I don't often write about pure politics in Philadelphia - the 5th major sport as Mayor Nutter has referred to it. Frankly, I don't have the connections with ward leaders, committee people, etc. that many of the longtime Daily News or Inquirer journalists have. I'm not an active participant in that club and I'm not trying to bust my way into it or build a parallel structure like many in the progressive blogosphere who are also activists and campaign supporters.
My time in politics was brief. It was fun. It was, at times, heartbreaking and, at times, inspiring. Since then, I've tried to stake out a spot in the blogosphere as a guy who sees everything as a potential "issue" for our government to deal with and then act as a referee for a discussion on those issues or a gatekeeper to the people who know a whole lot more about the issues than I do.
But sometimes I too like to indulge in the pure "sport" of politics in Philadelphia. That's why the primary re-election campaign of Tony Payton, a young state representative from North Philadelphia, is so fascinating to me. Young Philly Politics has a firsthand account of the battle lines that are being drawn over this once insurgent, now incumbent candidate for the Democratic nomination for state representative - and who is on which side of those lines.
Apparently the ward leaders of the 179th District (we'll call them, "the party") are still not happy about being beaten by Mr. Payton. They've decided to endorse someone else even though, by just about all accounts, Mr. Payton has done an pretty admirable job in his first term. And when you consider who his predecessor was in the district, the bar is pretty low.
According to Ray at YPP, the Governor himself (a party unto himself) is decrying the the Party's decision not to back Payton, saying:
If we let them beat back Tony, it's a huge blow to independent politics in the Democratic party and the city of Philadelphia...and to young people.
So the lines are being drawn. The old guard on one side, the new blood on the other. The Party vs. the Guv. Payton's primary campaign (election April 22nd!) should provide us with a good look at how far the fledgling local internet activists have come. Can they help to influence a contest between an independent politician and a machine backed candidate in one of those lower profile, smaller turnout elections that generally favor the Party? This should also prove to be an interesting warm-up for a lower profile, citywide race for the Democratic nomination for DA in 2009.
Again... I'm not as big an expert on the local politics as the experienced observers at our city's two largest daily papers, but I know I'm going to be watching this race with interest.
If you're interested in the city's 5th major sport, you should too.
Comments (2)
Anyone who follows local politics understands that this is the ward leaders' last stand. Tony Payton is a thorn on their side and rather than embracing him, the millions he has brought to his district, and his message of change, the ward leaders (at least the 3 who control THIRTY-THREE divisions out of the the 55 in his district) want revenge.
People should start paying attention to this because, after Nutter's victory, the ward leaders want to reassert their power; for the sake of the City, democracy, and change, we cannot allow our system to be held hostage by troglodytes with no accountability.
Please, please, please, let people know about this; like the Bush Administration, those who abuse power in the people's name always recoil when their deeds are exposed in plain sight.
I wish Tony luck. He obviously did it without the ward leaders and he will have to do it again.
Posted by Casper Kepherin | February 1, 2008 12:51 AM
I dunno Dan, it's important to remember that of the 6 ward leaders, 3 were with Tony representing 22 divisions. And I have not talked to Congressman Brady yet, but I am not sure that a majority of ward leaders would agree with what Tartaglione and Savage did. So that makes it a bit harder to make this a case of the "party's last stand."
This is about a political vendetta more than a movement. But the question is whether or not the pettiness of that is enough of an insult the rest of us (who expect elected officials to actually do stuff, rather than play political games) to be motivated to vote/participate more.
Posted by Ray Murphy | February 1, 2008 1:49 PM