In Philadelphia, there is going to be a special "election" for Michael Nutter's vacated City Council seat this fall (Nutter is running for Mayor). I put "election" in quotes, because if you are not from Philadelphia, you are probably unaware that in this case, "election" actually means 66 ward leaders will determine who fills the seat. Form Young Philly Politics:For those who do not know, if a special election is called, the Democratic Ward Leaders makes an "endorsement." I keep putting endorsement inside of quotes, because it is a misnomer. Their "endorsement" means that their candidate of choice goes on to the ballot as the Democrat. Which means, in all of the special elections, the candidate who will be elected who will be the machine backed, insider, who will promptly try and entrench themselves with the power of incumbency. This is fundamentally an undemocratic process, and will lead to City Council potentially getting worse in 2007, not better. Instead of allowing members of the Democratic Party in Nutter's district determine who will represent them in City Council, the Ward Leaders get to decide. Granted, one of those leaders will be our new leader in Ward 27, Carol Jenkins, after we spent a year in an agonizing process to recall our previous Ward leader who was making endorsements without consulting the ward, not showing up for meetings, and not distributing election day material. However, I don't care if the people voting to replace Butter were Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa. The point isn't whether the people voting to make the replacement are good people or not. The point is that in a democracy, all of the voters should have a chance to vote for who represents them. That is not the case in Philadelphia. Instead, an old system of patronage, which is quite akin to a feudal system of loyalty, determines who becomes the next "representative" of an area of the city rather than the voters.

Now, tell me if you see anything wrong in these two quotes from an article on the woman the Ward Leaders are certain to chose, Carol Campbell:

There's more...

The Unreformed Philadelphia Democratic Party is officially scared of the silent revolution sweeping their city. Check this out (emphasis mine): Party Chairman Congressman Bob Brady announced the formation of the new Finance Committee earlier this week. It will be a PAC chaired by Councilman Michael Nutter, with its treasurer, former Democratic City Committee Chairman Martin Weinberg.

Included in the Finance Committee are Gov. Ed Rendell, Mayor John Street, State Sen. Vincent Fumo, Rep. Frank Oliver, Ed Coryell, Ed Keenan, Attorney Frank Canty, David Cohen, Mitchell Rubin, Carol Campbell, Sen. Anthony Williams, Michael Choi, Esq. Tom Kelly, Lynn Fox, Ernest DeNofa and Richard Maccarone, who will be the Committee's accountant.(...)

Helping organize the PAC was Party Secretary and Ward Leader Carol Campbell. She noted the Democratic City Committee's finances have be en heavily taxed over the past year, resulting in some "no pay weeks" for its staffers.(...)

Carol Campbell noted, "This meeting was a reaffirmation of the commitment of many to the role held by Congressman Bob Brady. Never before in party annals has a former chairman stepped up to the plate to help a present chairman. That's the kind of affection and loyalty our chairman has generated."

Campbell believes the Finance Committee's operation will help move the party into the future. "We need to understand the Internet and to teach our people how to use it. We need to battle the bloggers on their own turf. This takes additional resources." Yes, yes, yes! They need to battle bloggers on their own turf! Hahahahahahahaha.

Tell me again they aren't scared. I'll have more on this later.