Race for Philadelphia (Part 1 of 3): A political outsider, Knox has used big cash to take the lead

Tom Knox must have really liked reading Charles Dickens growing up.

Any opportunity you give him, this prominent former businessman will be quick to note that Philadelphia is like something out of A Tale of Two Cities. So many things are going right, he'll argue, but so many more things need fixing.

Talk to Knox a little bit longer, and you'll discover how this former CEO is seeking to turn his mayoral bid into an attack on the city's political establishment.

"I think everybody," he says, "is sick and tired of the smoke-filled, big-boss politics permeating Philadelphia."

In taking this position, he's seeking to capitalize on widespread disapproval of Mayor John Street - in a recent poll, Street was less popular than George W. Bush in Philadelphia - and present himself as the competent businessman who has the wherewithal and money to avoid corrupting influences.

But doing this requires Knox to send a bifurcated message.

On the one hand, Knox's campaign harkens back to the 18 months he spent as deputy mayor under Edward Rendell in the early '90s. In that time, he says he was so involved with running the city that he saved it almost single-handedly from fiscal collapse.

It's this Tom Knox that promises stunning increases in governmental efficiency and organization that will allow him to carry out an ambitious agenda, including paying for 1,000 new police officers to halt Philadelphia's rising murder rate.

Then there's Tom Knox the outsider, the self-made man who pulled himself out of public housing and, without a college degree, rose through the ranks to become head of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare.

"There's two problems" with the four other Democratic candidates, Knox said in an interview. "They're part of the system, and it's hard to fix a system that you built or [have] been part of. . I actually have a business background, and I understand how to run things."

It's what's convinced him to make education a central plank of his platform, with plans for vocational training in public high schools as his solution to a high unemployment rate that he says is fueling crime and poverty.

It further allows him to say with conviction that he will be able to bring big businesses into the city, thanks to the personal connections he's acquired over the years.

"What you need is a mayor that's willing to go outside of the city to bring those jobs in," he said. "There's 50 [CEOs in Philadelphia] that I could call and ask them what companies should be here."

That business background is helping him out in ways beyond being a useful story for the campaign trail - it's enabled him to funnel millions of his own money into a television ad blitz.

Knox was the first candidate out the gate in terms of advertising, and plans to spend up to $15 million of his own money by the end of the campaign.

And this ad campaign has been wildly successful, propelling him to the head of the race, with 24 percent, according to the latest polls.

But it may not all be smooth sailing for Knox, who does have some flaws he has to contend with, not the least of which is the wooden way in which he sometimes comes across to crowds.

He also lacks political savvy, admitting in an interview that he wasn't seeking to court the Penn vote because not enough students will stick around to vote.

"The problem that you have is, I went on the Penn campus . and there's no one registered" to vote, he said, which is a problem he said the University should address.

The question remains, though, whether these character flaws and questions about his background will matter in the face of the enormous amount of money that Knox is pouring into the campaign.

Because one thing's for certain: Knox is running this race to win - no matter the cost.

About this series: This week, the 'DP' will profile each of the five mayoral candidates battling for the Democratic nomination on May 15.

Click here to read a profile of Philadelphia mayoral candidate Dwight Evans

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