ON MARCH 13TH, at 2:06 p.m., a man calling himself Kevin Knox posted a message, written in capital letters, on the blog of TheNextMayor.com, a website devoted to the Philadelphia mayor’s race:

TOM KNOX IS MY UNCLE, AND ME AND MY THREE CHILDREN ARE GOING TO BE HOMELESS ON MARCH 16 DUE TO AN EVICTION. I ASKED UNCLE TOM TO LEND ME 2,000 DOLLARS TO AVOID THIS, AND HE DENIED ME BECAUSE I GOT HIGH ONE TIME SINCE BEING RELEASED FROM PRISON. MY KIDS ARE 8, 7, 4, HE SAYS THEY ARE NOT HIS BLOOD! THEY’RE MY KIDS. HOW AREN’T THEY HIS BLOOD? HE TOLD ME TO TAKE OUT LIFE INSURANCE AND KILL MYSELF SO THEY WOULD HAVE MONEY. MY UNCLE MIKE (his brother) DIED OF AN OVERDOSE, WHY WOULD HE EVEN SAY THIS TO ME. ... HE’S JUST ANOTHER POLITICIAN WITH LIES! I HAVE ALOT MORE ON HIM. ...

Included was the name and phone number of a friend whom Kevin invited readers to call in order to get in touch with him and learn more — his phone had been shut off. Kevin signed off with:

SORRY UNCLE TOM, YOU LEFT MY KIDS IN THE DIRT.

For good measure, the message was posted again at 3:02 p.m. the next day.

A few weeks later, Tom Knox, Democratic candidate for mayor of Philadelphia, confirms in his lavish office on Arch Street that, yes, the Kevin Knox who wrote that post is his nephew. Tom also points out — just in case it isn’t already clear — that Kevin is a very troubled guy. In fact, Knox says, Kevin is “a complete waste.” The latest snafu in his life was allegedly robbing a ShopRite in Bensalem of a large quantity of baby formula, which put him back in jail. If Kevin’s character is in doubt, Knox suggests that a call to Kevin’s sister Cindy will confirm just what sort of person his nephew is. He’s right. Cindy says her brother is a train wreck.

But what Kevin’s nasty reach-out made clear is something broader: how little we know about Tom Knox, a self-proclaimed outsider to city politics who made a fortune in insurance and banking. It seems possible that Kevin is sharing something we should understand about his uncle — but that’s exactly the point. We don’t know.

We do know Knox’s TV ads, on which he’s spent millions since December. They present a simple story: He’s a guy originally from the projects who saved the city from a budget crisis, back when he worked (for $1 a year!) for Ed Rendell. He’s also the guy who’s going to clean up a city government that, for far too long, has been run on the basis of giving people whatever they want in contracts and jobs if they contribute enough cash to the right places. Tom Knox can’t be bought, the ads suggest — he’s too rich. Rich enough to buy City Hall back, though not for himself. He wants to return the city to us, where it belongs.

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