Philadelphia's Republican Party organization re-elected its leaders last night (Wednesday) in a
raucous meeting in Kensington, where 14 dissident ward leaders were banned -- either from voting or the room. They were not amused. The remaining ward leaders picked (no surprise) Vito Canuso as party chair and Michael P. Meehan as general counsel to the party. In fact, Meehan is the party leader -- a post held by his father and grandfather. The losing side had nominated Al Schmidt, once the GOP candidate for controller, who had the backing of state GOP officials. Schmidt's stated goal is to revive the party in the city, which as been in the political equivalent of a coma for years.
