Posted on 10/29/2003 5:05:25 AM PST by randita
Posted on Wed, Oct. 29, 2003
Polls show Street opening a sizable lead over Katz
He campaigned in the city with the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Sam Katz said polls did not deter him.
By Thomas Fitzgerald and Angela Couloumbis
Inquirer Staff Writers
Mayor Street got a big lift yesterday as two new polls showed him opening a double-digit lead in the last week of his reelection campaign, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson urged audiences to stand up for a mayor who has stood up for the disadvantaged.
Street led Republican challenger Sam Katz by 17 points, 54 percent to 37 percent, among likely voters, according to a poll released yesterday by KYW-TV (Channel 3), KYW-AM (1060) and Temple University. Nine percent of respondents were undecided; the survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The mayor, a Democrat, increased his share by 6 percentage points compared with a KYW poll released two weeks ago.
A Fox News poll released last night gave Street a 13-point lead, 49 percent to 36 percent, with 11 percent undecided.
"I said this in August, I said it in September, I'm saying it in October, and I'll say it again in November: Polls don't vote," Street said yesterday, adding that his campaign must work hard over the next six days to get supporters to turn out.
But the mayor was buoyant as he traveled around the city with Jackson, one of the national Democratic Party's greatest campaign hits.
The Inquirer Poll, conducted last week and released Sunday, found Street with 46 percent and Katz with 41 percent; the margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Yesterday, Katz greeted morning commuters at the Chestnut Hill West train station and served breakfast at the Down Home Diner in the Reading Terminal Market.
"I'm not in any way, shape or form discouraged by these polls," Katz said last night. "The best part is [if] the Street campaign thinks the election is over. I don't have any sense that this is anything other than a close election. It will be a two-point election either way."
Playing bocce in South Philadelphia last night, Katz criticized Street for bringing in national leaders such as Jackson to town to shore up his image.
"The mayor is bringing people in town to take the attention away from the mayor because if Philadelphians focus on John Street, John Street loses," Katz said. "John Street is not even in his own television commercials. John Street's voice is not on the radio. John Street is not accessible to you, the press. He only goes to friendly audiences. I go everywhere."
Katz said he had chosen not to bring many national GOP figures to town because he is in a race for a city office "where partisanship is not the order of the day."
"John Street needs celebrities, movie stars, out-of-towners, because John Street himself is a weak candidate," Katz said.
Pollster Andrew E. Smith of the University of New Hampshire, who conducted the KYW survey, said that the bugging of Street's City Hall office and the federal investigation of city contracts had been a "galvanizing event" that had driven undecided black voters, or those considering Katz, solidly into the mayor's column. The bug was discovered Oct. 7.
In Smith's September poll, which Katz led narrowly, Street was supported by 74 percent of black respondents. In the poll two weeks ago, 85 percent of blacks were backing Street. In yesterday's survey, the mayor had 93 percent of black voters behind him.
"If a black voter shows up on Tuesday, he's voting for Street," Smith said. "I've never seen this much polarization among an ethnic group - even George Bush gets 10 percent of the black vote."
Jackson appeared with the mayor at a ceremony where Street received the endorsement of AFSCME District Council 47, which represents city white-collar workers, as well as at a rally in a North Philadelphia church that was closed to the press.
Earlier in the day at a luncheon sponsored by the newspaper Al Dia, Jackson said what many other Democrats have said: that the mayoral race has national implications and that it was important for Street to triumph over the GOP.
Katz also attended the Al Dia luncheon.
Afterward, Jackson told reporters that the bugging of Street's office was "strangely suspicious and unacceptable." He said there was a historical pattern of politically inspired investigations and prosecutions, particularly against black leaders.
"But somehow, people in their wisdom see through it and keep fighting back," Jackson said. "I think this FBI bugging will inspire people. It will wake up people who perhaps were asleep or lackadaisical."
Street said his campaign's top priority now would be to guard against overconfidence, to keep up the whirlwind of campaigning in his base and make sure the Election Day machinery was ready for action.
"We are now in the last week of this campaign, and turnout is everything," the mayor said. "I have to make sure I have a sufficient organization that's well-oiled. Providing lunch for two or three or four thousand people on Election Day is a piece of work; it requires an operation. This isn't something you can throw together on the weekend before the election."
Meanwhile, Street's campaign is counting on celebrity visitors - including, later in the week, former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore - to provide rhetorical encouragement to keep the mayor's supporters fired up.
Late in the day, Jackson addressed senior citizens at the Opportunities Tower on Hunting Park Avenue, where a few voters had complained of intimidation. He told them not to be afraid to cast their votes.
"On the field on Election Day, the richest person overlooking this river, the private plane on the runway, will have no more power than you on that day," Jackson said. "In many ways, those who came for evil, they've inspired us. They've made us better."
Contact staff writer Thomas Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com. Inquirer staff writer Leonard N. Fleming contributed to this article.
© 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.philly.com
Judging from the backlash in Street's favor, it's time for Katz to turn the tables and claim that it was Democrat conspiracy designed to take the voter's attention away from Street's lousy record and gin up the sympathy vote.
Seriously, this election is all but over and unfortunately for the folks of Philadelphia who don't vote for him, they're going to re-elect a corrupt man resoundingly. If the FBI dragged Street out of City Hall in handcuffs, his victory margin would increase rather than decrease.
Because of how Street and his cronies have played the race card during this, even when all the chips fall where they may and the full extent of the corruption and illegality is known, no one in the city is going to believe it wasn't a VRWC all along. And someone possibly more corrupt than Street will assume the mayorship.
It astounds me the evil games Democrats will play to remain in power.
People get what they deserve. I was finally fed up with nyc and left it for good - best move I ever made!
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