Thursday election tricklings

Lots of analysis, from the fluffy to the numerical deluge, and looks at the stories around the elections. Some of it seems of interest, so a small compilation here:

• Lots of discussion about how the Traditional Machine couldn't deliver this year, with neither party endorsement nor union support pushing a mayoral candidate into office. For those who know their parts of town intimately, here's a rundown of the mayoral vote by Ward.
  
  Update: quite fascinating is this graphic of where each candidate got the bulk of his votes. The overlap is reassuring, but still, the varied peaks point out the diversity of the neighborhoods in this city.
  
  
• A day after the election, Council remembers they all liked Nutter quite well when he was a colleague. heh. He probably looks pretty good after the way Street's office has dealt with them.
  
  
• Ending one line of speculation, Sam Katz says he's out of any general election action, being perfectly content with the prospect of Nutter as mayor.
  
  
• Ending another line of speculation, John Street says he has no plans to challenge current Congressmen Brady or Fattah for their seats -- he had been rumored to be interested in replacing one or the other, but no words on what his future plans are now.
  
  
• The Daily News offers a look at Philadelphia's future First Lady, calling Lisa Nutter a satisfying "blend of sass and substance."
  
  
• The DN also takes a look at the likely Verna-Blackwell fight for Council Presidency, with two of the three newcomers still not saying which way they lean. If one of them is yours, let them know your feelings! Also speculation here about what influence Nutter will have in shifting the balance one way or the other.
  
  
• The CityPaper reminds us that there's still a Republican in the mayoral race, even if his chances are slim.
  
  
• Apparently Pittsburgh's party machine wasn't too effective this year either. An era ending, or just a year of angry voters?
  
  
• Two Inquirer editorials look at Lessons from the election: one applauds the success of campaign finance limits in keeping money from being the determining factor in this race (and possibly giving a boost to the importance of issue forums). They also look forward to the prospect of a mayor who's not beholden to big donors. The second editorial looks at the scant success of reformers elsewhere on the ballot (and gives a general take on various races).