May 10–17, 2001

cover story

Tough Love, part 2

DA Lynne Abraham says she’ll win because of her record — and the voters who like her no-nonsense style.

by Gwen Shaffer

Cross exam: Abraham makes her case during the district attorney debates.

part 1 | part 2 | interview

Regardless of the grassroots opposition that has organized to defeat her, Abraham remains one of Philadelphia’s most popular elected officials.

The Washington polling firm Hickman Brown surveyed 800 Democrats during summer 1998. Two questions reportedly demonstrated Abraham’s clout. One was said to show Abraham dominating a Democratic field that included, in order of finish, then-City Council President John Street, State Rep. Dwight Evans, former housing authority head John F. White, Jr., then-City Councilwoman Happy Fernandez, and former City Solicitor Marty Weinberg for the 1999 mayoral primary. A majority of Philadelphians questioned also reportedly said they would vote for Abraham over Republican Sam Katz in a general election.

Abraham opted not to enter the fray, so there is no way of knowing whether she would have been crushed or glorified.

As for why Abraham decided against running for mayor, theories abound.

Political consultant Neal Oxman says Abraham’s nature is not political. She loves serving as an elected official, but not necessarily the process she’s forced to endure to get there.

"Lynne Abraham is extraordinarily thin-skinned," Oxman contends. And — like all politicians — campaigns force Abraham to talk about certain issues she prefers to ignore. "She’d rather not go through this. That’s why she never ran for mayor."

Political analyst Larry Ceisler doubts Abraham has what it takes to win an office higher than district attorney. For one thing, he says, Abraham’s record could easily be attacked and, for another, she lacks diplomacy.

"She shoots from the hip, and she’s not one to apologize or think twice about a comment," Ceisler says. "The profile is great, but there are problems between the lines."

He echoes the sentiment that Abraham would have a difficult time handling the criticism that inevitably goes along with running in a truly competitive field.

"She can dish it out but she can’t take it," Ceisler says.

Sklaroff says the pundits have it all wrong. Abraham is a career prosecutor "out of loyalty to the 300 assistant DAs" who work under her.

"Her deciding to stay with her people is typical," Sklaroff asserts. The "best example" of this is Abraham’s response to the Massiah-Jackson situation, he says. The wrangling began when several deputies spoke out against the nomination. Abraham chose to go to bat for their concerns, he says.

In regard to the district attorney’s resiliency, Sklaroff says he hasn’t met a politician "who doesn’t feel the sting of criticism." But he agrees that playing politics don’t interest Abraham. Sklaroff notes that when she was head of the Redevelopment Authority under Mayor Frank Rizzo, she got fired rather than allow Rizzo to fill the agency with unqualified people for patronage jobs.

Abraham herself says she has begged out of running for mayor or U.S. Senate for a very simple reason — she loves her current gig.

"I’m a really happy person," she says.

Abraham adds that her husband of nearly 25 years, Frank Ford, advised against seeking the mayor’s seat.

Maybe it’s a "guy thing" when politicians are compelled to run for higher office, Abraham says, as a gust of wind causes debris from Broad Street to swirl around her.

"I just don’t have a burning ambition to run [for mayor or U.S. Senate]," she comments. "I don’t think it’s necessary to try and prove myself or to always look for the next thing."

In fact, had Ronald Castille not been tapped by the Republican party to run for mayor in 1991, creating a vacancy in the District Attorney’s Office, Abraham suspects she would still be a judge for the Common Pleas Court, which she was first elected to in 1980.

"I would never have left the bench if Castille hadn’t stepped down," she says, recalling that she had just been re-elected when the district attorney’s slot opened. "My husband thought I was crazy to go for it."

In retrospect, though, Abraham says serving as district attorney is much more fulfilling because judges are not in a position to actually "change" anything.

"As DA, I’ve had my share of people come up to me and say, ‘You changed my life,’ " she says.

Abraham’s clout extends far beyond Philadelphia, according to some of her counterparts across the state.

"Lynne is the most influential district attorney in Pennsylvania," says Robert Buehner, Jr., district attorney in Montour County and president of the PDAA. "Neither Rendell nor Castille exercised this kind of influence, and they were crackerjack DAs."

