A Hill of Means

Locals line up behind Hillary, Barack and Al.

by Mary F. Patel

On Sunday, there will be yet another local fundraiser for Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. Get used to it, since the state is considered a key battleground in next year's primary, particularly since Gov. Ed Rendell is firmly entrenched in the former first lady's corner.

Wolf Block partner and Clinton State Finance Chairman Alan Kessler is organizing the event, which is expected to bring in $500,000. The $455 million listed with the Federal Election Commission in April had her $38 million ahead of Barack Obama. She also has a sizable lead in Pennsylvania.

While Bill Clinton is busy and obligated to make fundraising calls for his wife, her money lead does not deter other candidates' staunch supporters like Harry B. Cook. Cook, a former member of the Chaka Fattah for Mayor exploratory committee, has been busy organizing support for Al Gore. Serving as local organizer for the national Draft Al Gore Campaign, www.algore.org, Cook would like to be a convention delegate if Gore decides to run because he likes the former vice president's environmental agenda.

"I think there is a 60 percent chance that he will run," surmises Cook, who left the Fattah camp last fall to focus on more important things like his newborn son, Isaiah Albert. Of Hillary, he says, "She is a printing press, but no paper tiger."

Gore was just recently profiled in the New York Times Magazine; he did not say was running for president but did not rule out the possibility. (Hillary got the mag's cover treatment this past weekend.) Cook says he believes that if Gore decides to run, he will probably wait to see if he receives the Nobel Peace Prize this fall. (He was nominated in February for his efforts to raise public awareness on the dangers of global warming.) The award would certainly enhance his chances. Cook, however, admits that the first few draft-up meetings held at Pad Thai Shack were sparsely attended. "A lot of people were involved in primary campaigns," he said. "But now we should have more turnout."

The group consists of mostly progressive types, former Deaniacs and members of MoveOn.org. "We are now combining members of Drinking Liberally and Young Philly Politics," Cook says, "and will meet when Drinking Liberally gets together." If Gore does not run, Cook says the other candidates should adopt his environmental policies.

Casting Judgment

For the past year, voters and the media have been focusing on the races for mayor and City Council and, to a lesser extent, local judgeships for Common Pleas and Municipal Courts. But not a lot of attention has been paid to the appellate court elections, specifically Supreme Court. Democrats Seamus McCaffery and Debra Todd won the primary while Maureen Lally-Green and Michael Krancer are the Republican nominees. McCaffery, Todd and Lally-Green are all currently Superior Court judges and Krancer is the chief judge on the Environmental Board.

Why should anyone care about the Supremes anyway? It's not as if the average person ever gets to be in front of the high court. Consider, however, that the seven-member Pennsylvania Supreme Court is the state's highest judicial authority. In addition to being the final state court of appeals, it administers the unified court system and is responsible for ensuring that all courts perform their duties. Its jurisdiction includes any appeals from lower courts that the Supremes agree to hear, appeals in death sentences and those from the decisions of certain governmental boards and commissions.

The Supremes also decide which judge gets to be the administrator in the lower courts, a very prestigious and coveted appointment. The administrative judge has more power than the president judge, who is essentially just a figurehead and is elected by their peers.

The most popular and well-known Supreme candidate is McCaffery; there is a very good chance that he will win the general election in November. If elected, McCaffery, along with fellow Philadelphia Supreme Court Justice Ron Castille, would make important decisions on which local lower court judges would become the court administrator.

McCaffery has received significant donations from IBEW-Cope in D.C., totaling $51,500 according to the latest state finance report. Local 98 IBEW also supports McCaffery.

Common Pleas Court Judge Kevin Dougherty is the administrative judge in the Family Court Division; he is also the younger brother of Local 98 Businessman John Dougherty. In 2001, Kevin Dougherty, a newly elected Common Pleas Court judge, was sworn in by former Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro in an elaborate ceremony in City Hall court chambers attended by very important people. (Nigro and John Dougherty are friendly.)

To be fair, McCaffery has a lot of other union support statewide, so it should be interesting to see next year how the Supreme Court decides who the administrative judges will be.

(rcpatel@aol.com)