Mayor Knox
Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
Democratic Tom Knox has gone from something of a joke -- at least in the eyes of the professional politicians -- to someone who has them trembling with fear that he may actually, factually, really take over City Hall.
As my colleague, Tom Fitzgerald, pointed out this weekend Knox has become the candidate to beat in the Democratic primary. With about three weeks left until the May 15th primary no one -- not his opponents, not their consultants, not the ward leaders, not nobody it seems -- has figured out yet his to derail him.
Who would have thunk it three months ago? Not me. I remember having lunch with a bunch of politicos at (of course) The Palm in January and each was asked to name the candidate they thought was most likely to win the primary for mayor. None of us picked Knox.
That said, I always thought the professional pols were too quick to dismiss him. After all, you can't dismiss a guy willing to spend $5 million,
But I had no idea the rest of the contenders -- all strong candidates in their own right -- would do so poorly against the guy. Obviously, the fact that the field is so crowded has helped the candidate who has stood out above the din of messages. And Knox, a steady presence on television for two months, with a clear and compelling message, has done just that.
Who is this guy Knox?
The answers are starting to come in.
The Inky did a story last Wednesday about his business dealings and outlined his involvement with payday loans.
Knox also sat down with the paper's editorial board the other day. We have posted an audio of that interview on our main Great Expectations site, so you can listen in for yourself..
Knox isn't Mr. Excitement, but he is much more polished than he was two months ago. He seems to have mastered the details and is more assured in his responses, even when board members threw some hardballs at him.
Ditto his appearance on the most recent televised mayoral debate on Sunday on WPVI-TV (Channel 6). How many people saw it at 10 a.m. on a warm and sunny Sunday, I cannot say. My guess is just a handful.
But, the other candidates -- well, at least Dwight Evans and Bob Brady -- paid Knox the ultimate compliment during that debate. They attacked him. Evans dismissed Knox as a no-experience guy who inflated his resume. Brady went after him with a last shot over his bank giving out payday loans.
They have just three weeks to make that stuff stick and do damage to Knox's rising numbers.
Postscript added Tuesday, April 24th: As if on cue, two of Knox's opponents have begun a public attack -- butressed by TV ads -- against Knox. Tom Fitzgerald has a piece on it in today's Inky.
-- Tom Ferrick
Comments (1)
Who do they poll anyway? If we remember the last mayoral election, there were an awful lot of closet John Street supporters. I say closet because they didn't show up in the polls, but more importantly, they showed up on election day. Who are the closet supporters of the next election. Personally, I think more people will vote for Bob Brady behind a curtain than will come out openly in support of him. It's almost like that girlfriend who you knew your friends wouldn't like, but you liked. So in their presence you pretended not to like her. But, behind closed doors you were like two recently uncaged animals. In this election, I say beware of the polls. Philadelphians have proven to be sneaky voters.
Posted by kbreaz1 | April 25, 2007 9:40 PM
Posted on April 25, 2007 21:40