Clout: Reality show will invade U.S. Rep. Bob Brady's real House-life

BOB BRADY, the city's Democratic Party chairman for 26 years and a member of the U.S. House since 1998, is finally ready for his close-up.

Brady, who was easily re-elected to another two-year term Tuesday, made the political rounds during the general election with a camera crew following closely.

Brady said that Larry Platt, former editor of the Daily News and Philadelphia magazine, pitched a reality show on his life since Brady's not as "stuffy" as most members of Congress.

"They thought it would be interesting to invade my private life and see what makes me tick," said Brady, admitting that he doesn't enjoy the camera lens being trained on his every move.

The camera crew will follow Brady for a few days in Philadelphia and Washington.

We suggested that the pitch could be a remake of "The Odd Couple," since Brady's long-time sidekick, former City Controller Jonathan Saidel, was tagging along.

Brady insisted that Saidel had "bullied his way" into the project.

Saidel countered that Brady had called him 42 times until he agreed to come along.

Platt calls the project "behind the scenes of the last political boss." He is working with Steve Rotfeld Productions, in Bryn Mawr, on a "sizzle reel," an industry term for a pilot episode used to pitch a show to networks.

"What I love about Brady is, he's the most honest guy about his political manipulations that I've ever met," Platt said.

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The traditional political lunch at the Famous 4th Street Delicatessen was abuzz Tuesday with talk that Brady, at a fundraiser earlier this week, had anointed state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams as the city's next mayor.

Not true, Brady and Williams told us during lunch.

Williams said that Brady introduced him with kind words.

"There was an inference of politics and something coming on the horizon," Williams said. "But it wasn't an endorsement."

Brady recalled his statement like this: "I'm sure we'll all be seeing a whole lot of him in the coming months. And we will."

Brady called Williams a personal friend and a front-runner in the race for mayor in 2015.

"There are other people who may run in the race who could change the dynamic," Brady said in a restaurant filled with those people. "But right now, he's the only one out there actively campaigning and raising money."

Philadelphia Democrats pulled a tired old trick on some Republican poll watchers on Election Day - refusing to allow them access to polling places until a Common Pleas Court judge ordered it.

Did the Democrats fall into a Republican trap here?

Local GOP activists, backed by the state party, recruited many more poll watchers this year. It came as little surprise that Democrats tried to block them.

Now Republicans have a new justification for the voter-ID law they passed this year.

If no funny business was happening, why not admit the Republicans to the polling places?

A state judge on Oct. 2 ruled that the voter-ID law would not be used in the general election but would be enforced during next spring's primary election.

Philadelphia City Council Majority Leader Curtis Jones Jr. expressed grudging admiration for whoever was behind an effort to spread misinformation about voting straight-ticket ballots in Pennsylvania.

The bogus claim said that a straight-ticket vote would not register in the presidential election

"That's was a stroke of - I won't call it genius - it was very strategic to increase the amount of voting time and the wait in line to try to discourage participation," Jones said.

- Staff writer Catherine Lucey

contributed to this report.