Last night, Jim Kenney did what we wanted him to do all along: He pulled his two bills that would effectively eliminate the donation limits for the Mayoral race. I will get to Kenney in a second, but, let’s just talk about this for a second:

When the first bill was announced, it already had enough SPONSORS to give it a majority of votes to fly through the Council chamber, and on to Mayor Street (who said he would sign it.) So, you know, people could have argued that we were tilting at windmills and all that.

But, then something happened. People were outraged. Groups and associations were outraged. Through emails, phone calls, posts on blogs, statements from candidates, statements from groups like Philly Forward, Kenney being a part of this community, and an election for City Council being 90 days away, the bill will not even be heard.

That, my friends, is a big deal.

Does anyone think that if this law came up in February of 1999 or 2003 that it would have been pulled? A lot of things are changing in the City these days. I am not so egotistical as to claim that this blog is about to magically change Philly. But the ability of concerned citizens, all over Philly, to connect using technology is starting to have real, measured effects in the City. That ability, and a real sense that people in Philly are ready for a Government that they believe in, gives me hope.

Councilman Kenney is right- we do need to have a long discussion about the laws that govern our campaigns. Not only to consider important reforms like public financing of elections, but, to close the loopholes that certain politicians are using to this day. But the time to do it was not now, as he has now acknowledged. So, today, we can go back to focusing on which candidates for Mayor and Council are best to lead this City. (It is ironic that amidst the Knox angst, Brady is about to go on TV.) We have already had some really good policy discussions here, and we will continue them.

As for Kenney himself- he was dead wrong to introduce the bill. But, despite his persistence, he did the right thing- he yanked it. I don’t care why he said he did it- he pulled it because he heard constituent pressure, and listened. Thank you, Jim.

The bottom line though, is that sometimes you need to take five minutes, take a deep breath, and make sure you count a win as a win.

Because make no mistake, what just happened was a victory, and it was largely due to of all you out there. Let’s keep it up.