JONATHAN VALANIA REPORTS: When you live blog at WHYY, this is what you see. For reasons still not quite clear, you cannot sit in the actual studio with Marty and Chaka Fattah and if you ask why they say “Look, you seem like a nice kid. You don’t want me to get Patrick Stoner to come in here and straighten you out, do ya?” No, siree, you say, shaking your head vigoriously. And so, you are escorted to a nearby conference room where you watch radio on the television — in this case a Hi-Def flat-screen curiously framed by Barney […]

In an editorial appearing tomorrow, The Philadelphia Inquirer will endorse former City Councilman Michael Nutter in the May 15 Democratic primary race. The newspaper’s editorial calls Nutter “the most promising package of achievement, persistence, smarts and vision.” The endorsement said Nutter, 49, “is easy to imagine on the national stage as the fresh voice of a resurgent Philadelphia, changing the narrative from one about bloodshed, corruption and dysfunction to one about new ideas, new energy, new partnerships.” INQUIRER: The editorial board said three other candidates “don’t measure up.” It dismissed the candidacies of Reps. Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah. It […]

BY TOM TOMORROW At the Republican convention in Philadelphia in 2000 I hung out with Dave Barry and his cartoonist posse (Mike Luckovich, Walt Handlesman, Chip Bok, and Rob Rogers). The thing about hanging out with Dave Barry is that he’s (a) famous and (b) innately likeable, and as a result you end up in some really odd situations. For instance: we were sitting in a hotel bar when we were introduced to Jack Valenti, who invited us to a party he was co-hosting with Mark Foley (yes, that Mark Foley). When we got there, we had some trouble getting […]

BY DAVE DAVIES OF THE DAILY NEWS An Appearance by Tommy the Loan Shark, the heckling mascot who dogs mayoral candidate Tom Knox, got ugly yesterday when publicist Frank Keel broke into Tommy’s news conference and insisted that rival Bob Brady was funding the fish and his sidekick, Jim Nixon. How did Keel claim to know Brady was behind the Shark attacks on Knox’s history with high-interest payday lending? “I know the truth, because they approached me first and foremost to run this shadow operation,” Keel said. “I find this disgusting, deplorable.” Keel told reporters that on Feb. 9, Brady […]

A new poll on the mayor’s race shows Michael Nutter (center) surging, and front-runner Tom Knox stalling. The survey of 450 registered Philadelphia Democrats shows Tom Knox dropping slightly from the previous poll to 20 percent, with Michael Nutter surging to 18 percent. David Patti is with Pennsylvanians for Effective Government, which commissioned the survey: “The election now comes down to a statistical dead heat between Michael Nutter and Tom Knox.” The others are having a tough time: “Congressman Chaka Fattah has fallen to third. And Congressman Brady and Dwight Evans are a distance distant fourth and fifth.” KYW: Breaker […]

This week brought word that Sam Katz has dropped his GOP party affiliation, a move that opens the door to a possible run in the general election as an independent. Mayor Street believes an independent could be viable this year, just not Sam Katz: “I think he’s fooling himself if he thinks lots of Democrats are going to go flocking to him, running away from the Democratic nominee. I think that’s a little pie-in-the-skyish. It’s not going to happen.” The Mayor goes on to suggest that Katz should give up his dream of running City Hall: “Sam ran a couple […]

The State Supreme Court today declined to hear an appeal filed by supporters of rival candidate Tom Knox, who wanted Brady booted from Philadelphia’s May 15 mayoral primary ballot for omitting certain information on his financial-disclosure form. The ruling means that as Brady campaigns for mayor in the remaining three weeks before the Democratic primary, he can do so knowing that his place on the ballot is secure. The legal fight over his candidacy, begun March 16, is over. INQUIRER: Joe Trippi Knox Kept Brady Back On His Heels For More Than A Month While Building A Double-Digit Lead With […]