He's the underdog in a city where Democrats have a 7-1 voter-registration edge; where Republicans haven't won a top office since Ron Castille's reelection as district attorney 20 years ago; and where the last GOP mayoral candidate took a whopping 13 percent of the vote.

So what did Schmidt do last week? He put that 13 percent, that one-in-seven, that sliver of the electorate, on notice. If he is elected city controller - a big if - he intends to eliminate waste, target mismanagement of taxpayer dollars, and expose corruption. Even at GOP patronage havens such as the parking authority.

"I'm not running to be chairman of the Republican city committee. I'm running for city controller of Philadelphia," he says. "If people in our party confuse the parking authority with the Republican Party, then that's a mistake."

In a Daily News story Monday by Bob Warner, Schmidt suggested the parking authority caught a break from his opponent, Democratic City Controller Alan Butkovitz, in a recent audit. Butkovitz told the Daily News the audit could have been "more extensive," but that there was no political deal.

Some might write off Schmidt's claim as a ploy by a guy who's about to become the latest Philly Republican roadkill, but he makes a fair point: "If we have a Democratic city controller who is pulling his punches when it comes to a Republican agency, how rigorous do you think his audits are of his fellow ward leaders who control other agencies in city government, and on whose support he depends for his reelection?"

Therein lies the case for electing Al Schmidt city controller - not that Butkovitz is a bad guy, but that he's another player in a company town. The company is the Democratic Party, which needs to stay in power in order to provide jobs and favors to party loyalists - and a few chosen Republicans who know their place.

And if there's one thing the city's GOP leaders know, it's their place. They can't win elections - and don't seem to care. They are afraid to challenge the Democratic machine. They take no stands on issues. In the last mayoral election, while the murder rate skyrocketed, Republicans couldn't even come up with a get-tough-on-crime plan.

One frustrated young Republican calls the GOP bosses "just a lazy bunch of guys. . . . When I'm in a good mood, I decide they are really tired and would rather not be in leadership, but they don't know what their identity would be without it, so they stick around."

Rob Gleason, the state party chairman, says, "I expect a person who's the leader of a party to conduct a vigorous operation, raise money, have staff and committee people, and win elections. . . . I just haven't seen that in Philadelphia since I've been state chairman."

That doesn't hurt just Republicans, Gleason says.

"Not having a viable operation allows the Democrats to run wild . . . and not be accountable," Gleason says. "So you wind up with a dysfunctional school system and city government, and the city becomes a giant stone dragging Pennsylvania down into the Delaware River."

Gleason says Schmidt faces an uphill battle, but he takes the long view: "I'm optimistic about what Al and his supporters will bring to the party in the future, win or lose. To me, this is the first step in the rejuvenation of the Republican Party in Philadelphia."

For his part, Schmidt believes there's a case to be made for a win. He points to the tradition of centrist Republicans who have done well in Northeastern states.

"Despite the odds, if Republicans push fiscal responsibility, then voters are open to that," he says. "What person is in favor of ineffective or inefficient government? . . . Only the people who benefit from it."

Schmidt, a former auditor for the federal Government Accountability Office, has three top priorities if elected:

One, follow the City Charter and audit every agency annually. That's not being done now, Schmidt says, adding, "You won't find fraud if you're not looking for it."

Two, end patronage hires and adopt federal workplace guidelines for political activities. "We could contribute money and we could vote," he says of his time at the GAO, but further political involvement was restricted. "People can't believe you're independent if your staff is campaigning for or against you or the people you audit."

Three, assist with long-range fiscal planning. A place with the highest total tax burden of any city in the nation, along with a crushing debt load, has to stop acting as if it has no money to pay for basic services.

Can smart, competent, and reform-minded beat the status quo? Unfortunately, it's a long shot. But this year, city voters can't complain that they don't have a choice.