Mayoral candidates kick campaigns into high gear

As the date nears for the May 18 Democratic primary, the race is still too close to predict a winner. Judgment Day is looming. The five candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for mayor in Tuesday's primary election have just four days left to capture any last-minute votes and many political experts have said that the final outcome may come down to the wire -- a fact that has caused each campaign to kick into overdrive. Though all five candidates are still campaigning hard for the nomination, the trio of John Street, Marty Weinberg and John White has begun to distance itself from challengers Happy Fernandez and Dwight Evans. Since announcing his candidacy in February, Street has held the lead and never looked back. But Weinberg's unprecedented fundraising and television advertising blitz earlier this year has him nipping at Street's heels, while White is attempting to close the steadily-declining gap between himself and the two frontrunners. Republican Sam Katz -- running unopposed -- threw a wrench into the Democratic primary last week when he began airing television commercials attacking Weinberg and White. Such a measure from a member of another party is almost unheard of and many Democrats have condemned the apparent effort to handpick Street as his opponent in November's general election. White, though, has seized the opportunity to once again declare that Katz knows White is the only unbeatable Democrat. And Weinberg continues to spend his money attacking Street. In the days remaining, Street wants to go the extra mile to maintain his lead, according to spokesperson Ken Snyder. "I'm not sure it is that close," Snyder said of the recent polls showing Weinberg a mere one or two percentage points behind the former City Council president. "We've consistently held a strong advantage. Not at any point has Street been trailing in any poll.? We feel good where we are. We've gotten the message out and now we need to get the vote out." Weinberg spokesperson Bill Miller said his campaign's efforts will be intensified as election day draws closer. "We're doing pretty much what we've been focused on doing," Miller said. "Marty is at his ward meetings, making sure the troops are energized and the field people are attending the meetings.? We're doing the basic things you need to do to win." Recent television polls have placed the number of undecided Philadelphia voters as high as 29 percent -- a number on which every candidate has his or her eyes set. Miller explained that the presence of three African-American candidates -- Street, White and Evans -- could be a possible source of the indecision of city voters. "If you look at the African-American community, you have three African-American candidates and people aren't sure there's a clear choice," Miller said. "People want to wait until the last minute to hear as much as they can." But White spokesperson Dean Levitan said Street and Weinberg -- who have considerably outspent White in the election -- should not count on wavering voters "I think the fact that [the undecided voters] have not gone to Street and Weinberg means they're going to us," Levitan said. An internal poll taken by the White campaign over the weekend showed Street still in the lead at 26 percent, but with White just one percentage point behind and Weinberg in third place at 19 percent, Levitan said. He explained that White has been outspent by Weinberg and Street at ratios of 4 to 1 and 3 to 1, respectively, which makes the internal results "damn impressive." With such a highly contested nomination, this year's election has seen its fair share of negative advertising, which has increased as May 18 sits on the horizon. Several Weinberg television ads have highlighted Street's rabble-rousing past and financial woes, while Street has snapped back with commercials criticizing Weinberg's negative tactics. All five Democratic candidates were on campus last weekend for their second live televised debate, held at the University Museum's Harrison Auditorium. The event featured questions from ordinary citizens who had been meeting for months to discuss key issues in the race. Questions focused mostly on education and crime prevention.