Mayoral prospects II

Among those whose name has been bandied about in the Mayoral contenders pool is Representative Fattah. Apparently there are some who think that his motives are suspect, and the arguments give some insight into more local power brokering...

A simmering feud between two Philadelphia political titans has broken into the open, with Philadelphia NAACP President J. Whyatt Mondesire threatening to challenge U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah next year if Fattah doesn't butt out of the 2007 mayor's race.
. . .
Mondesire, who has been a behind-the-scenes political force for years, recently fought proxy wars with Fattah over an appointment to the Board of City Trusts and for the Democratic nomination for the state Senate seat vacated by Allyson Schwartz.

Mondesire's camp won those tussles, but Fattah notes he's had plenty of success with candidates he has supported, including Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and others.

The complaint is that Fattah's name-recognition is distorting the field for other (more serious?) contenders, such as Councilman Nutter or other players. A bigger question to me: is a city executive more powerful than a national legislator? Or is there just benefit in working the big jobs sequentially? Maybe Fattah has long-term interest in Governor, or in returning to PA rather than staying in DC...