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I want to congratulate the 21.4 percent of registered voters in Philadelphia who came out to vote May 17. They did so, despite the fact they had to put a roast in the oven or fix a toilet seat.
There should be a way to honor people who vote in the primaries, like putting them on a gold coin with the Navy SEALS. Rarely has patriotism been more forthrightly on display, unless you count the time someone wrapped themselves in the flag and rolled down a hill in Manayunk, while eating a Dietz & Watson hot dog.
There were some interesting results. Somewhere in the city limits, there are more than 35,000 people who believe that Milton Street would have made a good mayor. These are the same people who believe the best Italian meal in town can be found at Buco di Beppo. City Council got a makeover. Don’t weep for Frank Rizzo Jr., who lost. I have it on good word that he is planning to run for president of Aruba.
Sightings of Republicans are rare outside the Union League. You’ve got to hand it to the Republicans who actually showed up to vote. In order to be a Republican in Philadelphia, you must get excited enough to cast a vote for a candidate who has about as much chance of winning as the current edition of Tiger Woods.
I don’t know about you, but I get confused when it comes to voting for the various judges. I guess I should be more appreciative of getting to choose among a bunch of judicial candidates of whom I know nothing about. I could have just gone along with the American Bar Association endorsements, but then why don’t they just let those folks choose the judges and spare me the time in the voting booth?
I voted for Vince Giusini because his daughter asked us as we entered the polling place. I am impressed by any man who has a daughter willing to spend her day handing out leaflets outside a polling place. She could have been downloading the latest Jay-Z hit, but chose to be loyal to her father instead. A man who earns this kind of devotion from his daughter should have White House aspirations.
Then there are always those questions on the ballot that are often tucked away, as if they are the hidden side effects on the latest drug from Pfizer. Usually we are asked to vote on whether a loan should be authorized to fund libraries, fix potholes or rename a boulevard in honor of Sylvester Stallone. This time around, the only question asked if we should appoint a commission to study how to increase jobs in Philadelphia. I had been under the impression that we already paid a mayor and members of City Council to do exactly that. On the other hand, by appointing a commission, you could create jobs by employing folks to be on the commission.
Getting back to the Republicans, at this writing the result is too close to call for that party’s nomination for Mayor. The vote was split almost 50-50 (that means the six Republicans in the city split their vote 3-3) between Karen Brown and John Featherman.
Brown, like most Republican candidates for high office in Philadelphia, is a former Democrat. She switched parties and got Billy Meehan’s support quicker than you can say “Sam Katz.” It is a rule of thumb in Philadelphia that one must at least be a former Democrat to run for mayor. This tradition began when Arlen Specter almost beat James Tate to become mayor. It was reinforced when Katz gave John Street a scare twice before losing. Specter and Katz were former Democrats when they ran. Specter, as you know, later switched and became a Democrat again when he ran and lost for re-election to the Senate last year (the rule doesn’t work so well in reverse). Featherman is that rare bird (if you’ll pardon the pun) that is a real Philadelphia Republican (by his own admission since 2001). Being a Republican any longer than 10 years and running for high office in this city is considered a self-destructive impulse.
I’d hate to see a decision for a recount to decide the Republican mayoralty nominee. A recount would cost the taxpayers a few bucks. Besides, it all seems a bit silly when you consider that the recount would only decide who loses to Michael Nutter in November. Nutter may be unpopular, but in order to lose in November he would have to be found guilty of spreading the ebola virus or John Street decides to run as an Independent (many folks consider both of those occurrences pretty much the same thing).
The last Republican Mayor was Barney Samuels almost 60 years ago. Barney has apparently been forgotten by most Philadelphians. A recent multiple choice quiz resulted in almost 85 percent of our high school students identifying of Barney Samuels as a pal of Fred Flintstone.
When Samuels was mayor, there was no City Charter. This meant that there were no ballot questions every year proposing changes. City politicians could do practically anything they chose. Of course, Philadelphia politicians do anything they choose to do even today. The only difference was in Barney’s day, it was legal. SPR
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