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What happens when you organize a rally and nobody comes?

This presidential primary season has captured unprecedented attention for fisticuffs at rallies, candidate references to anatomy sizes, and debates over who has the more attractive wife.

This presidential primary season has captured unprecedented attention for fisticuffs at rallies, candidate references to anatomy sizes, and debates over who has the more attractive wife.

There have been allegations of affairs and improper use of email.

Philadelphia itself will have a high-profile role in the selection of the Democratic nominee as host of the Democratic National Convention in July.

Yet none of it generated an enthusiastic outpouring Saturday in North Philadelphia for a "Get Out the Vote" rally organized by the Philadelphia NAACP.

Virtually nobody showed up.

Minister Rodney Muhammad, president of the local NAACP chapter, said the planned rally at Berean Presbyterian Church at Broad and Diamond Streets was to inform potential voters about Pennsylvania's April 26 primary. Monday is the deadline to register to vote.

Though fliers advertising the rally were distributed in the community, just a few people had stopped by the church Saturday by the scheduled noon start time - and promptly left when they saw not much of anything happening.

Muhammad said he wasn't disappointed, blaming the poor turnout on his failure last month, when he planned the event, to realize he had chosen the day before Easter. Another conflict, he said, was a live radio program on 900AM-WURD that was part of the Black History & Culture Showcase event at the Convention Center this weekend. He said that drew away people who would have attended the rally.

Muhammad said he looked forward to other planned "Get Out the Vote" efforts.

"We do encourage people to participate in the electoral process," he said, noting that one way he likes to do that is to raise community awareness of "the myriad of things that's going on in the community that serve as an injustice one way or another."

One of the topics he planned to address was the arrest March 9 of social worker Nicol Newman. The 48-year-old resident of Southwest Philadelphia was charged with disorderly conduct after two detectives showed up at her home to arrest her son on an alleged theft charge.

Because he was not home and because police had no search warrant, Newman said she refused to let them in. She was taken into custody and forced to spend a night in a police district cell. In court Thursday, Newman said she wanted a trial on the summary charge, usually resolved with a fine.

Her lawyer, Michael Coard said Newman chose to go to trial for "justice."

"This is bigger than any physical pain - it's the emotional pain," he said. "It's the degradation; it's the humiliation. . . . We want to draw a line in the sand not when black women get killed, not when black women get beat up, but when black women's rights and dignity and humanity are violated."

Right after that, the rally concluded.

@pmadej@phillynews.com