Here are the Philadelphia candidates for mayor: Michael Nutter, Tom Knox, Chaka Fattah, Bob Brady, and Dwight Evans. You can check out their websites and see where they stand on the issues.
Here’s the latest poll (.pdf).
| Date | April 25 | March 14 | Dec 06 | Fav / Unfav |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Knox | 20% | 22% | 9% | 47 / 21 |
| Michael Nutter | 18% | 12% | 12% | 58 / 16 |
| Chaka Fattah | 14% | 17% | 29% | 48 / 25 |
| Bob Brady | 9% | 13% | 10% | 36 / 32 |
| Dwight Evans | 7% | 10% | 12% | 46 / 17 |
I’ve met all of them except Bob Brady.
Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah are Philadelphia’s main politicians in the House of Representatives. Brady recently became chairman of the House Administration committee when Juanita Millender-McDonald passed away. This is ironic because the House Administration committee is in charge of overseeing all federal elections. And Bob Brady is an old-school Philly machine boss. I’m not accusing him of stuffing any ballot boxes, but you know what I’m saying…its gotta make the Republicans nervous. Brady is a member of the progressive caucus, but is the antithesis of the progressive movement in this city. I do not know a single politically active person (other than ward heelers) that is going to vote for Brady.
Chaka Fattah is another matter. Fattah sits on the powerful House Appropriations committee. He’s in a position to bring home some badly needed bacon to the city. I’m generally pleased with his work as my congressman. And, having met him, I think he is better suited for the job that he has than he is for any kind of executive position. No details here…just my gut feeling. As a result, I haven’t really cared what his proposals are. I think he is the wrong personality type for the job. You can read an impassioned endorsement of Fattah here. For the record, though, I don’t like Fattah’s position on gambling and I think his ideas on housing are from bizarro world.
Dwight Evans is a very attractive candidate. In many ways I think he might have the best combination of policies and skills. Evans is the chairman of the House Appropriations committee in Harrisburg and he has an excellent relationship with Governor Ed Rendell. Unfortunately, he has languished in the polls and seems unlikely to pull off a miracle.
That leaves me with a choice between Tom Knox and Michael Nutter. Both Knox and Nutter have been solicitous of the progressive community. They are both running as ‘reform candidates’. Tom Knox, however, is financing his own campaign. Michael Nutter, on the other hand, enacted the first real campaign finance reform when he was on the city council. I have real differences with Michael Nutter (over the smoking ban, for example), but I just have a better feeling about him than I do about Knox. It makes me uncomfortable that Knox is attempting to buy the mayor’s seat by saturating the air-waves with advertising rather than doing the hard work of building a coalition.
I admit that my judgment on this is not based very heavily on policy. The reason is that I don’t really believe most of the campaign promises and I have had the good fortune to actually meet and talk to the candidates. This allows me to base my endorsement on a more personal sense of the individual men. I think Knox, Nutter, and Evans all have personalities that will allow them to be effective leaders and good ambassadors for the city. I don’t think Evans has a real chance to win. And I have more trust and confidence that Nutter will do what he says he wants to do. I think he is a more authentic reform candidate.
So, I plan on voting for Nutter. And I think he will be an excellent mayor. Moreover, his election will a huge vindication for the progressive movement. No one in this city thought that we would be talking about Knox and Nutter, rather than Brady and Fattah. But things have changed. Even the racial divide has changed. Nutter, who is black, is getting much of his support from the white community, while Knox, who is white, is getting a lot of support from the black community. Perhaps the best part is that no one is really running a racially divisive campaign. All the candidates have been running pretty positive campaigns. Knox and Nutter seem to have a mutual admiration for each other and a mutual loathing of Brady and the traditional machine politics of the city.
Bob Brady has the unions behind him, but that won’t be enough. Have you ever heard him speak? He is not a very bright man, I think.
Michael Nutter proved very independent and progressive during his time on the City Council, is committed to campaign finance reform and ethics in politics generally, and gave up his seat on the City Council (as he had to do by law) in order to pursue the mayoralty. He has far more experience and specific policy positions than does Tom Knox, who is trying to buy City Hall for himself.
I can’t vote in the election but certainly hope Nutter prevails.
Brady has the gruff tone of a construction foreman. Nothing wrong with that, but he is what he is…a tough guy.
And, he looks like Lynne Abraham. ouch.
that’s brutal.
Bob Brady has the unions behind him, but that won’t be enough
actually, that’s not true. that’s what everyone expected would happen, but all the union’s i represent have either endorsed someone else or aren’t endorsing anyone. brady actually has more enemies in the labor movement than he does friends
I have to agree with you on this.
I like Knox, but there’s something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on. I ruled out Brady and Fattah a long time ago.
What i need to do, and will try to get to this weekend, is listen to their radio times appearances. During Nutter’s visit, their live stream was overwhelmed and it wouldn’t open. Knox was yesterday, but I was on the “pick-up-Sam” drive, so I was way out of range.
I cannot STAND Nutter’s police-state crime plan. I don’t like it at all. I think it’s probably unconstitutional (stop-and-frisk, that is). But his transit plan is solid, and I beleieve that MN has strong ethics. I am troubled by his my-way-or-the-highway approach: the smoking ban was a good example of that, as is his crime plan. He comes off as inflexible sometimes (ironically, much like his foil Mr. Street). But I think he’ll be ethical and fair as Mayor, and I think he’ll get stuff done.
let’s see what happens…
what about evans?
I like evans, but he’s better in harrisburg.
One thing I should mention wrt Nutter’s crime plan: I am VERY pleased with his stance on re-entry programs, making sure that paroled criminals have access to jobs and housing, to break the cycle. I like that an awful lot: my job runs a [nearly unfunded] domestic violence counseling program at Riverside Women’s Correctional in Philly, and it’s been successful.
Listenign to Knox on radio times right now…
To quote you:
“Dwight Evans is a very attractive candidate. In many ways I think he might have the best combination of policies and skills.”
I have a rare opportunity to vote for a candidate I believe has the ‘best combination of policies and skills’ — Dwight Evans.
I intend to take advantage of that opportunity, regardless of standings in the polls, and regardless of whether “he can win.” I’m a bit surprised to read you are voting for Nutter based largely on the polls.