Leading Questions III: NinetyNine’s top moments of the final campaign push

For our third (and last) “Leading Questions” election-season special, NewsWorks’ Katie Colaneri, Dave Davies and Brian Hickey chatted up recent developments just days before voters head to the polls.

Check out our Pocket Voters Guide here.

Among the topics discussed were fundraising and campaign ads:

We knew from the TV ads that they were spending a lot of money, but when we finally saw their financial reports a week ago, the scale of their spending was staggering. The three super PACs in the race spent twice as much as the candidates.

… candidate Anthony Hardy Williams’ comments about Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey:

When the campaign conversation shifted to whether candidates would ask popular Ramsey to stay on the job, I couldn’t help but think back to a one-on-one chat I had with Anthony Hardy Williams in early April.

After a debate here at WHYY, Williams first mentioned that police officers should be fired for using disparaging language about race, sexual orientation or faith.

From that point on, he pushed other candidates,  namely Jim Kenney, who is endorsed by the FOP, to sign on.

… attack ads (and the lack thereof):

Williams, who was behind, did run that one attack spot, but didn’t have the campaign cash to buy a lot of TV time. Now his three rich friends funding that super PAC could have waged a potentially devastating negative campaign, but for whatever reason, they just didn’t.

… and, among other topics, the hubbub over the Inqurier’s endorsement of Williams:

That lukewarm endorsement was overshadowed by suspicions that publisher Gerry Lenfest overruled the editorial board’s decision to back Kenney’s campaign.

That suspicion continued even after editor Bill Marimow said that he in fact made the final call.

WHYY’s “Leading Questions: A City Elections Special” which airs twice Friday (11 a.m. and 11 p.m.) Miss the special on air? Worry not. You can hear it by clicking that right-pointing icon atop this story.