Mike O'Brien won the Democratic Party primary for Pennsylvania State Representative in the 175th District, which includes my Philadelphia neighborhood among others, defeating both Anne Dicker and Terry Graboyes.

One of the defeated candidates, Dicker, was gracious in defeat. The other, Graboyes, well, not so much.

Dicker, the anti-establishment underdog who came in second, told the Philadelphia Daily News ("O'Brien Wins Nod in 175th," by Catherine Lucey, Chris Brennan, and Dave Davies), "I feel so great. We were outspent 20-to-1 and in a business where money and friends are everything, we almost won."

Meanwhile, Graboyes, who, according to Inquirer ("You Can't Write Off the Party Machine," by Thomas Fitzgerald), "spent hundreds of thousands on television ads and was backed by State Sen. Vincent Fumo . . . Gov. [Ed] Rendell, many members of City Council, and the painters' and carpenters' unions," said after finishing third and last in the race:

If you look at who voted, nobody voted. Nobody voted in the river wards. Nobody voted at all. . . . If Anne Dicker hadn't been there, I would have trampled, [a]nd I will still never understand [why she ran]. Obviously it was more important to make her point than elect a progressive woman to the House.

Funny, I assumed Ms. Dicker ran because she thought she could, and because she wanted to, win.

Like I said, gracious? Not so much.

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