There are many angry bloggers out there that like to blame Bob Brady for the status quo that exists in our city. They believe that since he heads the party that put John Street in power he is somehow responsible for our current problems. Few people realize - or are willing to discuss - Chaka Fattah's close association with Mayor Street and his senior staffers. The Inquirer has mentioned this a few times in the past. Unfortunately I do not have a Nexis password and cannot do as much digging through Inky and DN archives as I would like. Here is a small taste:

"One of those friends is George Burrell, the former senior aide to Mayor Street and now CEO of Innovation Philadelphia, who plays four or five times a season with Fattah at Freeway, Cobbs Creek, St. Davids Country Club, or River Crest Golf Club in Oaks, Pa." (Inky, 3/26/07)
-Burrell was Street's top advisor until recently, and he has been encouraging Chaka to run for mayor for the past few years.

I know he is helping Dwight Evans, but check out this quote from J. Whyatt Mondesire:

"Philadelphia NAACP president J. Whyatt Mondesire attacked U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah's potential mayoral run as 'some kind of personal deal' in which he would trade jobs with Mayor Street." (I can't find the date for this article, it was pulled from a capsule summary on Keystone Politics)

And another reference in the City Paper:

"Mondesire noted that he is angered by what he called the "cabal" of Mayor John Street's top aides George Burrell and Shawn Fordham and their efforts to control the next mayor's race in 2007 by floating Fattah's name for mayor so that Street could run for the congressional seat in 2008." (CP, 2/2/05)

It goes on and on. The chatter among Street staffers is that "Fattah is our guy." If this city is looking for change, they are not going to get it from a Fattah administration. The status quo supports Chaka Fattah, and that is what he will represent as mayor.