Abraham has served as legislative chair for the PDAA practically since she took office a decade ago. It is from this position that she is able to help shape law enforcement policies throughout the Keystone State.

Buehner, a Republican, credits Abraham with developing a procedure now used statewide to shutter nuisance bars; with forcing Philadelphia judges to sentence according to guidelines; and with convincing Gov. Tom Ridge to call on the state legislature to hold a "special session on crime." Ten months of deliberation in 1995 spawned more than 30 get-tough measures — including a "three strikes" law to jail violent offenders, a "‘Megan’s law" to warn communities of sex offenders and a "no means no" rape law to simplify rape prosecutions.

Certainly, Abraham’s tendency to view situations in absolutes — she frequently characterizes certain actions as straight out "wrong" or "manifestly correct" — is reflected in her policies.

Buehner says Abraham has opened up the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office as a resource for prosecutors throughout Pennsylvania. "Help from her staff has been a godsend," he says, noting that in Montour County, where the population stands at 18,000, he prosecutes every case himself.

Buehner finds it "outrageous" that Talmadge or anyone else would accuse Abraham of racial bias.

"I understand it is rough and tumble politics, but I also know Lynne has marched in drug vigils and stood up for African-American victims of crime," he says. "And whoever is lodging this negative stuff should realize it only firms Lynne’s resolve and makes her more determined to get the truth out."

With three weeks leading up to the election, Neal Oxman guesses that Abraham will sweep it by winning 65 percent of the votes. Talmadge’s attempts to paint Abraham as racist failed, he says.

"She is not Bull Connor. That is literally insane," Oxman says. "It is obvious Talmadge has one card to play and he’s going to play it until the end."

Yet the Abraham campaign reacts to nearly every move her challenger makes.

On March 19, Abraham called a press conference to defend her reputation against Talmadge’s radio ads. In late March, she issued press releases letting the world know that both the Daily News and the Inquirer ran editorials blasting Talmadge for his ad campaign. On March 30, Talmadge criticized how Abraham handled Philadelphia Police Captain James Brady’s drunk driving incident, and Abraham staffers shot off a response to the media. On April 23, Abraham hosted "press availability" to answer questions about Fattah’s endorsement of Talmadge.

Still, the district attorney would prefer to be talking about issues. Like the Public Nuisance Task Force she created, or the Cyber Crime Unit she got off the ground, or the drug treatment court she started, or the district attorney’s domestic violence campaign now underway. One of Abraham’s most shining accomplishments is Urban Genesis, a non-profit she set up. It now funds after-school art programs and pays for inner city kids to attend summer camp. The organization also provides Thanksgiving dinners for 250 families every year.

If it is true that Abraham dislikes catching the spears hurled during a campaign, she loves mingling with the public.

Even in off-election cycles, Abraham makes it a habit to drop by town watch meetings, senior centers, community festivals, ward meetings, church picnics and anywhere else she’s invited.

Dezzi estimates that in an average year, Abraham stops by 250 to 300 events.

Abraham says she spends so much time working a room because she wants her constituents to know that she is not "exalted."

"In any office, you have to demonstrate you are not only a leader of the people, but one of them," she says.

At a Million Mom March against gun violence, held in Germantown on April 14, Abraham chatted with a musician about the gourd she was playing. And when two Kensington High School students rapped for the crowd, she was out there swinging her hips and clapping along with everybody else.

Nevertheless, members of her campaign staff seize every opportunity to give the district attorney an image makeover.

Campaign spokesperson Vincent Thompson frequently slips in not-so-subtle references to the "affectionate relationship" Abraham and Ford share. "Nauseatingly loving" is how he described it once. "And did I mention how much Lynne loves cats?" Thompson asks for the umpteenth time.

Talmadge is counting on raking in votes from black voters who feel disenfranchised by Philadelphia’s criminal justice system. And no doubt they are out there — but Abraham is good at forcing you to question just how many of them actually exist.

Certainly, the incumbent isn’t feeling terribly threatened by her Democratic primary challenger.

"My instinct tells me Philadelphians sense I’m the best person for the job," Abraham says, standing on Broad Street just weeks before Election Day. "That’s why no one wanted to run against me. Nobody’s record can match mine — let alone beat mine — when it comes to service, honesty and integrity."

part 1 | part 2 | interview