John Heller, Post-GazetteGov. Ed Rendell poses for a picture with Taylor Franco, right, 9, of Murrysville as her mom, Maria, left, snaps the shot at the Tony DeLuca Annual Picnic in Penn Hills Park in Penn Hills yesterday.
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HARRISBURG -- In his first four years in office, Gov. Ed Rendell pushed hard to increase the state income tax, signed the infamous legislative pay raise, failed to enact middle-class property tax relief and oversaw state budgets that regularly exceeded the inflation rate.
So his bid for re-election has to be in trouble, right?
Well, no. For months, the Democratic incumbent, who was mayor of Philadelphia in the 1990s, has led his Republican challenger, former Steeler Lynn Swann, by double digits in every poll.
"I call him 'Teflon Ed' because nothing bad seems to stick to him,'' said Clay Richards, director of the Quinnipiac Poll, which put Mr. Rendell up by 19 points recently.
"Rendell is the consummate politician," added Mr. Richards. "He can neutralize defeats and even use them to his advantage. He came into office promising property tax relief and he hasn't really delivered on it, but he's able to put the blame for that on the Legislature.
"Even though he signed the pay raise, he hasn't paid any political price for that, while many of the legislators who voted for it have been defeated."
Perhaps the highest-profile issue of Mr. Rendell's first term was the advent of 14 casinos in Pennsylvania, with as many as 61,000 one-armed bandits. The first ones could open early in 2007.
Politically, slots have been a two-edged sword. Gamblers are happy because they won't have to trek to Atlantic City casinos or racetracks in West Virginia or Delaware to get their slots kick. And the state's horse-racing industry is pleased because some of the revenue generated at casinos will go to boost prize money for thoroughbred and harness races and help the horse-breeding and agricultural industry.
But religious conservatives and others think easier access to slots will just increase gambling addiction and generate huge social costs.
There also have been complaints that the promise of $1 billion in slots revenue to lower property taxes has been too slow in coming and won't be fully realized until 2009 at the earliest. Even then, critics say, it won't help average homeowners that much, trimming most annual property tax burdens by only $200 to $250.
Mr. Rendell, 62, took office in January 2003 and spent his first 18 months pushing for Act 71, the slots law. It was finally enacted on July 4, 2004, and he signed it one day later.
In Western Pennsylvania, it authorized one slots parlor in Pittsburgh and another at The Meadows racetrack in Washington County, each with up to 5,000 slots. There also will be smaller casinos (with 500 slots each) at two resorts, Nemacolin Woodlands and Seven Springs.
While some skeptics claim Mr. Rendell is overestimating the $1 billion he expects to get from slots, he say he's sticking with his forecast once all 14 casinos are fully up and running.
In his television commercials, Mr. Rendell boasts that 200,000 low-income seniors already have had their property taxes eliminated as a result of the anticipated slots revenue, and more modest reductions for the bulk of the state's seniors already have been enacted.
High-energy booster
One reason for Mr. Rendell's steady lead in the polls is his high level of energy and savvy use of the power of incumbency. Not bad for a guy who's 62 and fighting his weight. Last week he checked in at a hefty 257 pounds.
He has been tireless in flying around the commonwealth, handing out checks for local economic development projects.
Asked once what's the best perk about being governor, he quipped, "The plane."
Sometimes he even crisscrosses the entire state in one day -- hitting a breakfast in Pittsburgh and a dinner in Philadelphia, for example.
Much of what he doles out comes from the $650 million state capital fund, something all governors have used. But he also persuaded the Republican-controlled Legislature two years ago to approve a $1.3 billion economic stimulus package, another source of bond funds (i.e., borrowed money) to pay for projects.
The list of booster projects is seemingly endless: a new museum in downtown Hershey about the life of chocolate king Milton Hershey; the expansion of a museum dedicated to author James Michener near Philadelphia; Civil War trails near Gettysburg; a photographic equipment plant in Allentown; a music academy in Lancaster; a Dupont plant in Bradford County; a biomedical plant in Montgomery County, and many more.
