"When you get sworn in, you don't get a magic wand to go with it," Nutter said in a recent interview. "You need public enthusiasm to attack the tremendous challenges that confront us in fighting crime, lowering taxes, improving education. I want a high turnout, and I want people fully engaged in the prospects for the future."
The former city councilman, who got 37 percent of the vote in winning the Democratic primary in May, will give more politically attuned audiences an additional argument, having to do with the statewide judicial races on the ballot this fall.
"There are two Supreme Court seats up and one Superior Court seat," said Nutter, who is backing the Democrats for all three. "A lot of cases that affect the quality of life in Philadelphia - having to do with schools, zoning, gaming, guns - wind up in those courts. Other people from others parts of Pennsylvania are hoping for a low turnout in Philadelphia."
Some political veterans are skeptical about whether either appeal will boost the vote, especially considering that Al Taubenberger, the amiable but underfunded Republican candidate, has done little to distinguish himself from Nutter.
"Having an extra 50,000 people come out would be nice, but I don't think it's going to happen," said Neil Oxman, Nutter's media consultant. "Turnout is going to be what it's going to be. The mandate for change is still going to be there."
With Democrats outnumbering Republicans by 5-1 in the city, political professionals consider a Nutter victory a foregone conclusion. But they are divided over how much the turnout and margin really matter.
