OPEN MOB WAR BOLSTERED DENT'S TOUGH-ON-CRIME MESSAGE

The bitter campaign for District Attorney may have been shaped by the vicious mob war that took more than 100 lives since it started last Thanksgiving Day, polls show.

A recent GCN poll of 415 registered Gotham voters shows that violent crime was the number one issue for 68% of the electorate. And Harvey Dent is considered the candidate best able to tackle violent crime by 61% of voters.

"That's exactly what you want to see if you're Dent's campaign manager," said GCN pollster Clinton Rilley III. "Dent is leading on the issue most important to the voters."

In the race for District Attorney, that edge Dent holds on fighting crime may be the difference between victory and defeat. Even more importantly, observers say, Dent's message has been aided indirectly by the breathless media coverage of the mob war.

"Every time local news leads with the latest mob slaying, Dent picks up more voters," said Dent's media manager Allan Cypes. "It is like getting millions of dollars in campaign advertising given to you for free.

Polling over the past year showed a dramatic increase in Gotham citizens considering violent crime the number one issue facing Gotham since the start of the mob war. Fear of another terror attack, worry over outbreaks of Fear Toxin, and concern over the drug trade all dropped as the mob war focused Gotham attention on violent crime, Rilley said.

"You can't look at the polling and come to any other conclusion than that the mob war has helped Dent's campaign considerably," Rilley said.

The irony of the mob helping the politician some say they loathe the most - Harvey Dent - has not gone unnoticed.

"It's really the law of unintended consequences," said Rilley. "The mob may have given rise to their greatest enemy in Harvey Dent."

While the mob war seems to have ended for now, Harvey Dent may be the man who profited the most from the chaos the battles caused the city.