The candidates in Philadelphia this month.Photo: Getty Images
After flooding the airways with nonstop ads for the entire month of April, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will finally leave Philadelphians alone after today, but not before some last-minute vote-influencing attempts from supporters. We checked in to see what was up in ground zero the City of Brotherly Love today, on the day of the hotly contested Pennsylvania primary. Here are some of the highlights from the mêlée:
• In Philadelphia, turnout was anecdotally reported as being higher than usual (as it usually is). [Philly.com]
• The Committee of 70, a citywide election watchdog group, fielded a complaint about an “irrate [sic] pro-Hillary business owner (of Bolivian extraction)” who paid people to tear down Obama election signs and harassed workers at a field office of the Champion of Change. [Super Tuesday Blog]
• It wasn’t only Bolivians that were angered by the idea that anyone would support Barack Obama. The Democratic City Committee is allegedly passing out several different sample ballots to voters eager to be told who to vote for, with some ward leaders supporting Clinton getting ballots urging votes for Obama, and vice versa. [Philly.com]
• Leaders in Philadelphia’s 69 wards usually require “street money” to get out the vote, but both campaigns shunned the practice this year. Fortunately for election-day workers, there was enough in the Democratic City Committee’s coffers to pay $100 per worker today. [NYT]
• Newish Mayor Michael Nutter stumped for Clinton on nearly every TV station on basic cable. [Philly.com]
• Yet the main problems in Philly today are related to machines malfunctioning, though there were a couple skirmishes, mostly between supporters of candidates in smaller races. [Philly.com]
• Obama’s campaign says he is currently making “unscheduled, unannounced” last-minute campaign stops in Philadelphia after spending the morning in Pittsburgh. He’s flying out to Indiana tonight while Hillary Clinton stays in Center City. She’s actually in Philadelphia all day, spending tonight at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue, in the shadow of City Hall. [Inquirer] — Daniel McQuade
