for Obama's VP...I cant stand that man. Good luck to you dems if he does get picked...Good luck to us all if he gets in a higher office.

Why? I know little or nothing about him.

He thinks Fox news does the best political coverage.

According to the news channels, isn't EVERYONE on the short list? I think I saw my name on there last week!

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"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? " ~Epicurus

Who is he? I don't think I've heard of the man. Guess I'll have to google him!

Rendell? Really?
I hadn't heard that.

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l/ l/ l/
Dont go through life,
GROW through life

Real eyes...realize...real lies.

God help us all! It will be more govt waste and spending! I keep hoping he will pick Bill Richardson. I don't really know that much about him, but I am thinking he will be fair and hope he helps the middle class. Might be wrong, though. I really find it hard to trust any politicians, as they all promise the moon and then do nothing when they get in. I wish we could get people in that would really cut the pork spending and some of the perks they get, but I know I am only dreaming. We need some of us coupon savers on here to take care of the Govt.-HA HA!

For all that do not know Rendell, he is the current Govornor of PA and former Mayor of Philadelphia being most relevant. He started as mayor having to close a major budget hole in Philadelphia and did so by angering a lot of unions. After 8 years as mayor, he left as a very popuular mayor and then ran for Govornor.

He won govornor, and has since expanded free healthcare for children and worked to expand funding for transportation issues (such as public transportation and bridge repair).

Many people are critical of him because they feel he has not done enough to lower taxes and spent millions on new Stadiums for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. They also did not like the fact he was a big proponent of slot parlors in PA.

As for a VP canidate, I do not think he wants it, but if he were to be on the ticket, he makes sure Obama gets PA and NJ and helps in OH, VA and FL (he is popular among the Jewish consitutancy in PA).

Thanks Roger. I didn't know who he was. I appreciate that. Question, why oppose the slots? Better that (voluntary loss of income) than more taxes, no?

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"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? " ~Epicurus

I don't think he helps with NJ or VA particularly. I think he might help in PA, but he was in HRC's corner and he didn't do much for her there. Although she won with about 9% of the vote, that was down from a previously double digit lead for her.

Thanks for answering my original question. Obviously brendasm1 was not going to respond, just going to throw out the fact that he/she did not like him.

I can understand critics not liking spending on new stadiums. Same thing has happened here, with no apparent benefits to the city itself. Also I'm not a big fan of legalize gambling but like Nicole mentioned, we might as well take voluntary money rather than raise taxes.

But I do like what you said he did with healthcare, bridges and public transportation. He sounds as viable as the other 500 or so possibilities.

There were 2 differnet thoughts on why people would not want it. First there were the people that thought it would bring massive amounts of crime such as public drunkenness and DUI and the like. So much so that it would overwhelm local police forces and actually cost those towns more to handle the traffic. If we take the 2 I have been to, Philadelphia Park and Chester, you will see that the crime has not increased as much as originally thought. Crime did go up, but opponents thought it would be more catastrophic.

The other reason was that they thought there would be massive amounts of people that would lose all of their money at the casinos and would then force them on to public assistance to pay for their living expenses. While there may be some that do that, I think that argument was way overblown for a state where not only has there been a lottery in place for the last 20 years, nearly everyone lives with in a day trips distance of casinos in WV, AC or an Indian casino in NY.

As for his help in NJ and VA, they are slightly different. NJ is a defenite plus because Rendell is IMMENSLY popular in the Philadelphia market. During his first run for Gov, he had a tough fight in the primary to win. There were people in the PA side of the Philly suburbs that switched to Democrat just to vote for him (much like many Republicans this year to do the same for both Clinton and Obama).

As for VA, he is a mans man, and does not talk down to people. Speeches by him in the more Rural parts of Virgina could help people be more receptive to Obama.

Well, we all have our opinions on him. I don't want to start anything, but other than what you mentioned that he has done and then all the spending when the state/economy is in such a mess, I can't see what he has done for the common people. The few dollars he is throwing our way for property tax relief is a joke for alot of the districts. It is true that the larger districts get more relief, but the rural areas are hit just as hard and they get less, I guess because of the total of school children in the districts. He is for making a name for himself, and doing for the upper class-not the lower middle class like us. I think the casino's were just pushed to get more money for them. I don't expect to see total property relief from that at all. I also feel that after a few years of it, people won't be playing there as much. I think people will still go to NJ, etc. after the newness wears off to get out of the state (unless now because of the gas). I know that I will not contribute one measley penny in the casino's in PA. Guess you will say I am bitter-Yes, I am! My main beef is that they, including him, should be all working together to cut out the waste in the govt. and give up a few of their perks that they might not have to keep raising the working class taxes all the time., but they will never do that.

I live in Pittsburgh and I was completely happy with them spending money on the stadiums. We have a darn good hockey and football team and they bring a lot of money into this city. The casinos will bring money into the city as well.

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Shauna

Sorry I didnt respond sooner...I hate the way he has handled our budget...the state was literally shut down thanks to Ed. The turnpike issue has had me very upset. Lease for a few billion to fix the roads for 75 years to a foreign company.And if you didnt know, he is/was a staunch Hillary supporter, and has said Pa is not ready to elect a black president, but now Obama is our democratic presidential candidate, I guess we should all forget about that.
I have been away, and working long days, so to the catty poster that commented that I was obviously not going to respond, that was sure nice of you. To be honest, I am sorry I did post it, I will keep these kind of discussions to myself or share them with my husband. Thats it, I am done. Outta this board where I dont belong.

I assume that I'm the catty poster you are talking about. If you post a comment about someone you should be prepared to tell us why. It's sort of silly to just drop a statement like you did with no explanation and then not respond to my truly curious and not impolite question for more information. If you are going to post such an inflammatory comment then you should have a reason for the comment. And if you are going to call someone catty then at least have the courtesy to answer my original post while you call me catty. Since it took about 8 days for you to respond to any posts, I guess I should have known by osmosis that you would eventually answer. Sorry, I don't do osmosis. I hope you enjoy your pity party, I know I have.

Well, we are registered R,but have voted for Ed Rendell for governor twice. As Mayor, he turned the finances in the City of Phila around by, yes, reining in the bloated and inefficient city government and yes, angering the unions. His first order of business was scrubbing the bathrooms in city hall and then opened city pools for the first time in years.

Rendell has a BIG heart and speaks his mind freely (was extremely loyal to Hillary) and alot of folks in SE PA love him. Having said that, I do not think anyone in their right mind would choose him as a vp because he is too much of a maverick. However, he is Jewish, so if Obama was looking to court U.S. Jews, perhaps it would help him in that sense.

Boy anyone who makes sure the toilets are clean has my vote. Sounds like a man who has his priorities in order. All the stuff that has been said about him in this thread and that one action sold me. And if the people like the idea that McCain is a maverick, (which he really isn't), then they should love this guy.