Nutter, Brady talk unity at ward leaders' breakfast

Democratic city boss Bob Brady and party mayoral nominee Michael Nutter, two politicos who need each other, embraced at a breakfast of ward leaders yesterday and spoke soothing words of unity.

Brady has made an art of post-primary reconciliations during his 21 years as chairman, though this one had the potential to be more awkward than usual, given his status as a former combatant. Brady finished nearly 20 percentage points behind Nutter last Tuesday.

"There's no fires to put out," Brady said afterward. "It was a family squabble, and now we're all behind Michael Nutter."

For the new nominee, it was a day to build bridges - first, with the ward leaders, who had overwhelmingly backed Brady - and then with the leadership of the state legislature in Harrisburg.

"We are serious about changing our relationship," Nutter said, adding that he was considering a full-time city lobbying office in the capital. He said he would be the "head cheerleader" for Philadelphia.

For Brady, demonstrating his diplomatic skills yesterday was a way to head off potential challenges to his chairmanship following a primary campaign dominated by calls to end politics-as-usual.

Nutter, greeted with a standing ovation, told the party leaders he was not taking the November general election for granted and hoped to have the ward leaders' support. He pledged to campaign in all 69 wards of the city.

"I know I've not always been the easiest guy in the world to work with, to get along with - but, other than Bob Brady, I'm the most lovable," Nutter said.

The crowed laughed at the joking reference to a debate near the end of the campaign, when Brady termed the intense and cerebral Nutter "lovable."

Nutter has had a sometimes-complicated relationship with the party. He was the 52d Ward leader in West Philadelphia, and thus a kind of insider, but he also was an advocate of campaign-finance limits and other ethics-reform rules during his 14-year career on City Council.

"I'd like to establish a close working relationship with the party," Nutter said yesterday, promising to meet regularly with ward leaders.

Ward leaders who attended the meeting said that there were no hard feelings.

"See the doves coming out of our armpits," joked Register of Wills Ron Donatucci, who delivered his 26th Ward for Brady. "Everybody loves a winner."

Councilwoman Marian Tasco, leader of the 50th Ward in Northwest Philadelphia, said Nutter was well-received in the room. "He'll figure it out," she said.

"We're together," said Roseanne Pauciello, leader of Ward 39-B in South Philadelphia and a Brady supporter. She said the party was less divided than it was after the last open primary, in 1999, when John Street won the nomination.

"I told Michael he ran a masterful campaign," Pauciello said. "People got to like him a lot through TV."

About 65 ward leaders out of 69 attended the breakfast meeting, held at the Sheet Metal Workers hall on Columbus Boulevard.

Ward leaders and other party sources said there were no real moves to oust Brady, whose term as chairman runs until 2010. It would take a two-thirds vote of the city committee to recall him, and Brady has deep support among the ward leaders.

"I don't think he has to worry about being challenged as chairman of the Democratic Party," said 43d Ward Leader Tom Logan. "It was a great meeting to kind of clear the air."

Nutter declined after the breakfast to say whether he would support retaining Brady as chairman, saying that was a decision for the ward leaders, not the mayor. He said he would meet soon with Brady to talk about "how we make the party more open." He would not say what changes he would present to Brady.

Nutter left the breakfast meeting in a Prius and then boarded an Amtrak train to the state capital.

Later, in Harrisburg, Nutter said that Brady had been "wonderful" in his roles as congressman and party chairman.

"And he has been very helpful and very supportive of my efforts to bring reform to Philadelphia," Nutter said. "I expect we will continue to work together."

During the campaign, Brady trained most of his fire on businessman Tom Knox rather than Nutter. A millionaire who financed his own campaign, Knox finished second after initally surging into the lead. Brady has said he considered it a victory to block Knox, who based his campaign on bashing the city party and political insiders.