Excerpt from today's Inquirer:

"Knox says he backs Blackwell
Supporting her for Council president - and getting her backing - could help him in West Philadelphia.
By Patrick Kerkstra
Inquirer Staff Writer

Mayoral candidate Tom Knox has made City Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell an offer she might not be able to refuse: the Council presidency.

At a meeting this week of West Philadelphia Democrats, Knox told the crowd that he favored making Blackwell the next Council president, according to several attendees. And two City Council challengers who are hoping for Knox's support - Sharif Street and Bill Green - said Knox had intimated he was supporting Blackwell for Council president.

It was unclear yesterday if Blackwell had committed herself to supporting Knox. She did not return calls to her office yesterday afternoon. In recent weeks she has said she had not decided whom to back.

Knox's campaign also did not respond to requests for comment."

also:

From today's Inquirer profile on Tom Knox (excerpts related to his time with Rendell):

"Along the way, he spent 17 months as Mayor Rendell's "dollar-a-year" deputy mayor for management and productivity, an experience his campaign portrays as instrumental in saving the city from insolvency.

There is some dispute about how much Knox accomplished as Rendell's deputy. There is no doubt he got a taste for politics. Now, he'd like the whole meal.

"I like running the show," said Knox, who is 66."

and

"Many, but not all, of the Rendell administration officials who recall Knox's days as deputy mayor doubt that he has the political touch to persuade City Hall to fall into line. They say Knox's authoritarian manner, which served him well in the private sector, is more likely to provoke obstinacy than obedience from City Council, union leaders and bureaucrats.

Beginning with the 6 ABC Debate, where Dwight and Bob took the gloves came off, and continuing with today's Philadelphia Magazine article (http://phillymag.com/articles/the_real_tom_knox), could the city's honeymoon with Tom Knox be over?

Sure, those involved with politics or on the blogs have been super harsh of Knox's lack of a public service record, and history of pay to play, but will that become a city-wide perception?

As if this week wasn't bad enough for the Knox camp, The Next Mayor blog is reporting that tomorrow's Daily News will contain a package of stories about the *real* Tom Knox.

Dave Davies says:

"Tom Knox makes an appealing pitch: He's a political outsider crusading to reform City Hall.

Is it true?

To quote the old Hertz ad, not exactly.

Knox has contributed nearly $300,000 to political candidates over the past 10 years, including Gov. Rendell, Mayor Street, state Sen. Vince Fumo, and former mayoral candidate Marty Weinberg.

The Gloves are off! Watch the Debate on Channel 6 now, and you can still see Dwight Evans launch into Tom Knox as mis-representing his role in Rendell Administration. Also, see Bob Brady challenge Knox as the one candidate who has *not* been working for working families, but exploiting them by trying to remove their pensions, pay day loans, and having an insurance company cited for requiring customers to contact their doctor before going to the ER Room.

Knox also pledges to not criticize other candidates...let's see how long that lasts (hasn't he broken this already)?

From the Next Mayor blog:

The Next Mayor blog is reporting that Bob Brady has released his plan for energy and sustainability.

(From the Press Release)
Brady’s plan proposes:

• Creation of a 3 Megawatt hydroelectric plant at Flat Rock Dam
• Solar roof incentives for homeowners
• Implementation of the five-point recycling agenda outlined by the Recycle NOW Philadelphia Campaign
• Using 20% bio-diesel blend (B-20) in all City-owned municipal diesel vehicles
• Transforming PGW and PWD into better, more efficient agencies
• Designating the Upper Roxborough Reservoir as a Wildlife Preserve
• Building incentives into the City’s zoning and planning process to support the construction and installation of green roofs.

“With all the resources available to make our City greener, it is shocking that Philadelphia only recycles 6% of its waste,” Brady said. “We can and we will do much better to leave a cleaner city to our children and our grandchildren.

Today's Daily News reports that Tom Knox campaign worker (and convicted extortionist) Michael Youngblood was witnessed threatening a protester in front of the NAACP Mayoral forum at the Freedom Theater.

The full story can be read here: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20070419_Shark_pal__Knox_aide_squa...

Youngblood apparently said: "'You're in my neighborhood now, mother-f-----. I've messed up people tougher than you. I'll crack your skull. I'll shove that megaphone up your a--,'" according to the protester.

In Youngblood's own words to the Daily News: "'Look, if I was going to do something, I wouldn't have talked about it. It would have been done.'"

One witness was NAACP President Jerry Mondesire, who said, "he saw Youngblood move toward Nixon 'in a very menacing, threatening maner,' but couldn't make out what had been said between the two."

From NBC 10 Tonight:

"With a month left before the mayoral primary, Democratic candidate Tom Knox is still ahead in the polls, according to a new, exclusive NBC 10 SurveyUSA poll.

The poll shows Knox with a 32 percent lead, a 7 percent jump since last month’s poll.

