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Abraham endorses Brady for mayor

The district attorney's support amounts to a key endorsement as a crime-fighter.

Lynne M. Abraham
Lynne M. AbrahamRead more

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham endorsed U.S. Rep. Bob Brady for mayor yesterday, conferring a crime-fighting credential that could help him gain separation from his four opponents on the most pressing issue in the campaign, violence.

"The next mayor of Philadelphia . . . is not going to be a person who is coping with crime and accepting excuses, running from one failed experiment to another," Abraham said, in a veiled slap at Mayor Street, whom she accused recently of not doing enough to reduce the city's rising murder rate.

Abraham said that Brady, a longtime ally, "will combat and control and reduce crime: No excuses, no pointing fingers, and no blaming anybody else."

She also said she had "nothing bad to say" about the four other Democrats in the race - just good things to say about Brady. The longtime Democratic city chairman has "the better experience, and an ability to work with people all the time, convincingly, to get things done," Abraham said. "I am confident of his abilities."

Her endorsement drew an immediate rebuke from the candidate who has most energetically sought to associate himself with crime-fighting, State Rep. Dwight Evans.

"We are disappointed that Lynne Abraham has chosen politics as usual over sound policy in her decision to support Bob Brady," said Evans spokesman Tim Spreitzer, who noted that as a legislator, Evans had secured state money for anticrime initiatives praised by Abraham, such as the city's Youth Violence Reduction Program.

Yesterday's announcement, in the Mayor's Reception Room of City Hall, appeared hastily put together, with just a few Brady campaign aides and some of Abraham's political advisers on hand, along with reporters and photographers.

The event happened just hours after an item appeared in The Inquirer, reporting that a pollster had been testing Abraham's name as an independent candidate for mayor. Both Abraham and Brady disavowed any responsibility for the survey.

Brady strategist Ken Snyder said the endorsement had nothing to do with the item in the paper. Abraham said she would not beat around the bush if she were running for mayor.

"I'm flattered that somebody thought well enough of me to mention me [in the poll]," she said, with Brady at her side. "I already announced weeks ago and months ago that I was not - and I am not - running for mayor. I think I'm standing next to the person who can and will lead the city."

Abraham brushed off reporters' questions about whether her endorsement was a favor returned to Brady, though it certainly could look that way: As party chairman, he has helped Abraham get reelected in citywide races again and again.

"I'm not for sale to anyone at any price," Abraham said. ". . . I make up my own mind. I don't believe in political paybacks just for the idea of political paybacks. This is not a payback."

For his part, Brady said he was "offended" by questions about Abraham's motives, saying such suggestions amounted to a form of sexism. He also noted that he had initially opposed her appointment by the city's judges to fill the district attorney post in 1991.

"I hate to remind her," Brady said.

"I remember that," Abraham said, smiling.

Though endorsements by other officeholders often fail to sway voters, Abraham's might be a little more valuable in a year when most voters say their biggest concern is crime. Said political consultant Larry Ceisler: "There are a handful of endorsements you want to snag in a mayoral race – the D.A.'s is one. . . . She is a credible voice on the crime issue" and remains very popular, particularly with elderly voters and in the Northeast.