Philly’s Political Odd Couple

Why is mayoral aspirant and would-be reformer Bill Green hanging around with that lightning rod of a union boss, Johnny Doc?

THERE ARE, TO MY MIND, three ways to think about John Dougherty. The first is that the worst things you’ve heard about him are true, and a decade’s worth of newspaper reports back up this notion.

But this caricature isn’t satisfying, if for no other reason than that it’s too simple. For all the enemies Dougherty has made over the years, he’s made as many friends, among them smart, savvy people like the Greens, who aren’t apt to be bullied into supporting an unreconstructed thug.

Which brings us to option two: that Doc isn’t the Big Bad he’s been made out to be. In fact, he’s actually one of the good guys. Perhaps he’s not the most sophisticated politico, but this is a city that prides itself on rough-and-tumble politics, and Dougherty simply plays the game better than most.

There’s evidence for this interpretation. For starters, it’s his archnemesis, Vince Fumo, in prison, not Doc. Nothing ever stuck to Doc, and maybe that’s because there was nothing to stick to him, and he was put through the wringer and emerged unscathed because that’s exactly what should have happened. What’s more: “He does a lot of [charity] work that people don’t know about,” says the former Mayor Green.

But maybe the best example of this view comes from Dougherty’s 2008 race for state Senate. He intended to battle Fumo, but the incumbent dropped out to fight the corruption charges that landed him in federal prison. Instead, Dougherty went up against Center City lawyer Larry Farnese, who went after Dougherty’s supposed misdeeds. Dougherty held his fire and ran a positive campaign, even though Farnese had politically exploitable ties to Fumo. And Doc lost.

That leads to the final theory. There’s no doubt that loss was devastating. It shattered Dougherty’s conception of his own popularity—the taint of his several scandals hurt him outside the white ethnic wards he called home. The Center City folks didn’t trust him. He retrenched.

Then last year, after two years on the sidelines, Doc stepped back onto the field, first by winning an election as ward leader, then with an initiative to reform the Delaware River Port Authority (where he is a board member). “I’m more centered, more focused,” he told the Daily News last August. “I’ve become more comfortable with myself. Losing wasn’t bad for me.”

Insiders say they’ve seen a different Dougherty over the past year. “Doc, 10 years ago, was extremely heavy-handed,” says one. “He wanted to own candidates lock, stock and barrel. Now he’s a bit smarter-—he wants to have influence and access. He’s less interested in owning candidates.”