I was one of many volunteers that worked hard to end the dominance of the Republican machine in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. All but one of the candidates I fought for won and because of that, we won the township and the county.
Except for one high profile race where Republican Jack Whelan defeated the vastly superior Kelly Eckel for the County Court of Common Pleas. He’ll now sit on the bench for at least the next decade. Besides wantonly abusing his District Attorney’s office for his own gain, Jack Whelan had another edge that helped him not only pull in more votes for his race than any of the other county races, but win when every other high profile Republican lost. He had the support of the Philadelphia Democratic machine. And not just in the general election, the Philadelphia Democrats tried to help Republican Jack Whelan win the Democratic primary.
Meanwhile, John Dougherty’s Local 98 Electricians union was working for Whelan on Tuesday. Interesting. Dougherty is a former Democratic ward leader in Philadelphia and former treasurer of the Democratic City Committee.
Its time to end the machines, and this year we have another chance to take out Philadelphia’s leader, Rep. Robert Brady of PA-1. Because of the bizarre gerrymander, a significant chunk of newly energized Delaware County lies in his district. Rep. Brady has always ignored this part of this district, although to be more accurate, he ignores most of his district. Like Trump, Rep. Brady operates more on personal loyalty than convictions. This long piece details Rep. Brady’s brazen support for the kind of patronage machine we defeated this month in Delaware County.
Brady starts talking faster and louder than before. “I happen to subscribe to the fact that I love my ward leaders and I love my committee people, and they don’t get enough recognition! ‘Oh, you get them a job?’ You’re goddamn right I get them a job! Because they work hard! They’re community people! They know their neighbors! Why shouldn’t a Councilman that they supported hire them? Why shouldn’t a Congressman? Everybody in my staff is involved in politics. Why not? Why not?”
Rep. Brady’s Philadelphia machine has been investigated numerous times, most recently the indictment of two of his aides. Here’s a longer list of those investigations. But in addition to the corruption, Rep. Brady is one of the least productive members of congress. So far this congress he has sponsored only 2 bills, and one of them is a repeat from the previous session. In an age where we see many of our representatives out on the front lines of the resistance, Rep. Brady rarely takes a bold stance. His responses to gun tragedies, sexual abuse, hurricanes, just about anything is boilerplate. His social media feeds are anemic, he rarely makes the news except in relation to investigations.
So far, despite Larry Krasner’s victory over the Philadelphia machine, there have been few interested in taking on the long-time party boss. Lindy Li is continuing her search for a ticket to DC and has expressed interest. But more interesting is Omar Woodard who works for the Greenlight Fund. He’s clearly going to run for something at some point, but as far as I can tell, he hasn’t said anything after this in August,
“If we want better government, we have to elect better leaders,” Woodard said. “I’ll make a decision in the next few weeks after talking with close friends and family.”
He has a great personal story, he’s been involved in trying to revitalize the community and he appears to be progressive. So, if you’re in Philadelphia and you know someone that should run, ask them to. If you know Omar Woodard, ask him to run. I’m tired of Philadelphia’s Democratic machine wrecking Delaware County. Its time for the suburbs to get their revenge and help make Philadelphia a better place for everyone!
Let’s trash the Philadelphia machine and elect better a better Democrat to this safe seat (its D+31).