In the Pittsburgh area, Mr. Rendell developed "Plan B" for ensuring the financing of a new $290 million multi-purpose arena for hockey and other events. He also agreed to advance the city and county $26.5 million to do site preparation work for a new arena.
At a recent Allegheny County Democratic picnic, Mr. Rendell had to correct County Chief Executive Dan Onorato when he thanked the governor for giving the county "about $1 billion.''
"It's $1.1 billion,'' Mr. Rendell said, adding the Allegheny County share is the highest of any county.
That comment was aimed at deflecting criticism from Republicans who are fond of jibing that Mr. Rendell is "the governor of Philadelphia."
They cite items such as Mr. Rendell having state troopers patrol state roads in Philadelphia and help the city reduce costs; advancing planning funds for a major expansion of the city's 13-year-old convention center; and the $42 million from the state for a new Comcast skyscraper being built in Philadelphia.
Republicans claim Mr. Rendell has a conflict of interest on the latter item because he earns $20,000 a year as a Comcast football commentator on Sundays after Philadelphia Eagles games. Mr. Rendell said he donates the money to charity and said he saved several thousand Comcast jobs from going to New Jersey. Pointing out that state troopers patrol state roads in Pittsburgh and all other cities, the governor said he was merely putting Philadelphia on the same footing.
Working the crowd
One reason Mr. Rendell is a successful politician is that he genuinely seems at home in a crowd of people, even those he hardly knows.
At public events like the Harrisburg Farm Show each January, he wolfs down sausages and milk shakes as he shakes the hands of hundreds of show-goers. It's the same gregariousness he's displayed throughout his 30-year political career, which included eight years as Philadelphia district attorney and two terms as mayor of the city, a time when he garnered national attention for turning the economy of the city around. His success as mayor, and as a fund-raiser, led to Mr. Rendell serving as Democratic national committee chairman in 2000-01.
He showed the same affability in late August, when he went to two African-American churches in East Liberty to deliver a short secular sermon.
The pastor of Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ, the Rev. Loran Mann, a former television reporter, gave the governor a warm introduction, calling him "my friend" and thanking him for "naming me last year to the commission that sets policy for public television in the state.''
A few blocks away, Mr. Rendell walked up to the pulpit of the St. James AME Church to the sound of hands clapping, tambourines banging and voices raised in shouts of "Amen" and "Praise Jesus."
"My core belief is that government can and should do things that make a difference in people's lives and take care of our vulnerable citizens, older people, poor people and young people," he said.
He listed what he considers his proudest achievements as governor: increasing state funding for public schools, for tutoring in math, pre-kindergarten education and all-day kindergarten; funds to put laptop computers in all high school classrooms within four years; for not cutting anyone off welfare rolls despite decreased federal funding; raising more money through Lottery sales to increase drug coverage for senior citizens; trying to reduce gun violence by limiting handgun sales to one per month.
He said Republicans are always "yelling about Democrats spending money. Well, we're not just spending money. We're spending money to improve education and that is investing in our future.''
Mr. Rendell might have been expected to be at a political disadvantage in Pittsburgh's black neighborhoods, since Mr. Swann is black, lives in Allegheny County and remains popular among sports fans from his starring days as a receiver with the Steelers' Super Bowl teams of the 1970s.
But St. James choir member Genie Beckom said that even though she and Mr. Swann are black, it was Mr. Swann's political party that she had a problem with.
"I personally wouldn't put any Republican in the governor's office," she said. "It's not to the advantage of my race. Republicans are about cutting back on things we need, such as health care, welfare and education."
Sylvia Allen, another St. James member, also likes Mr. Rendell, saying of Mr. Swann, "I'm not getting the feeling he's tuned in to us [African Americans] or connected to our problems. He's of a different status."
Obviously Mr. Rendell is pleased about his continuing lead in the polls, but when talking to supporters he downplays it, noting that in 2002, he trailed his Democratic primary opponent, then-Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr., but came back to win the Democratic nomination for governor.
"No poll three months before an election means a thing,'' he told an Allegheny County Democratic picnic three weeks ago. "Don't get complacent. Work like heck. This is our year if we don't get overconfident.''
First Published: September 17, 2006, 4:00 a.m.