Clout: Post-election red meat at the Palm

DEMOCRATIC mayoral nominee Jim Kenney, who steamrollered state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams in Tuesday's Democratic primary, skipped the traditional postelection lunch at the Palm to attend a Broad Street Ministry luncheon with Republican mayoral candidate Melissa Murray Bailey and Gov. Wolf.

The Clout team - big believers in tradition - decided to post up at the bar at the Palm with N.Y. strip steaks and Old Fashioneds, knowing full well that Kenney wouldn't snub electricians union boss John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty by failing to show altogether.

Sure enough, a bleary-eyed Kenney eventually dropped in on the power-lunch crowd, receiving a standing ovation as he shook hands and made his way across the room, greeting everyone from big-name politicians to Ryan Lynch, the bartender from Pennsport (who makes a crisp, refreshing dirty martini).

Eventually, Kenney reached state Rep. Dwight Evans, who gave Kenney a hearty hug and three strong pats on the back.

Kenney analyzed his landslide victory for reporters on Broad Street: "It's better than losing."

Evans had a rough run for a while there. He lost the 2007 Democratic mayoral primary to Michael Nutter, then was stripped of his title as the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee in 2010.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell says Evans has a new title: Political kingmaker. "Jimmy Kenney did a good job in building a coalition," Rendell said, "but Dwight Evans deserves a great deal of credit. Dwight came to Jimmy and said, 'We can do this,' just like Dwight came to Tom Wolf early on."

Without Evans' support, it's unlikely that Kenney would have had the backing of the Northwest Philly political machine.

He isn't running for office, but Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey pretty much stole the damn show during the mayoral race. The ho-hum campaign turned on its head when Williams vowed to kick Ramsey to the curb if he became mayor. That idea was about as well-received as former Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose's threat to move the team to Arizona in the 1980s.

Rendell called Williams' decision to double-down on firing Ramsey "the most significant mistake in a campaign I've ever seen." The only way it could have gone worse for Williams is if he had attacked Ramsey, Rendell and Pope Francis, Rendell said.

Ramsey's not Jesus Christ - or even Philly Jesus, for that matter - but he's held in high regard by the city's leaders.

While Dougherty emerged from the election with more political juice than ever, his father, John Dougherty Sr., is probably riding higher because his son, Common Pleas Judge Kevin Dougherty, won a chance to nab a seat on the state Supreme Court.

"My dad worked in the court system," Doc explained. "My dad thinks judges are like the ultimate. So to have a son who has an opportunity to serve on the [oldest] court in the history of America, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, it's just crazy."

This category could be longer, but it's hard to top the Susquehanna International Group's bang-for-your-buck problems.

The trio of wealthy Main Liners had shelled out $5 million on Williams' failed gubernatorial bid in 2010. But they didn't flinch at the prospect of spending more than $6 million more to help him run for mayor. Despite being hailed as the front-runner just a few months ago, Williams won only 26 percent of the vote on Tuesday.

"I think they're out of politics," Rendell said.

Despite a 23-year Council career, Kenney has kept the Palm staff from adding his picture to its walls with the other pols and celebs.

"Now, he's not going to have an option," said general manager Jim Haney, as he pointed to pictures of Mayor Nutter and former mayors Frank Rizzo, W. Wilson Goode and Rendell. "As general manager, it's my obligation to get his picture on the wall."

Haney noticed a blank space just below Rizzo that might be perfect for Kenney. Then again, it's right next to former state Sen. Vince Fumo, still on probation for corruption charges, and near former state Sen. LeAnna Washington, who pleaded guilty to conflict-of-interest charges last year.

On second thought, garcon, maybe a spot on the other side of the dining room? In the not-so-corrupt section?

As election night drifted into Wednesday morning, we caught up with Liz Jaff, political director of voting-data firm Crowdpac, hobnobbing with local journos and other late-night barflies at the Pen & Pencil Club.

The California-based company built a sharp website for Philly's primary that enabled voters to compile a slate of candidates with shared values. Schools activist Helen Gym, who won an at-large Council nomination with a strong grass-roots campaign, shared her Crowdpac page on social media to highlight her liberal positions.

"I think it was an interesting project," Gym said. "We're happy to experiment with different things and I hope Crowdpac continues to expand on it."

As for our conversation with Jaff, unfortunately everything at the P&P is off-the-record.

- Daily News staff writers David Gambacorta and William Bender contributed to this report.