Ferrick: Is April 6 the day Jim Kenney won the Democratic primary?

Seen in the rearview mirror a few months from now, April 6 may go down as the day Jim Kenney clinched victory in the Democratic primary for mayor.

That's the day the Irish-Catholic ex-City Councilman won the endorsement of a coalition of black ward and political leaders from the city's Northwest section.

It's significant in a couple of ways. First, these black pols decided to back a white candidate even though there is a viable, bona fide African-American in the race: state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams.

That hasn't happened in Philly, with its strong tradition of race-based politics.

Second, these politicians bring to the table a chance for Kenney to gain votes in wards that contain 80,000-plus active and aware Democratic voters, with a history of high turnout. In fact, Cedarbrook's 50th Ward, West Oak Lanes 10th Ward and the 22nd Ward in Mount Airy are power wards -- the highest performing in the city.

With the blessing of pols such as Councilwoman Marion Tasco (50th Ward) and state Rep. Dwight Evans (10th Ward), Kenney could make a major cut into Williams' African-American base.

Evans, who is de facto leader of the group, downplayed the racial aspect of the decisions.

"This is not an anti-Tony Williams thing," Evans said, adding: "I think it's really a question of does he (Williams) really have what it takes to run the city -- and when you talk to him and to Jim there is a really big difference."

Both Kenney and former DA Lynne Abraham has been polling well among African-American voters -- often in the 20 to 25 percent range -- but those numbers are deceptive.

Once the field has winnowed down to a few top contenders, black voters tend to shift to the black candidate in the field who is seen as having the best chance of winning.

The job of the leaders in the Northwest will be to prevent that shift from happening.

Evans did not predict that Kenney would win the majority of votes in these 11 wards, but would be happy with a strong showing. "No question it is going to be a test," he said. "We will have to go house to house and block to block."

Evans said the endorsement of Kenney reflects "a growth and maturity" in the black political community. A flowering of post-racial politics.

That lovely image aside, there are practical considerations at work. The Northwest has been home to a number of citywide candidates (Evans, for instance, ran for mayor twice). This year it had none. It was a power bloc without a candidate.

There is a longtime -- slightly political, but mostly geographic -- rivalry between the Northwest and the West Philly-base Williams claims as his own. There's no reason to believe a Mayor Williams would spend his days thinking: How can I make the Northwest leaders happy?

One the other hand, if Kenney wins, he will know that Evans and the others took a risk and made the difference in the race. That's priceless.