The 2011 Mayors Race: More At Stake then you Think!

John Street: Not MY Mayor!

The 2011 election season in Philadelphia is a hot one, and it promises to do something we haven't seen in Philadelphia since the Renell Administration: A Chance at some real change and good times. Now, keep in mind, I'm not saying Ed Rendell's administration was without problem, but his leadership did a lot of good for Philadelphia. This time around, we can see something even more: Real and Dynamic Change!

For starters, a bunch of establishment City Council members are no longer running for re-election. Frank Dicicco (1st District), and Anna Verna (2nd), Donna Reed Miller (8th District), Jack Kelly (At-Large), and Frank Rizzo (City Council-at-large) are out, each of which have served no lest than 14 years on City Council. With them go a lot of the establishment politicians and politics of the past, and the chance for change on the 17-member City Council.

Not only that, but the level of discontent with Mayor Nutter has been growing steadily over the past 3 years, and with nearly 20 years in Philadelphia Politics, he seems to have become subject to the same culture and establishment he fought against on City Council. His only opponet in the Democratic primary is Milton Street, who has racked up endorsements with the Firefighters Union and Local 33 (the sanitation workers union), both of whom are disgruntled at Nutter.

So when we see a Nutter Primary win, what do we have to look forward to?

Tom Knox, who came in a close second in the 2007 Democratic Primary, has stated he wanted to run against Nutter as an Independent in the fall. To me, this is the best thing possible to happen to Philadelphia. We've been under one-party rule in Philadelphia for the last 30 years, and no non-Democrat has won the office of Mayor in over 50 years. Something like this would shake up the political landscape and, along with a lot of new blood and faces in City Council (hopefully progressive!), a lot of good can be done NOW to start shaping Philadelphia in the years to come!

Then there's THIS asshole: John Street has changed his voter registration to "Independent". All arrows point to him wanting to run for a 3rd term as mayor.

Here's the bare-bones problem: Right now, there's a large portion of the city who is against Nutter and, if given a clear alternative to him, will gladly vote against party lines for them. In this case, that's Tom Knox. John Street running would do nothing more than split the anti-Nutter block and cause Nutter to win!

For starters, NO ONE thinks Philadelphia was better off under the reign of the idiotic, corrupt, and immoral Street Brothers. NO ONE. Well, except everyone they wound up helping when they were in office. It took 4 years to clean up their mess, and neither one of them think they can win. Milton ran in the hopes of getting the Street's their power back, and John is positioning himself to run as a back-up. In the end, their only goal is to try to get back into office and start up the old Democratic Machine.

Here's what I think is going to happen: If John Street runs, he's going to assure a Nutter victory. That is, unless Tom Knox can do a LOT to kick up the dirt and fight back!

As for the Republican nominees... well, I wish them well. I sincerely do. I'll have more on them in the upcoming days.