How tough a town is Philadelphia? Theatre companies used to use Philadelphia
                      for introducing new plays, before out-of-town tryouts became too costly,
                      figuring that if a Philadelphia audience liked the production, it was bound to
                      be a hit on Broadway (New York audiences are more forgiving).

                      This, after all, is the city that booed Santa Claus at an Eagles game, then
                      pelted him with snowballs (then Mayor, now Governor Ed Rendell is alleged to
                      have been a participant.) Baseball player Bo Belinsky once famously observed
                      that "Philadelphians would boo a funeral."

                      But when the B.F.E.E. rolled into town to fix the mayor's race, using their
                      tried-and-true formula - a social liberal Republican candidate, undermining
                      the Democratic candidate with smears and innuendo (hey, it worked in
                      California, didn't it?) - it looked like another B.F.E.E. steamroller was
                      about to flatten yet another Democratic stronghold.

                      Sidebar: before the story of the federal probe broke, Mayor John Street, the
                      city's second African-American mayor, was widely considered to be a goner.
                      His opponent, Sam Katz, had lost four years ago by less than 10,000 votes.
                      Six months prior to the election, you couldn't have found anyone here that
                      would have given a plugged nickel for Street's chances. But then the Philadelphia
                      Police found a listening device in the mayor's office, and the story of the federal
                      probe into city government became public knowledge. FBI agents swooped
                      down on city offices, banks, and the private offices of family, friends and
                      associates of the mayor, seizing thousands of documents and generally doing
                      their best to drag the Street family and any friends and allies through the mud.

                      But something happened here that didn't happen in California: the people here
                      understood exactly what was going on, even if the media whores didn't (the
                      largest daily, The Philadelphia Inquirer, endorsed Katz). The African-American
                      community ignited in fury; they well remembered what had been done to Bill
                      Clinton. This city, after all, gave Al Gore such a huge edge in 2000 that it
                      more than wiped out the Republican advantage in the rest of the state.
                      And to its credit, the Philadelphia Daily News also seemed to get it, headlining
                      stories about the anger in the African-American community and endorsing
                      Mayor Street. Even a visit by the Crisco Kid himself, Attorney-General John
                      Ashcroft, couldn't help the derailed federal probe to get back to doing
                      its real job, which was, of course, to undermine Street's re-election campaign.

                      Long story short: Street - 58%; Katz - 42%. Even in sections where Katz
                      had done extremely well in 1999 (read: white areas), he suffered a significant
                      erosion of support. The Street victory appears to have cut across racial,
                      economic, and social differences. Late in the campaign, polls started showing
                      a strong shift to Street. In my not-so-humble opinion, even people who were
                      not crazy about Street were outraged by what, according to several polls, they
                      saw as a blatant attempt on the part of the Bush administration to rig the
                      outcome. Perhaps a sign I saw carried by a young white guy on the corner of my
                      block yesterday said it best: "Don't let Bush hijack our election."

                      In fact, dare I say that this may represent some kind of turning point for
                      this country? If Philadelphia could send Bush/Rove packing, maybe others will
                      begin to realize that we can stand up to these guys, and beat them. The Big
                      Dog came here last Friday to lend his support to Street. He noted that the
                      Bush administration had done us a favor by starting the FBI probe.
                      It  "lit a fire" under us, he said. And how!

                      So how about it Bart? Does Philadelphia deserve a shot of Chinaco for telling
                      the B.F.E.E. to take a f*****g hike? Hell, how about a double shot?

                      Keep hammerin'!

                      Ann from Philly

 
                      Ann, I believe they do.

                      Two shots of the good stuff for Philly for telling the B.F.E.E. to take a f-ing hike!

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