A Tale of Two Cities

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell, the former mayor of the state’s largest city, gets the enthusiastic endorsement for his candidacy by the mayor of the state’s second largest city. Sounds like a sure winner, right? Well, maybe and maybe not.

Four weeks ago Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy stood shoulder to shoulder with Rendell in Pittsburgh and declared Ed "the right choice" as the next governor, citing his "experience, knowledge and commitment to lead our state." The question is, does a Murphy endorsement carry any real weight outside of Pittsburgh? Well, it depends upon whom you ask. We thought a good idea would be to ask the folks who know and work with Murphy, so we ran an informal poll of several Pittsburgh City Council members.

First District Councilwoman Barbara Burns is also endorsing Rendell, and she sees Murphy's endorsement as a plus.

"Political coattails aren't very long, no matter who we're talking about," Burns says matter-of-factly. "But the fact that Tom Murphy is working on a third term speaks well of his performance, and that could resound with the people here. Pennsylvanians outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia know that a lot of state revenue comes from the cities, and Ed is saying the things that people want to hear. He's an attractive candidate."

We've heard Ed described a lot of ways, but that's surely the first time his name and the word "attractive" appear in the same sentence.

Alan Hertzberg, representing Pittsburgh's second councilmatic district, is also a Rendell supporter, but more than that, he's a pragmatist. He says the two cities that bookend the state are generally not well thought of in the more rural and suburban counties.

"It's really a tough call," Hertzberg says. "This is why they pay political consultants a great deal of money, just to answer questions like this. How will it play in the suburbs and out in the rural areas? Probably not as well. Being Œbig-city friendly' is not the popular politic, and the association could hurt Ed as well as help him. Most citizens know the importance of our two major cities to Pennsylvania's economy. But there's also the view that the cities are black holes into which tax money is thrown, never to return. That being said, Ed Rendell is the only candidate with experience running a major city with all its problems, and he did as well as can be expected."

We tried to contact Pittsburgh City Councilman Bob O'Connor, who just last week dropped out of the race for lieutenant governor. When he bowed out, O'Connor pledged his allegiance to Jack Wagner, running mate of Rendell rival Bob Casey Jr. O'Connor was out of the office, but a spokesperson sets the endorsement record straight.

"Bob has not endorsed either Mr. Rendell or Mr. Casey, and we don't know when or if he'll make that decision. He has endorsed Jack Wagner for lieutenant governor, but so far that's all," the spokesperson says.

"We don't know how the Murphy endorsement will affect the campaign, but like any endorsement, its effects won't be seen before Election Day."

A very tactful and diplomatic answer, but Guvwatch isn't interested in tact or diplomacy, so we asked around looking for the straight dope.

Upon hearing the question, Jon Schmitz, local news editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, begins chuckling immediately. Schmitz has covered local politics for years, and he knows the terrain.

"The mayors of Pittsburgh have notoriously short coattails and an almost laughable track record of endorsements," he snorts. "Tom Murphy is no exception. He's endorsed the loser more often than the winner, so much so that some folks around here consider his endorsement the Œkiss of death.' He's had little success in transferring his own popularity on to other candidates and has even been whipped in local and city races."

Schmitz goes on to say that conventional wisdom has it that Philadelphia candidates don't do well in the western part of the state and that Pittsburgh mayoral endorsements don't hold much water outside Pittsburgh city limits.

"It's entirely possible Murphy's endorsement could hurt Rendell in the long run, but it's even more likely that the whole thing won't amount to a hill of beans," he says, still laughing.

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