"The uncertainty on these big-picture items makes it a very odd, very placid race," said Dan Fee, a political consultant not working for any candidate.
Of course, there's no inherent reason for the public to be hanging on the candidates' every word at this stage. But campaign strategists say the level of disengagement this year feels greater than usual.
J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the local NAACP and an adviser to the mayoral campaign of State Rep. Dwight Evans, pointed to the attitudes candidates encountered in collecting signatures for their nominating petitions.
"People didn't want to be bothered; we heard that from all the campaigns," Mondesire said. "It was harder than normal."
Campaign aides cite a number of factors beyond the various uncertainties - having to do with the candidates, fund-raising difficulties, and the seriousness of the problems facing the city - as contributing to the overall lack of excitement.
One is the nature of the field. Five viable candidates are a lot for voters to handle, especially when two recent polls put all five in double digits.
Four of these men have solid political resumes, while Knox has a record of success in business. None has been depicted as a villain, the kind of candidate that some people would feel driven to vote against.
There's no incumbent running about whom voters might have strong feelings pro and con. Plus, no one comes into the race carrying heavy personal baggage or embodying a political movement.
A second factor is the new campaign-finance system, a verdict on which could come at any time in a case argued earlier this month before Commonwealth Court.
