The Brief: “They Already Called the Election, But It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over.”

Photos by Jeff Fusco

1. The mayoral candidates spent the final weekend of the campaign insisting the race isn’t over yet.

The gist: The reverberations of last week’s Jim-Kenney-could-beat-FDR poll were still strong on the final weekend of the campaign, with Kenney, Anthony Williams and Lynne Abraham all insisting during traditional last-minute stops at city churches on Sunday that the mayoral race won’t be over until 8 p.m. Tuesday night. At a stop of Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church in Nicetown, Williams was joined by U.S. Rep Chaka Fattah, who “decried the poll,” according to the Inquirer. Other speakers did as well:

Pastor William B. Moore of the 10th Memorial Baptist Church called on the crowd to pray and vote for Williams, comparing the race to the civil rights struggle in Selma, Ala.

“They already called the election, but it ain’t over till it’s over,” Moore said…

Pastor Steven Avinger Sr., the rally’s host, praised Williams’ record and questioned why his support is not stronger.

“It’s strange that our folks are so lethargic and seem to be unengaged with this critical time for us in the city of Philadelphia,” Avinger said. “It is a turning point.”

Kenney, in a meeting with election day workers in a church basement in West Oak Lane, said:

“Think about this,” Kenney told about 200 workers gathered in a church basement for the training. “South Philadelphia, where I’m born and raised and from, and Northwest — that has never happened before. And we’re going to bring all these other groups of folks in from around the city and build this coalition together.”

And Dave Davies at Newsworks quotes Abraham questioning the accuracy of the poll:

“I think we just saw two major elections where polling is wrong,” Abraham said. “Rahm Emanuel was supposed to lose in Chicago. He didn’t. Prime minister [David] Cameron in London was supposed to lose, he didn’t. And Lynne Abraham’s not going to lose on Tuesday.”

Why it matters: Obviously the election is not over, and even if you’re convinced Kenney’s lead is insurmountable, there are a host of other high stakes choices to be made in Tuesday’s election. So… Vote.

2.The no-bullshit City Council At-Large election guide.

The gist: Check out our bottom-line assessment of the Democratic at-large City Council candidates, where we make the case for and against each of the candidates. To learn more about the top at-large challengers, check out our series of Q&As: Helen Gym, Tom Wyatt, Allan Domb, Sherrie Cohen (coming soon), Isaiah Thomas, Derek Green and Paul Steinke.

Why it matters: Coverage of the City Council race has been spare — on Citified and elsewhere — compared to the mayoral contests. But Council’s power is growing, and the election is critically important. In the at-large contests, there’s an array of highly-qualified challengers with a decent shot at knocking out an incumbent or two. That’s something that doesn’t happen very often. It’s possible the mayoral race will end in a blowout. But it seems certain the fight for anywhere between one and three at-large City Council seats will be fierce. So read up, and vote.

2. The story that makes sense of Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s implosion.

The gist: Bob Huber explores Kane’s meltdown, and concludes it’s rooted in her feud with Frank Fina, the former high-powered prosecutor in the attorney general office who brought down Jerry Sandusky and oversaw the Tyron Ali case. Writes Huber:

Even through Kane’s first, glorious year as A.G., when she made several gutsy, high-profile decisions — especially her declaration that she wasn’t about to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which at that point still seemed bold — her interest in Fina bubbled up. Even as there was talk of national office. Even as Hardball’s Chris Matthews broached the notion that she might one day … run for president!

Even through all that, she couldn’t let her obsession with Fina go — couldn’t conquer her desire to somehow do him in. Kane’s political confidants were worried. Ed Rendell, for one, was warning her in regular pep talks: It isn’t necessary to kill your enemies. You win by doing your job. You really win by getting reelected.

But she wouldn’t let go. Or couldn’t. And with that, everything would unravel.

Why it matters: There’s been a lot of hard-hitting reporting out there on Kane, nowhere more so than the Inquirer. But this is the story that answers the question the other reports haven’t: Why?