Karen Heller: Leave race outside the polling booth

"It's probably going to take a very motivated voter to make a smart choice. Most likely, people are going to be motivated by race or TV commercials or something else extremely superficial."

That's what the Committee of Seventy's Zack Stalberg said a few weeks ago about today's primaries for district attorney and judges. Sure enough, race inserted itself smack in the middle of races about justice, the law and integrity, all of which should be color-blind.

The phone rings Sunday. We're so popular the governor and mayor robocall repeatedly. This time it's D.A. candidate R. Seth Williams.

"Last November, we made history," he says. "This Tuesday, we can make history again." I can't tell you what Williams said after that, because it was at precisely that moment that I reached hubris overload and hurled the phone. Every black man who runs for office is not Barack Obama, and to make such comparisons seems reductive and insulting.

Dem boss Bob Brady and the NAACP's J. Whyatt Mondesire gathered outside the Inquirer building yesterday, exercising their lungs. The Big Man, in charge of the Democratic machine for 23 years in a one-party town, was upset that the paper hadn't endorsed any African American women for judge.

That's not true, by the way. The Inquirer endorsed Cheryl Allen. But she's a Pittsburgh Republican running for Pennsylvania Supreme Court, so that didn't concern the 30 or so people gathered on North Broad who were thinking small, which is what Philadelphia politics will do to you.

The Inquirer also endorsed Williams, who is, if you want to get technical, biracial. The Inquirer endorsed two African American male candidates for Common Pleas, as well as a woman for Municipal Court, all of which the Democratic City Committee failed to do.

Three African American women running for Common Pleas - Roxanne Covington, Sharon Williams Losier and Beverly Muldrow - were not recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association after a comprehensive vetting process on 10 criteria, including legal ability, trial experience and judicial temperament. Sometimes being not recommended comes down to another color: Lacking experience, the candidate's too green.

The vetting committee sends the bar's 30-member election commission thick dossiers on each candidate. "We have no knowledge of their race or sexual orientation," says Philadelphia Bar Association chancellor Sadye Ladov. "Decisions are based on their experience and qualifications, end of story. We found many white male candidates not recommended." As for the charges of racial bias, "these good folks, who are well intentioned, are not looking at the big picture."

I thought perhaps we could move past petty partisan politics. Philadelphia has had African American mayors and African American City Council presidents.

At the rally, there was talk about making history by electing Williams the first African American D.A. No one mentioned candidate Michael Turner, also African American, possibly because he didn't seek endorsements or play the Philly pol game.

Of the 90 filled judgeships in the Court of Common Pleas, 28 are African American. That's almost a third in a city 44 percent black. Not perfect, but not bad.

"I put together a slate that mirrors the city," Brady said. Philadelphia is 53 percent female, but he didn't endorse a single woman for Municipal Court. Curiously, race hasn't been an issue in the City Controller's race. Brady supports incumbent Alan Butkovitz, who is being strongly challenged by Brett Mandel. No one even mentions John Braxton, who is African American.

"We're tired of the people raising the most money getting on the bench," State Sen. Anthony H. Williams said, which made me wonder if he were launching an impromptu comedy routine.

Raising the most money defines Democratic machine politics in a nutshell or, if you want to get technical, bank account. Judicial candidates who don't play the game, spreading the wealth among ward leaders, tend to get shut out of the process.

Enough. Consider experience and qualifications. Then vote. And don't let anything as extremely superficial as race be your prime motivation.