If there were a high-profile, viable GOPer, it would certainly do the city a valuable service. Katz seemed to have the resources, and perhaps but up the best showing for a city Republican possible (he pulled in a 35-40% share of the vote, as I recall – not sure?) It was almost a perfect storm for Katz, with the Street scandals hitting full force just prior to Election Day, and he couldn’t pull it off (granted, there were other factors – the registration edge and Street’s base rallying behind him, etc). Still, one asks – just what will it take? If New York City could elect Rudy Giuliani, surely Philadelphia (or Pittsburgh, for that matter) could conceivably elect an individual other than a Democrat to head municipal matters. In my home city of Pittsburgh, the stars seemed to be alligned for the city GOP – the Republican candidate for mayor actually put in an effort (meaning he actually went out and campagned) and the city party ran several impressive candidates for council. They all lost by historically standard margins (75-25). Granted, the Democrat (Bob O’Connor) was essentially mayor-in-waiting since 2001, and the council candidates were fairly low-profile. Still, one would think Republicans would be able to break through at some level in city races. For either Philly or Pgh mayor, I believe these ingridients will constitute a “viable” candidate (meaning, the Democrat actually breaks a sweat) – a Clinton-like personable nature, funding that either keeps pace or out-distances the Democrat, and a major issue to carry the candidate to victory. Plus, the Republican must make peace with core Democrat constituencies in major cities, namely unions and African-American communities, forcing them to either sit out the race or actually pull the lever for true change. If all that doesn’t work, urban Republicans truly don’t have a prayer.