GOP seems hopeful this time ... really

AS THE LOW-PROFILE races for district attorney and city controller come to an end, the Republican hopefuls aren't acting like hopeless losers in a city where Democrats hold a 6-to-1 registration edge.

GOP controller candidate Al Schmidt last week mailed more than 40,000 handwritten postcards to targeted voters and made thousands of personal phone calls seeking support.

"Right now, I'm feeling very optimistic," Schmidt said yesterday after spending the weekend meeting voters at neighborhood meetings. "We've gotten newspaper coverage, and we've been on the cover of neighborhood newspapers. We've broken the buzz barrier, that I know. I hear people talking about us."

Republican D.A. hopeful Michael Untermeyer yesterday mounted a Harley-Davidson to ride in the Toys for Tots parade, and spent countless hours at transit stops, neighborhood gatherings and door-to-door canvassing.

"This office has been won by Republicans in the past," Untermeyer said. "I have practical, realistic and tangible ideas for this office, and the voters who want real change will vote for me."

Both Untermeyer and Schmidt have made substantial personal contributions to their efforts and have campaigned full-time for months. Both are finishing with radio and TV advertising in a push to get the attention of independent-minded voters.

Schmidt, 38, a former federal auditor and former executive director of the city Republican Party, emphasizes his professional background and independence from Democratic officeholders as qualifications for the office.

Untermeyer, 58, is a former Democrat who worked four years as an assistant district attorney and 11 years in the state Attorney General's Office tracking the money of suspected drug dealers.

Despite the pluck and energy of the Republican candidates, their Democratic rivals don't appear worried.

"I fully expect to win," said Democratic D.A. candidate Seth Williams, who won a hotly contested five-way primary in May to take the party's nomination. "My Number One opponent isn't the Republican, it's apathy. Some people think I've already been elected D.A."

Williams spoke yesterday at the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, on 6th Street near Lombard, telling an enthusiastic crowd that he would crack down on illegal guns.

"There are bars in West Philadelphia where you can rent a gun," Williams said. "We have to go after the people responsible for this bloodshed."

Williams, 42, spent 10 years in the District Attorney's Office and also served as the city's inspector general.

City Controller Alan Butkovitz, a Democrat, has done numerous interviews and retail campaign stops in recent days, while sending 72,000 pieces of mail to Democrats who are regular voters.

He'll rely on the Democratic ward organizations to get voters out. He's taken notice of his Republican rival, criticizing him as a "Karl Rove Republican" who had contributed money to President George W. Bush.

"This is an important office that deserves serious discussion," Butkovitz said yesterday. "Schmidt had the capacity to be that kind of candidate, but he's taken the easy path and kind of demagogued it."

Butkovitz, 57, is a lawyer and former state legislator who won election to the controller's office in 2005.

Balloting for controller and D.A. and for several judicial races will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow.