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.
Comments (31)
Well, first, we have buttons - "And How are the CHILDREN?" is the message. Anyone wants one - let me know. But more importantly, I think that while you have articulated some of the reasons it is boring, another one is that no one is talking about money, except for the money spent on ads.
All the candidates want to do good things. They promise to do good things. I want to know - How are you going to pay for it and what is going to get cut in the process? Somehow when we talk about children, it seems that the money that makes it possible to "walk the talk" just never quite materializes, and yet when it comes to other issues, its the kids stuff that gets cut to make room for . . . . Pet Project A, B or C.
SHOW ME THE MONEY . . . .. and I won't be bored!
Posted by Sbadeau![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/nextmayor/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 2, 2007 10:57 AM
I like this election. We can certainly improve the process, but I think we're making progress (I thought the Tommy the Loan Shark vs. Frank Keel thing was childish, personally).
One thing we could do is have the city do more to publicize the fact that there's an election coming up, as well as inform people about how they can find out about the candidates. It should eventually become common knowledge that on X day, Y information will be available from source Z. I think that's the way to go going forward.
Posted by Dave![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/nextmayor/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 2, 2007 11:04 AM
This is the kind of election that doesn't scare smart people away from the city.
Posted by Greg | May 2, 2007 12:30 PM
It sounds like Street is saying the campaign is boring the candidates are actually talking about the issues instead of the typical race-baiting divisive politics that Street prefers. With Nutter, we actually have the opportunity to elect the smartest man in the room. Nutter is Philly's Obama.
Posted by Anonymous | May 2, 2007 12:40 PM
Street wants FBI bugs, Bill Clinton visits and Brady "spinning the ish" like in the good ol days.
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