Word count: 913 | Reading time: 4 min read
Pretzel Logic
Why won’t Jerome Mondesire let the people decide?
Far be it from me to inject myself into a debate, but anyone who doesn’t want to see John Street, John White and Dwight Evans have at each other in a primary election is nuts.
And anyone who thinks that staging an all-black preliminary bout to the 1999 mayoral main event is a good thing for this city ought to wear a helmet the next time they step into the political arena.
It’s a rough business.
You could get hurt out there.
Forget, for a moment, that Street, White and Evans, despite any negatives, are as viable as any of the white candidates who are serious about coming up with the coin and putting up with all the baloney that recently caused city savior Ed Rendell to whine in public.
And forget, for a moment, that if white power brokers opted for an all-white prelim, the federal government would have interceded and locked people up.
The 1999 election is a long way off, but it is shaping up to be a bloodbath.
And who in their right mind would want to miss that?
Jerome Mondesire, apparently.
Last weekend, Mondesire called a powwow of black leaders, ostensibly to stave off a repeat of what many consider the fiasco of ’91, when black candidates George Burrell, Lu Blackwell and James White split the black vote, allowing Rendell to walk away with the party nod.
This time around, Mondesire, fancying himself a kingmaker, wants to be the one doing the anointing. All in the name of black unity.
To which, I say, who are you kidding?
Look at the calendar, Jerry.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
In 1999 there will be no Ed Rendell.
And none of the so-far-presumed white candidates—not Lynne Abraham, not Tommy Leonard, not Tommy Knox, none of them—comes close to having Rendell’s innate affinity for the job or his charisma.
In 1999, you’ll have Street, White and Evans, who, while no Rendells, are much sharper candidates than Burrell, Blackwell and James White. And remember that, so far, no white candidate has come close to building either the campaign infrastructure or war chest that the black candidates have.
So Jerry, what are you worried about, really?
Are you worried that John Street, City Council President, can’t stand up for himself and state his own case for being the best man to succeed Rendell?
Are you concerned that John White Jr., until recently executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, can’t prove that he has a vision and a direction for Philadelphia?
Are you nervous that Dwight Evans, minority chair of the state House Appropriations Committee, can’t devise appropriate responses to tough questions on the campaign trail?
Are you that paternalistic?
Or, are you concerned that without your prelim, Jerry Mondesire will carry a lot less juice than he wants?
It’s bad enough, Jerry, that I will have to change my registration from independent to Democrat just to vote on these guys.
Why should I be left out just because I am pigmentally challenged?
I know I speak for a lot of Philadelphians, and some of the candidates included, when I say to you, Jerry, ease up on the racial shtick, will ya.
Life is not always black and white.
Who is served, Jerry, by the divisiveness of an all-black prelim?
Or, for that matter, who is served by claiming that Abraham’s opposition to Frederica Massiah-Jackson’s bid to become the city’s first black woman federal judge is an issue of race?
Jerry, bubbalah, anyone who knows me knows that I am no huge fan of Abraham, the death-dealing doyenne DA.
But face facts.
Right or wrong, district attorneys around the state say Massiah-Jackson is soft on crime, pointing out some of her record and her infamous run-in with a prosecutor. But this is a group that would rather have Jack Kevorkian on the bench than anyone who ever showed any sympathy to defendants or their attorneys. So consider the source.
Does Massiah-Jackson’s race or gender have anything to do with her qualifications?
Does Street’s, White’s or Evans’?
Or Abraham’s?
Jerry, in a city where fewer and fewer people are going to the polls, digging a political moat between blacks and whites won’t help.
Instead of a moat, build a bridge.
Ditch the unity malarkey and help give all the candidates the proper platform from which to extol their virtues.
It’s a big job, this mayor stuff.
I don’t want to know which one black candidate I can vote for.
I want to know how Street will react when the questions get tough. I want to know what kind of plan White can offer, considering his tumultuous reign at PHA. I want to know how Evans will make the leap from legislator to executive. I want to know what good Abraham thinks she can do for this city other than stick needles in murderers. I want to know whether Leonard or Knox or anyone else silly enough to seek this stressful job really has what it takes to lead Philadelphia, a city facing some chilling challenges, into the next century.
So Jerry, don’t cheat us out of this opportunity, a rare and wonderful opportunity.
You’re doing a great job with the NAACP, revitalizing a once-moribund organization. I read your Sunday Sun when I can. I like to hear what you have to say.
But please, Jerry, let my people vote.