The poll shows Chaka Fattah would receive 18 percent of the vote and Bob Brady was third with 17 percent. Michael Nutter would receive 14 percent. Dwight Evans would receive 10 percent.

About 7 percent of the Democratic voters surveyed said they were still undecided.

The margin of error is 4 percent."

So there you have it folks! Tom Knox looks like he will officially buy the campaign! $8 Million into it, with $7 Million to go, he is 14 points ahead of the next person in this poll! Okay, so if we use the margin to move up Chaka by 4 points to 22 and reduce Knox by 4 points to 28, he still has it.

The Ethics Board today cited the Fattah campaign for spending $33,251 of "exploratory" funds on the campaign. They were ordered to give the money back to the donors. Both Zach Stalberg and Brett Mandel called this an embarassement.

Will this be the lead story on Channel 10 tonight? I doubt it!

According to FightforRomm215 blog this morning, Tommy the Loan Shark has gotten a website. It can be viewed at http://www.tomtheloanshark.com/.

He says: "Tommy the Loan Shark is now more than just a man possibly tied to the Bob Brady campaign walking around in a shark costume. He's online now with his very own comic strip. Not exactly Doonesbury, mind you."

That said, I thought Fattah's campaign has already taken credit for the shark as being their brain-child? Regardless, it's entertaining.

KYW News Radio today said that tonight's CBS3 Debate could be a turning point in the race for mayor. And it WILL BE!

Congressman Bob Brady showed that he has the vision and plan to make Philadelphia truly America's Next Great City.

Although most of the other candidates performed well, Brady's honest and forthright communication style will resonate with the people of Philadelphia, who want a mayor who doesn't need on-the-job training. It's time for someone who can unify our city, who has experience in government, and who has a track-record of success. On each and every question, Brady had the most polished and clear answers. He spoke with clarity and conviction on issues from crime to economic development and jobs to schools (where he challenged his other running-mates to call for the next CEO of the School District to be appointed after the election.)

According to Fight for Room 215 Blog, Commonwealth Court is keeping Bob Brady on the ballot! Judges affirmed the Common Please Court Decision. Read about it here: http://fightforroom215.typepad.com/

I guess the moral of the story is the Knox's money can't buy everything. Even though he may yet buy this election, for now, Knox and his super-slime lawyer Rosen, have been defeated.

This effort to "consolidate" the white vote has failed. Maybe Knox will resort to more signs saying 100% Irish Catholic.

Maybe now, Knox can return his focus to the issues facing the city, and defending his record of predatory lending and pay-to-play politics.

Susan,

You continue to say that Youngblood is a volunteer for the Knox campaign. Well, another question. Did Knox pay (or is he paying) Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell anything, and if so, is she paying Youngblood??

I think anyone who knows Youngblood, from when he founded the Junior Black Mafia, to rolling around West Philadelphia pistol-whipping people in drug deals, to his extortion of $1 Million from the homeless shelter, knows that he's not the volunteering type.

Inquiring minds would like to know!

In the latest policy release from the Brady camp, the Congressman and mayoral candidate is calling for hiring an additional 300 parole officers, while using new technology to free prison space and reduce over-crowding. I think from Art and Culture to Housing, Bob Brady has been coming out with some of the most interesting policy proposals. I, for one, and glad this mayors election -- thus far -- has had such a focus on issues. This one, in particular, speaks to the #1 issue in the city right now: crime/safety/violence.

From the Brady website:

Well folks, the new Daily News/Keystone Poll is out. Here are the results:

"The poll of registered Democrats showed Knox in first with 24 percent, Fattah following with 17 percent, Brady at 16 percent, former Councilman Michael Nutter with 12 percent and state Rep. Dwight Evans with 10 percent. The margin of error was 5 percent."

For full data, look here: http://pdn.philly.com/2007/04/05/poll.pdf

There are three things to note. Despite spending millions since the January Keystone Poll, Knox only increased 2%. Bob Brady has risen dramatically from last place in January to tied for second with 16%.

Perhaps most interesting, Chaka Fattah dropped from front-runner to 17%, losing almost 10 points. Also, his favorability ratings are down, and unfavorability up.

Well, maybe someone does care about Knox's past. KYW 1060 is reporting that some group protested him today:

*excerpt from story only*

"The Reverend William Shine of the 'Economic Justice Coalition for Truth' says Knox, in part, is able to fund his mayoral campaign from proceeds of questionable business practices:

“Funding his campaign off the backs of the poor, and those least able to afford it.”

Reverend Shine, former head of the Black Clergy of Greater Philadelphia, refers to the self-made millionaire's tenure running crusader bank in 1999 and 2000, during which people got high interest so-called 'pay-day loans' -- short term loans -- generally in the $100-$250 range:.

“Credit heroin is the terminology used in the street for payday lending.”

Terms of those short term loans amounted to annual interest rates of more than 400-percent. Federal regulators stepped in, and Crusader Bank pulled out of that type of lending after 18-months.