Morley tries to link Farnese to indicted incumbent Fumo

Facing nearly impossible electoral demographics in his run for 1st District state Senator, Republican Jack Morley is going to great lengths to paint his Democratic opponent as nothing more than a stand-in for the indicted incumbent they are fighting to replace.

The campaign will be an uphill battle for Morley, a political outsider with little proven fundraising muscle, in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 5-1. So it makes sense that he would seek to link his opponent, Center City lawyer Larry Farnese, to longtime state Sen. Vince Fumo, who is not seeking reelection because of a federal corruption trial scheduled for the fall.

Since Farnese won the Democratic primary last month, thanks in part to support from Fumo, Morley has taken to referring to his opponent as "Fumo Farnese."

"If you remember on election night, it was Vince Fumo holding up Larry Farnese's arm in victory," Morley said today. "It was Vince Fumo hugging Larry Farnese ... He went on a fundraising campaign for Larry Farnese. I don't know how much clearer it gets."

It's not a new argument. Democrats in the primary took a similar tack, and there is at least some merit to it, with connections between the Fumo and Farnese families well known (among other things, Farnese's grandfather was named school board president in 1995 with Fumo's support).

But if it didn't work in the primary, analysts say, it's far less likely to work in a general election, when most 1st District voters will vote along party-lines anyway.

"I think it's really the only strategy he has, but I don't think it will be successful," said Neil Oxman, a longtime Democratic political consultant who is not involved in the race.

"Larry Farnese is not Vince Fumo," he added, predicting Farnese would easily win at least 60 percent of the vote in November. "He may be supported by him, but he's not a guy who's been in trouble."

Morley has also called upon Farnese to return money given by Fumo, though he today acknowledged that Fumo technically has not given Farnese a dime. Rather, many of Fumo's colleagues in Harrisburg have kicked in donations, sometimes at Fumo's request.

However he refers to his opponent, Morley faces a bigger challenge. He has acknowledged his own fundraising difficulties - a challenge familiar to any Republican candidate in Philadelphia - and without money, it will be difficult to make voters hear him.

"Jack cannot raise the money to get that message out," said Joe Vignola, a former city controller who was planning to run as an independent but decided against it after Farnese's win.

Farnese, for his part, has repeatedly bristled at the suggestion that he is beholden to Fumo. Even before Fumo dropped out of the race, opponents were suggesting Farnese was on the ballot simply to split the opposition against Fumo.

"It's simply ludicrous," he told me in March. "I am in this race to win this race."

Responding to Morley's attacks today, he said going negative so early in the campaign proved how apprehensive Morley was about the race.

"I think the voters can judge for themselves how desperate this candidate is," Farnese said.

The 1st Senate District is one of the more powerful in the state, encompassing Center City and South Philadelphia. Fumo has occupied the seat for 30 years.