A new Keystone Poll is out in today's Daily News. We'll spare you any drama: Michael Nutter is in the lead.
And we mean waaaaay in the lead. Like a potentially history-making lead. From Dave Davies' story:
Nutter leads Republican mayoral hopeful Al Taubenberger 74 percent to 8 percent among registered voters, and 83 percent to 8 percent among likely voters.
“In all the 15 years I’ve been polling, I’ve never seen a major-party candidate in single digits two weeks before an election,” said Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.
OK, so it's no surprise that Nutter is gonna win the general election. The problem is, this no-ad, no-disagreement, no-heat "campaign" could lead to low turnout in Philadelphia. And that's worrying Democrats running for statewide office, who count on Philly's Dem votes to offset Republicans elsewhere in the state.
And there's another problem.
The Keystone Polls throughout this election (the Daily News did its first way back in July 2006, when Nutter was at 10 percent among primary candidates, and some guy named Tom Knox barely charted with 1 percent) have consistently shown that Philadelphians are extremely concerned about the welfare of their city. In this poll, reports Davies:
Only 20 percent of those polled said the city was headed in the right direction, while 73 percent said it was on the wrong track. Sixty percent said Philadelphia has gotten worse than it was four years ago. Only 9 percent said things had improved.
Those are some of the most negative views of Philadelphia ever measured by Keystone polls, and they parallel a generally negative view of Mayor Street.
Nutter faces extraordinary voter demand to fix crime, deal with the advent of casinos, fix the tax structure, rustle up more jobs and handle, well, everything just as soon as he walks in the door to Room 215. He's certainly promised enough.
And, this being Philly, the first misstep will be greeted with the kind of boos usually reserved for Rod Barajas. This "campaign" has been a nice long break for Nutter, who did have to claw his way to his victory in the primary.
I don't think the honeymoon will last much past his inauguration.
Comments (1)
Nobody really cares...let's talk about something that generates interest and conversation among the people.
Auspitz & The ZBA. Are they gone or are they finally gone?
Auspitz holds court with major developers, zoning attorneys, etc. on the weekends (Fri-SUN) and other days by appointment at Famous Deli 4th & South-he is so obvious.We eat there every Sat and Sun morning. He also provides city officials from L&I and related agencies. A sort of one stop shopping gig. The food is good and we enjoy the menu (reminds us of home), Come and see the show and learns the ropes.
Thankfully it will all be coming to an end very soon. Thank you Michael Nutter and citizens of Philadelphia.
I recommend the pastrami!
Bye Bye Auspitz. I am sure he will be a "consultant".
Posted by Brooklyn Transplants | October 25, 2007 7:27 AM