Instead, the focus became the politicians who looked as if they had to be dragged to the stage.

The scene was the City Council caucus room on the fourth floor of City Hall. Street's mayoral campaign and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, chairman of the Democratic City Committee, had arranged for the Democratic members of Council to endorse Street.

Twelve of the 13 sitting Democratic Council members showed up - some in body, if not in spirit.

Street, the past president of Council, had alienated some of his colleagues through a style that critics describe as controlling and anti-democratic. The occasion served to showcase those differences.

Councilman Michael Nutter stood at the edge of the crowd - out of camera range - and spoke into his cell phone for much of the announcement.

Normally the most talkative of elected officials, Nutter left the room as soon as the event ended with a "No comment" to reporters.

Councilwoman Marian Tasco wasn't there. Angel Ortiz, a frequent critic of Street's, stood off to the side, in the background. Councilman James Kenney attended but made it clear afterward that he did so only as a favor to Brady.

Councilman David Cohen, a longtime foe of Street's, wore a "Street for Mayor" button for the occasion. But Cohen said that although Street had done good things for the city, he had caused harm, too.

With friends like these . . .

"I would suspect that if we had a window into the voting booths on Election Day, Sam [Katz] would get a majority of the votes of City Council members," said Bob Barnett, the spokesman for Street's Republican rival. "We'll never know for sure, but that would be my guess."

One Council member who was in the room, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "This was very painful for a number of Council members who participated because of the nature of their relationship with Street."

If there was less-than-unanimous support for Street, the candidate didn't seem to notice. He spoke affectionately of Council and praised its evolution since he took office in 1980.

"We literally had to force our way as a political body onto the political landscape," Street said. "There were those who believed the City Council's only role was to rubber-stamp everything that anybody ever put in front of us."

Street has his admirers on Council - and he may need more if he becomes mayor. A mayor needs Council cooperation to pass budgets and push through his agenda.

"The vast majority of those who stood with Street today hold him in high regard," said Street's spokesman, Ken Snyder. "Others have a grudging respect for the work that he's done. But the bottom line is that there's no denying the expertise and knowledge and experience of John Street."

Councilman Rick Mariano, who was at the endorsement, said that Street was far more open and conciliatory than others had portrayed him.

"I thought Street was very open to what I needed to do to help my district," he said. "I had heard stories about John for a long time, and he was very open. He was laid-back and receptive, and he did not tell me what to do."

Council President Anna C. Verna also had kind words about her predecessor, who stepped down last December to run for mayor.

"He knows more about city government than anybody I know," Verna said. "He knows more about city budgets than anyone I know."

She added: "It's very evident that we are a united Democratic Party."

To a degree. Nutter had endorsed Street's rival in the Democratic primary, John White Jr. White went on to endorse Katz in the general election.

Shortly before the primary, Nutter criticized Street for accepting campaign contributions from a developer who had business before Council when Street was president.

Nutter asked District Attorney Lynne Abraham to investigate. In September, Abraham announced that she had found no criminal wrongdoing.

In an interview after yesterday's event, Nutter said he showed up only because of Brady's plea for party unity.

"Bob Brady, chairman of the Democratic Party, asked me as a personal favor to him to come to an event that was solely about Democratic unity," Nutter said. "Out of respect for Bob Brady, that's the reason I came."

Asked whether he also came because he believed Street would make a good mayor, Nutter gave the same answer.

Tasco said yesterday that she did not attend because her ward, the 50th, has not made an endorsement in the mayor's race and that she did not want to be out of step with her constituents.

Kenney often chafed under Street's leadership. He said that Street would let his initiatives languish in Council, and then put forward a version under Street's own name. Kenney cited Street's sidewalk-behavior bill as an example.

Kenney said after the news conference that Street has the "potential to be great." But he needs a new attitude if he is to work successfully with his former colleagues, Kenney said.

"Do I think Street is qualified to be mayor? I do," Kenney said. "My concern is if he's going to be a successful mayor, he will have to do some amount of searching as to how he deals with us and others.

"I would hope that the message would go out that there's a need for a change in style and approach. It will be a much more difficult road, and it doesn't need to be," if Street fails to heed that message.

Last night, 35 minutes after after a televised debate ended, Katz strode into the Adams Mark Hotel and was greeted by 400 supporters, a decidedly biracial, bipartisan crowd that included backers of Democrat John White Jr., a former Council member.

"Tonight, I think, we brought home a campaign ... that everyone in the city can be proud of," the candidate said from a podium, his family just behind him.

At that moment, White, who lost in the Democratic primary to Street but who last month endorsed the Republican, walked into the ballroom and joined Katz.

"Nothing makes me more proud than to stand here tonight as part of the Sam Katz family," White said.