He's also the fiscal watchdog whose blistering audits have detailed waste and mismanagement in Rendell's administration.
Rendell barely acknowledges Wagner's presence in the race, despite the fact that the auditor general has been endorsed by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Philadelphia Inquirer -- two of the state's three largest newspapers. "At times he's a pain in the butt, but he does his job," Rendell said grudgingly when reminded that Wagner, an ex-Pittsburgh city councilman and former state Senator, was also running.
Wagner clearly wasn't Rendell's choice as a successor.
Then there's Joe Hoeffel, the outspoken liberal Montgomery County commissioner who cut his political teeth in George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign and later courageously gave up his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to challenge the seemingly invincible Specter in 2004 when no other prominent Pennsylvania Democrat was willing to take him on. It was a pretty gutsy thing to do, particularly against an entrenched incumbent who had garnered more than 61 percent of the vote while breezing to an easy fourth term victory six years earlier.
Ironically, Rendell was among those who encouraged the three-term congressman to challenge the longtime Philadelphia Republican that year. This year, Rendell has apparently given the former congressman the cold shoulder, in much the same way that he brushed off Wagner's candidacy. "Hoeffel was too committed to liberal ideals to fit Rendell's taste," state Rep. Cohen told this writer.
That's too bad because Hoeffel is probably the most impressive candidate in the field, but many Democrats don't even know he's running.
One can only imagine how disheartening it must be for candidates like Wagner and Hoeffel -- both of whom possess substantial gravitas, whether the lame-duck governor wants to acknowledge it or not -- to be described as "little-known Democratic candidates," as a Philadelphia weekly recently described the party's entire gubernatorial field.
Having sacrificed a promising congressional career that would have given him tremendous seniority in the U.S. House -- making him the sixth highest-ranking Pennsylvania Democrat in Congress -- for the thankless task of trying to unseat the calculating and self-serving Specter six years ago, Hoeffel has found little in the way of gratitude and support from the state's most powerful Democrat and the man he hopes to succeed in the governor's mansion.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
