Pa. governor a dedicated Clinton promoter

By Katharine Q. Seelye

updated 4:24 a.m. ET April 15, 2008

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. - Edward G. Rendell, the governor of Pennsylvania, demonstrated his value to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton last weekend, helping her quickly devise a strategy to counter and exploit remarks by Senator Barack Obama.

When Mr. Obama provided an opening by saying that small-town voters in Pennsylvania facing hard economic times “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion” to explain their frustrations, Mr. Rendell was ready to pounce.

He instantly mobilized his political machinery, organizing many mayors in Pennsylvania to speak on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf and to hold rallies. He also suggested that she reshuffle her schedule to visit Scranton, where her father grew up and where, in a hastily arranged visit on Sunday, she highlighted her link with small-town Pennsylvania.

But Mr. Rendell could not actually speak with Mrs. Clinton, in part because he was consumed with the intricate task of negotiating with others to map out her final week before the state’s primary next Tuesday — deciding who gets to see the candidate, and who does not.

Few presidential candidates have ever had the benefit of a local promoter like Mr. Rendell, who before being elected governor was the mayor of Philadelphia. He is campaigning as vigorously for Mrs. Clinton’s election as he would for his own, and constantly talking her up with remarks that, alas, sometimes go off message. (On Monday, he shrugged off the impact of Mr. Obama’s comments. “It will cost a couple of points at the margin, but it won’t be a sea-changer,” the governor said.)

But Mr. Rendell is at the ready. He helps craft Mrs. Clinton’s messages, escort her around the state and introduce her at events. He has enlisted his fund-raisers to assist her, ginned up endorsements and coaxed some superdelegates into staying neutral until after the Pennsylvania primary. He has made commercials for her. He juggles state business and her political business with equal urgency — haggling over financing for a development project in Wilkes-Barre and an airport expansion in Erie one minute, calling in to Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC the next.

His credibility as a local spokesman automatically vaulted him into the national spotlight.

“Every time I turn on the TV, I see you,” Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a leading supporter of Mr. Obama, told Mr. Rendell backstage recently at a Democratic dinner here in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Mrs. Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, attended the same dinner. Ms. Clinton spoke briefly to the crowd, and when she said she was proud to be campaigning with Mr. Rendell, the audience whooped and hollered. “Well, gosh,” she said, looking slightly amazed. “I feel like I should just stop there.”

Blunt but useful
Mr. Rendell is redefining the role of political host, putting to shame the other Democratic governors who have endorsed either Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama and have helped them navigate their states ahead of a primary or caucus.

And his bluntness frequently makes for good copy. For example, he told reporters in March that he would happily support a Clinton-Obama ticket or an Obama-Clinton ticket (“Either way,” he said). He said in a recent interview with The New York Times that the Clinton campaign had made some “God-awful decisions.” He also said that women had warmed up to her tremendously during the course of the campaign, after having initially considered her “an intellectually snobby feminist.”

But with a three-decade record on the public stage, Mr. Rendell is seen as an undeniable asset to Mrs. Clinton, particularly in the Philadelphia media market, where 40 percent of the state’s voters live. He won re-election as governor in 2006 by a landslide 20 percentage points and generally gets good grades for sprucing up the reputation and finances of his Rust Belt state.

Even as he promotes Mrs. Clinton — she is the best prepared to be president, he says, and she “gets it” — Mr. Rendell is careful to keep the door open with Mr. Obama should she not succeed in winning her party’s presidential nomination.

In an interview in his ornate wood-carved office in Harrisburg, the governor referred to Mr. Obama several times in positive ways, as he did publicly at the Democratic dinner here. He frequently says he will “work my butt off” for Mr. Obama if Mr. Obama wins the nomination. His real ire is directed at the news media for “drinking the Kool-Aid” and not being tougher on Mr. Obama. “The press hates the Clintons,” he said in the interview. “No question about it.”

MORE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

The New York Times Section Front

NYT: The Facebooker who friended Obama NYT: McCain orders campaign shake-up NYT: Obama courts evangelicals once loyal to Bush NYT: Obama camp thinks Dems can rise in South NYT: Attack of the Web freelancer NYT: Unity no easy destination for Dems NYT: Muslims feel snubbed by Obama NYT: Obama closely linked with ethanol NYT: McCain and Dole really so similar? NYT: Obama plans push on ads, turnout The New York Times Section Front