The Philly Debate
Just 90 minutes away on the NJ Turnpike, Philadelphia hosted the latest, and what may be the most important debate, in this hotly-contested Democratic primary.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama never expected a debate in Philadelphia. After the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries, conventional wisdom dictated the nomination would be sewn up and the succeeding state primaries would be mostly a formality.
Now one of the biggest showdowns in electoral history is set to take place in one of the country’s oldest cities. And while Philadelphia is rich with American history, its storied past is largely eclipsed by its troubled present.
Philadelphia has the dubious distinction of representing much that is wrong with American cities today — an honor it has inherited from New York only in the past decade. Like New York in the 80s and 90s, Philadelphia struggles with rampant violence. Like New York, many of its neighborhoods have succumbed to blight and are forgotten. And Like New York, poor communities frustrated with incompetent leaders and never-ending violence, have taken it upon themselves to clean up the streets and change course.
Neighborhood gardens and murals stand as testaments to the hope and defiance of residents who refuse to allow themselves to be besieged any longer. A new mayor promises to fight a powerful gun lobby and put an end to the daily shootings that ring out in poor neighborhoods. Through churches and community groups, children are given an alternative to the streets when school lets out.
High gas prices, job loss, the Iraq War, education and the high cost of health care also weigh heavily on the minds of Philadelphians, as they do in the rest of the country.
Yet as the national press corps descends on Philadelphia for the debate and primary, and as politicians, operatives, and pundits fill up the hotels and restaurants, the city finds itself becoming the backdrop of a political circus. The question being asked there, as it was here in 2004, is who is on the outside looking in, and is anyone inside listening?