So, now that the SEPTA strike is over, what have we learned? Well, a few things: One, for sure, is that sometimes, old-school Philly politicking still works — a lot of the credit for the tentative agreement is being thrown good ol’ Bob Brady‘s way. (We still won’t trust him with our Internet connection, but whatever.) Another thing is that there should be mandatory obesity, cognitive skills and logic testing for all TWU workers, as savagely evidenced in this video, oddly produced on their own behalf. (You know, they say the first part of getting help is when you accidentally show an entire city that you have a problem; I mean, we should know, after all. And who knows, Rendell might in fact be able to help with this.) And finally, there is a twin-pronged conspiracy theory/parlor game as a result of the SEPTA strike going around, and it goes something like this:
For a variety of complex reasons — some earned, some very much not earned — Mayor Michael Nutter‘s stock has never been lower with the neighborhood Joe Sixpacks. That “One Term Nutter!” rallying cry we heard at one of the library protests a year or so ago has since been whispered down the lane, and due to the twin fates of budget crises and a palpable malaise we feel coming from the direction of City Hall, it’s really gathering steam. And while you could rightly ague that a lot of what has happened was not his fault and was inherited from the Street Adminsitration and was also just bad luck — also known as The Tommy Carcetti Theory — you are a reasonable person and not a neighborhood slob who’s already passed judgement. And in case you didn’t know this yet, this is Philadelphia, and there are more of them than there are of you.
TWU leader Willie Brown totally played on this sentiment when he totally punked Nutter last week, calling him “Little Caesar” and basically ejecting him from the SEPTA contract negotiations. That someone as profoundly stupid as Brown was even able to do such a thing to a sitting mayor of a major city is an indictment unto itself.
And here’s where Governor Ed Rendell, and the conspiracy theory, come in. Rendell babysat Brown et al. for the next four days, and with the help of Brady, hammered out whatever bizarre hieroglyphics it took to make the TWU finally grunt in approval and go back to their stations. Now, if you also agree with the growing theory that there is no way in hell Rendell would ever win another term as PA guv — leave Pennsyltucky to the Pennsyltuckians because, hey, it’s not like we have a choice — you begin to wonder what Rendell, a fine political animal if ever there was one, would do next. And this theory says that, somehow, some way, he’d find a way to run for the Mayor’s seat in Philadelphia again, and win. And lo, there would be happiness in the Delaware Valley. And this SEPTA thing, where he literally (though perhaps inadevertently) threw Nutter under the bus, was a kind of focus-group test to see if this could work. And, barring the part where Rendell confessed that in thirty-plus years of governing, he’d never been so disappointed in a negotiation process, it did. Welcome back, Kotter!
Now, we’re not saying that this theory is anything other than Crazy Old Man In Line For Lottery Tickets Talk, but we must also remember that for more than one hundred years, Crazy Old Man In Line For Lottery Tickets Talk has had a way of becoming Fact here in Philadelphia. Nutter, of course, was presented as a huge break from all of that, and we don’t regret having rallied behind him. We don’t regret our votes. But what we are saying is this: History is knocking, Michael Nutter. If you can’t find a way to improve your stock soon, you may wake up one day in the not-too-distant future to find that you’ve got none left.
This entry was posted
on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 12:41 pm.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Philadelphia has term limits for mayor, as Pa. does for governor, and Rendell has already exhausted those term limits.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
This is what we’re saying: If anyone could get ‘em repealed, it’s the guy with the sangwich.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Aren’t Philly’s term limits about consecutive terms or total terms? Didn’t Rizzo run again after his 2 terms? Did limits change after that?
November 9th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
unless I missed something amc4232 – Rendell could once again run for Mayor, since the term limits are directed to consecutive terms. As Tvox mentioned, after serving two consecutive terms, Rizzo ran again in 1983 (lost to Goode in the primary) and as a Republican in 1987 and 1991.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Despite my desire to see a Nutter/Rendell primary battle, there’s no way I can believe Rendell would want to come back and deal with the citizenry, unions, and City Council mouth breathers again. Instead, he’ll either be working for the casino industry, plugged into the Obama administration somewhere, or running for Congress. Or most likely, all three at once.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Is everyone blocked from Google or something. Geez.
“Some local governments have term limits. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the mayor cannot be elected three consecutive times, but there is no limit on how long any individual can serve as mayor. Frank Rizzo was elected mayor in 1971 and 1975; he attempted to repeal the term limit, but failed and could not run in 1979. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for mayor in 1983 but he lost to Wilson Goode. In 1986, he switched to the Republican Party, and ran as a Republican in the mayoral elections of 1987 and 1991.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_limits_in_the_United_States#Municipal_term_limits
November 9th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
If Rendell wants back into Philly, he’s got some ‘splaining to do re: the casinos.
I think arcticsplasher is right on, Fast Eddy has a promising career ahead as a full time lobbyist and part time Eagles commentator.
November 9th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Guess I just assumed that our term limits in Philadelphia actually limited terms, not just consecutive terms. Too bad that non-consecutive law kept Rizzo from being mayor-for-life a la the Daleys in Chicago.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Rendell was at the stadium last night for the Eagles game!