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Philly Mayor's Race: A Bitter Campaign

Aired October 20, 2003 - 15:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: A federal investigation into potential public corruption in Philadelphia has shaken up an already bitter mayoral race between incumbent Democrat, John Street, and his Republican challenger, Sam Katz.
With me now to talk more about all of the latest twists in the campaign and the investigation is reporter Tom Fitzgerald of the "Philadelphia Inquirer."

Tom Fitzgerald, first of all, we know that the investigation has been moving, there was an effort to subpoena records on the part of the mayor and his family. Where does all of that stand right now...

TOM FITZGERALD, "PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER": Well as far as we know...

WOODRUFF: ... in this investigation?

FITZGERALD: Yes. The FBI conducted a series of raids late last week. And as we learned late Friday, sought banking records from the mayor and his family which seemed to -- since then there's been little new coming out. But it seems to have moved this investigation closer to him personally.

WOODRUFF: You wrote a piece in the "Inquirer" yesterday laying out how racially divided the city of Philadelphia is and how this particular campaign is now virtually all about race. What do you base that on?

FITZGERALD: Based by essentially on just the stark differences in polls, in black and white support, for Street versus Katz. And Street's -- there's plenty of evidence that Street has rallied the black base, that they've -- that black voters have responded to this, this FBI investigation, as an unfair attack against him. And that this is actually helped him and given him momentum in the last few weeks of the campaign, which is certainly one of the weirdest political phenomenon you would ever see, that an FBI investigation helped you.

Street really -- as a politician, he lacked a lot of passion in his base. And this has given it to him.

WOODRUFF: How do you explain that? What were the ingredients, Tom Fitzgerald, that were already there that permitted this to turn into something to help Mayor Street? FITZGERALD: That's a great question. And no one really seems to understand it. Street has a record that's very popular in the neighborhoods, but he has a personality that many people find off- putting.

He's very remote. He sometimes blows off community groups, things like that. He's somebody that's never paid attention to the niceties of politics. He just believes if you do your job, well, that's enough.

And people just have -- even in the black community, there wasn't a depth of warm feeling for the guy. There was always respect, but it's just -- I think it's just a product of his style of governing.

WOODRUFF: You quote -- I was just going to say, you quote several people in your article as describing Philadelphia as probably the most racially divided city that they know of. I mean, is there a consensus that that's the case?

FITZGERALD: There definitely is in the political sense only. I mean, limited to the political sense. I couldn't speak to housing patterns and other forms of segregation. But in the way people vote in municipal elections, there is a consensus that that might well be true.

WOODRUFF: At this point, do you see anything that's going to change the trend? I mean, you said since this FBI bug story came out, there's been sympathy for the mayor in the black community. What do you think this election's going to hinge on? It is two weeks from tomorrow.

FITZGERALD: It will hinge on turnout. And the downside, the mayor and his surrogates are really pushing this martyrdom angle, and it's working. I suppose it could also spark a backlash among white voters. Black and white are fairly evenly divided in the city, although it's a majority-minority city.

So Katz has really tip-toed around and has been unwilling to fan, you know, the feelings of the white community to bolster turnout there. But this also -- this might -- this playing of the victim role might spark some anger there that will help Katz. But really, everything is in the hands of the federal government and the FBI and whatever dribbles out of this investigation.

Basically, Katz is almost, sad to say, an irrelevancy. John Street is running against the Feds. And really they're in the driver's seat.

WOODRUFF: A remarkable turn of events in the city of Philadelphia with the mayor's election just two weeks away. All right. Tom Fitzgerald, with the "Philadelphia Inquirer," thank you very much.

FITZGERALD: Thank you, Judy.

WOODRUFF: We appreciate you talking to us. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 20, 2003 - 15:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: A federal investigation into potential public corruption in Philadelphia has shaken up an already bitter mayoral race between incumbent Democrat, John Street, and his Republican challenger, Sam Katz.
With me now to talk more about all of the latest twists in the campaign and the investigation is reporter Tom Fitzgerald of the "Philadelphia Inquirer."

Tom Fitzgerald, first of all, we know that the investigation has been moving, there was an effort to subpoena records on the part of the mayor and his family. Where does all of that stand right now...

TOM FITZGERALD, "PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER": Well as far as we know...

WOODRUFF: ... in this investigation?

FITZGERALD: Yes. The FBI conducted a series of raids late last week. And as we learned late Friday, sought banking records from the mayor and his family which seemed to -- since then there's been little new coming out. But it seems to have moved this investigation closer to him personally.

WOODRUFF: You wrote a piece in the "Inquirer" yesterday laying out how racially divided the city of Philadelphia is and how this particular campaign is now virtually all about race. What do you base that on?

FITZGERALD: Based by essentially on just the stark differences in polls, in black and white support, for Street versus Katz. And Street's -- there's plenty of evidence that Street has rallied the black base, that they've -- that black voters have responded to this, this FBI investigation, as an unfair attack against him. And that this is actually helped him and given him momentum in the last few weeks of the campaign, which is certainly one of the weirdest political phenomenon you would ever see, that an FBI investigation helped you.

Street really -- as a politician, he lacked a lot of passion in his base. And this has given it to him.

WOODRUFF: How do you explain that? What were the ingredients, Tom Fitzgerald, that were already there that permitted this to turn into something to help Mayor Street? FITZGERALD: That's a great question. And no one really seems to understand it. Street has a record that's very popular in the neighborhoods, but he has a personality that many people find off- putting.

He's very remote. He sometimes blows off community groups, things like that. He's somebody that's never paid attention to the niceties of politics. He just believes if you do your job, well, that's enough.

And people just have -- even in the black community, there wasn't a depth of warm feeling for the guy. There was always respect, but it's just -- I think it's just a product of his style of governing.

WOODRUFF: You quote -- I was just going to say, you quote several people in your article as describing Philadelphia as probably the most racially divided city that they know of. I mean, is there a consensus that that's the case?

FITZGERALD: There definitely is in the political sense only. I mean, limited to the political sense. I couldn't speak to housing patterns and other forms of segregation. But in the way people vote in municipal elections, there is a consensus that that might well be true.

WOODRUFF: At this point, do you see anything that's going to change the trend? I mean, you said since this FBI bug story came out, there's been sympathy for the mayor in the black community. What do you think this election's going to hinge on? It is two weeks from tomorrow.

FITZGERALD: It will hinge on turnout. And the downside, the mayor and his surrogates are really pushing this martyrdom angle, and it's working. I suppose it could also spark a backlash among white voters. Black and white are fairly evenly divided in the city, although it's a majority-minority city.

So Katz has really tip-toed around and has been unwilling to fan, you know, the feelings of the white community to bolster turnout there. But this also -- this might -- this playing of the victim role might spark some anger there that will help Katz. But really, everything is in the hands of the federal government and the FBI and whatever dribbles out of this investigation.

Basically, Katz is almost, sad to say, an irrelevancy. John Street is running against the Feds. And really they're in the driver's seat.

WOODRUFF: A remarkable turn of events in the city of Philadelphia with the mayor's election just two weeks away. All right. Tom Fitzgerald, with the "Philadelphia Inquirer," thank you very much.

FITZGERALD: Thank you, Judy.

WOODRUFF: We appreciate you talking to us. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com