiment in many neighborhoods.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 12:45 PM
Oh please! How do you know the person is supporting Brady or Knox? Isn't your assumption racist? Just because the guy in the truck was white doesn't mean he is supporting either of the white candidates nor does it mean he is a voter. The person is a jerk.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 1:26 PM
Oh please, the racist guy sure wasn't voting for any of the black candidates and he obviously knew enough about the campaign to know Nutter was black. Why do you think Knox and Brady have been fighting so hard against each other for the white vote....because they know a significant percentage of their voters are racists. I know that's uncomfortable to acknowledge, but it's the truth of Philly politics.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 1:42 PM
I hope you're also considering that some of the voters voting for a black candidate are racist too (anti-white in this case). It is a shame that racial elements still dominate this corrupt city's politics
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 1:56 PM
"Anonymous:
No, the racial slur came from just an ordinary moron in a contractor's truck. I couldn't tell what type of contractor he might have been. It's always a little shocking to hear such blatant ignorance. And, yes, I do think a meaningful portion of Brady and Knox support is coming from these racists. Even if most people don't yell it on the street, you know it's a common sentiment in many neighborhoods.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 12:45 PM"
Do you not think a percentage of each black candidates voters are also voting for them just because they don't want a white guy to win?
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 2:03 PM
Yes, there definitely is an anti-white vote, too. Hence, the "Nutter not black enough" whispers. However, it wasn't a black guy yelling the racial slur this morning.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 2:04 PM
just voted in Fishtown.....Dauphin & Taggert. I was number 69 at a little past 1 p.m....very low turnout in this "Brady" area. I was offered a "Brady Ballot".
Posted by serlingrod | May 15, 2007 2:21 PM
I also had some "help" from one of Brady's people from inside the polls. He wouldn't let up, and I was actually concerned he was going to follow me in to the booth.
Posted by SouthPhillyVoter | May 15, 2007 2:26 PM
Very light turnout in south philly, and this is a strong Brady area.
Posted by Anonymous | May 15, 2007 2:27 PM
Liz-
If you ever worked with Naylor before, you would know he is no fan of waiting for voters at the polls. Fattah workers are out on the streets, pulling people out.
Posted by jr | May 15, 2007 2:52 PM
I'll bet the contractor lives in the suburbs, which is where I witness this kind of racial stupidity the most.
Posted by Fante | May 15, 2007 3:07 PM
I was at Knox's polling place this morning. I vote in the 8th Ward, 10th Division. And if you consider the term "Loan Shark" an obscenity than the folks from the anti-knox group were shouting obscenities. The group was telling voters about Knox's history as a pay-day lender and how he charged 400% interest on his loans and that he has basically financed his campaign on the backs of the working poor. What I found more obscene was the fact that Knox had an army of 98 guys roll up in response and they entered the polling location in force. Some within the group were even wearing Knox for Mayor t-shirts and buttons which is a big no-no in a polling place. I was scared to enter to the polling place with this show of force so I waited until everyone left. It is quite intimidating seeing 10-15 Local 98 apprentices storm into a polling location and I didn't want to be a victim in any way. I remember what Local 98 did to the Katz supporters in 2003. The folks from the anti-knox group were very civil, in-fact, one even votes in my same division.
Posted by 8th Ward Lady | May 15, 2007 5:47 PM
8th Ward Lady: I was one of the FIVE guys there with Knox. Any intimidation going on was perpetrated by Ken Smukler and his band of goons and their 8 foot anti-Knox bedsheets.
Posted by Frank Keel | May 15, 2007 7:28 PM