Republican mayors are a Philadelphia tradition, like scrapple and pepper pot. The tradition, unbroken since 1884, has been hard on Philadelphia. Corruption and civic stagnation have become chronic; as often as not, the city's mayors have been bumbling party hacks. But Philadelphia voters have been too apathetic to throw the rascals out.
Last week, with a municipal election coming up on Nov. 4, the voters were getting an unprecedented shaking-up. A political novice named Richardson Dilworth, candidate for mayor on the Democratic ticket, was giving the slothful Republican machine the roughest pre-election...
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