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 Silly season in Philly
By John Mercurio
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Does anyone really know what Philadelphia's mayoral race is about anymore? Is it about cronyism and corruption? If so, who's corrupt? -- Mayor John Street or Attorney General John Ashcroft? Is it about racism? Or are both of those story lines just creations of Philly's scrappy, scandal-obsessed media? And are they really the issues voters care about most? We hope to learn more tonight when Street and two-time GOP rival Sam Katz meet at 7 p.m. EDT for their final televised debate. The election is November 4. Democrats and Republicans in the City of Brotherly Love say the once-surging Katz -- who has assumed the faint whiff of irrelevance since the mysterious federal probe started dominating the campaign two weeks ago -- finds himself having to end the campaign as a fiery bomb-thrower, hammering Street tonight over the "daily lurid details" dripping out of his administration onto the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Meanwhile, Street, whose poll numbers have shot through the roof since the probe went public, offers little or no knowledge of the investigation and gingerly tries to change the subject. Meet John Street -- three parts statesman, one part victim. Katz, who lost their '99 face-off by a scant 9,000 votes and vowed during that concession speech to seek a '03 rematch, got a head start on his line of attack yesterday, holding a news conference at his HQ, where he attacked Street and offered up the "human face of corruption." He decried a "culture of corruption" in Street's City Hall that "hurts Mary Kohler and other emergency responders who have contracted Hepatitis C in the line of duty, but can't get the city to pay for their treatment. The mayor has chosen to spend millions giving contracts to his friends and cronies rather than taking care of heroes like Mary. ... It's not just about tax dollars -- it's about how creating another set of rules for your friends and cronies affects the most vulnerable among us." But polls show Street may have a far more effective tool at his disposal -- race, and unconfirmed charges that the Ashcroft Justice Department is trying to manipulate the election. In that regard, it probably doesn't help Katz that U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan managed GOP Sen. Rick Santorum's campaign in 1994 and served as special counsel and political strategist for GOP Sen. Arlen Specter. Sensitive to this, Justice officials spent yesterday swatting down rumors that Ashcroft would meet with Meehan to discuss the Street probe during a previously scheduled meeting tomorrow in Philadelphia. For Democrats, though, rumors suffice. "People don't want to hear the fact that everyone who's being complained about in the investigation, in the media crusade, are people of color," Street's top political aide, George Burrell, an African American, told the Philadelphia Inquirer last week. "I don't talk about race very often; I just say it's curious." Another Street adviser, A. Bruce Crawley -- noting that the FBI also carted off records from the city's Minority Business Enterprise Council -- called the probe "racial profiling." The latest poll, a Temple University/CBS3/KYW-3 survey released last week, found that the initial fallout from the FBI investigation has helped Street, especially among black voters. His support within the community increased 14 points, for instance, and one in four black voters said the probe made them "more likely" to vote for Street. (Philadelphia mayor leads poll amid federal probe; CNN Access: Philadelphia mayor: 'I'm not the target' of investigation') Overall, Street led Katz, 48 percent to 41 percent among those polled, a reversal of the same poll's findings last month. In an October 1 Keystone Poll, 70 percent of black residents surveyed said they thought Philadelphia was heading in the right direction, while 61 percent of white respondents said they thought things were on the "wrong track." Just under 40 percent of white residents surveyed said they thought the city had improved since 1999, but 61 percent of black residents asked rated it a better place to live. Then again, racial polarization may have little to do with the probe. In their first matchup in 1999, Katz carried 97 percent of the 742 voting divisions with a majority-white population; Street won in 98 percent of the 750 precincts with a black majority. Although Katz won't be found within 100 miles of President Bush before the election, Democrats -- who outnumber Republicans 4-to-1 in Philly and claim their margin has increased since '99 -- are working hard to connect the dots anyway. "As goes Philly, so goes the state of Pennsylvania. And if George Bush manages to get his candidate Sam Katz elected, chances are he will win Pennsylvania in 2004 and get re-elected," said Street campaign spokesman Mark Nevins. "And that's a scary thought for a lot of Democrats. The prospect of letting Sam Katz do to Philadelphia what George Bush is doing to this country is a scary proposition." For his part, Katz is trying to neutralize race as an issue. "It's not about black and it's not about white," he said during a news conference Friday. "It's about green. And green is the color of greed." Tonight's hour-long debate is to start at 7 p.m. EDT. It will be broadcast by WPVI-TV, which is sponsoring the debate with the NAACP, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters. C-SPAN officials said they weren't sure last night whether they would be carrying the debate live.
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