Reports from the mayoral-primary season’s last televised debate (spoiler alert: it was tame)

The first televised debate saw mayoral candidate Lynne Abraham faint. The second had Nelson Diaz tongue-in-cheek joking that he could use some marijuana right now. So, what was the takeaway from Tuesday night’s live event aired commercial-free on 6ABC?

Yawn.

While perceived former frontrunner Anthony Hardy Williams said afterwards that he would not retain Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, WHYY’s Dave Davies deemed it a “tame affair.”

Wrote Davies:

There were no bombshells or gaffes as the six Democratic candidates for mayor of Philadelphia met last night in a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters and broadcast live on Channel 6.

After a long campaign of debates and forums, the candidates mostly stuck to familiar messages.

To be sure, forums and debates of late have had precious little new ground to cover. But find words to write we who cover it must.

So, here are some excerpts from today’s story about last night’s debate:

— Williams [called] Ramsey a “fine man” who needs to lose his job for overseeing stop-and-frisk. … This was Williams’ first time making that point before reporters. But he could not claim it solely for himself. Former State Sen. T. Milton Street Sr. accused Williams of copying his position on Ramsey. (The Next Mayor/Inqurier)

— Jim Kenney, who is being targeted by a negative Williams TV ad, didn’t seem to mind that Street essentially had become his attack dog for the night. “I love Milton,” Kenney said as he was leaving 6ABC’s studios, “but it’s hard to figure out where he’s going to come from in any particular debate. That was his strategy, and I hope it worked for him.” (The Next Mayor/Daily News)

— The debate — if you want to call it that — was a mostly polite discussion among the mayoral candidates about police accountability, school funding and the city’s pension crisis. (Citified)

— The debate overall was civil and straightforward. (6ABC)

And there you have it, with just 13 days until the primary arrives.