As many of our readers know, friend of Young Philly Politics, Tony Payton, waged a campaign against the Democratic Party apparatus. The Party, loving its outsiders, attempted to get Tony kicked off of the ballot. They failed, and their chosen candidate, Emilio Vazquez, was booted off of the ballot. Tony was the last man standing. He was the only Democrat left on the ballot. Yet, still, the party, the old, insular, party, refused to back down. And so, they waged a write-in, or really, a stamp-in campaign against Tony.

They conducted a stamp campaign, all to get themselves Emilio Vazquez, a rubber stamp. How fitting.

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As of now, the election is not decided. Vaquez, with a wooden stamp campaign is up by 29 votes:

They were just slivers of balsa wood with rubber-stamp edges that inked "EMILIO VAZQUEZ" in 10-point type on ballots Tuesday in the 179th State House District.

Small though they were, the stamps apparently were big enough to catapult Vazquez to a historic victory as a write-in candidate over the only qualified Democrat on the ballot.

He was leading political neophyte Tony Payton Jr., 976-947, according to complete but unofficial returns from the North Philadelphia district. Payton vowed yesterday to contest the results.

According to Tony, there were a lot of illegal activities during the day, including the stamps being given out inside the polling places, a clear violation of election law. Despite that, Tony might still win, as long as 30 of the people who tried to make a write-in vote did so unsuccessfully. (A pretty good possibility by my estimation.) Plus, there are absentee ballots, provisional ballots, etc. This race will not only likely tighten, but it will probably end up in court.

Thankfully, ward leader Daniel Savage really summed up what this is all about for us:

In the end, it appears that fewer than 10 percent of the district's voters turned out at the polls. "It was simple: low turnout and good committee people," said Savage, the 23d Ward leader. "It comes down to old politics."

Said Vazquez, "The people like me, they know me and what kind of worker I am... . You don't just pop out of the blue and say you want to be a state representative. It has to be in your heart."

In fact, some party regulars said they had nothing in particular against Payton, a 25-year-old housing counselor and student. They said he had lived in the district for only a couple of years and had not paid his dues with community and party work.

I swear, only the Philly Democratic party would be gloating about an election where less than ten percent of the electorate participated. Savage is right, in those situations, "old politics" wins. In those situations, the creaky old machine can once again display just how insular it is. Once again, the party can turn its back on progressives, knowing there are no consequences, because progressives have not yet learned to wield their power within Phladelphia.

It is "old" Philadelphia politics. And you know what, given the poverty, the waste, the crime, the failing schools and all the rest, their kind of politics sure is getting old.

More on this story soon.