Gov. Rendell Interviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered”

The choice is Barack Obama versus John McCain . And for anybody who cared about Hillary Clinton, that choice is absolutely crystal- clear. So we’ve got to get over it.

You know, I’m speaking Tuesday night, and I’m speaking about renewable energy. But I almost feel like going off-prompter and saying, “You know, I was supposed to talk about renewable energy, guys, but I want to give a message to the Clinton forces. If you’re out there and you’re thinking about not voting or voting for Senator McCain, come on. It’s over.”

“We gave it our all. Nobody worked harder than I did. We gave it our all. We fought. We’re proud of what Hillary did. We’re proud of what she accomplished. But if we care about Hillary Clinton, we have to do exactly what she told us, not look back, look forward. Come on. Let’s get over it. Let’s go. Let’s roll up our sleeves and elect Barack Obama .”

NORRIS: I want to talk to you about Pennsylvania if I can.

RENDELL: Sure. NORRIS: For the Obama-Biden ticket, where are the biggest challenges in the state? What region presents the biggest challenge? What voters present the biggest challenge?

RENDELL: I think it’s more than just region. I think there are two types of voters that are going to be a challenge for Senator Obama, even with Joe on the ticket, and that’s working-class, white, middle-class, lower-middle-class voters, who, by the end of the election, by June 2nd, Hillary Clinton had become a genuine hero, had become a genuine spokesperson for the middle class, for the blue- collar middle class of this country.

I went with her on the St. Paddy’s Day parade in Pittsburgh, and then we flew to Scranton. We walked in the Scranton parade. And people were going nuts, like there was some movie star. It was incredible what a symbol she had become because of her toughness, because of her refusal to quit, and because they thought that she spoke about the things that were important to them.

So we’ve got to win those voters back in northeast Pennsylvania, in southwest Pennsylvania, in the central -- what’s called the T. It’s very important.

NORRIS: Now, I want to ask you about working-class voters, because many polls show that Barack Obama is still having a hard time reaching out, in particular to white working-class voters. You took a lot of heat early on when you said that there were some white voters who would not line up behind Barack Obama . If you look at the polls and where we are right now, it seems like you could say, “I told you so.”

RENDELL: Well, first of all, I did take a lot of heat, but even the fellow who wrote the story a week later wrote that I was really right, some voters in Pennsylvania who weren’t going to vote for Barack Obama because he was African-American.

But I also said in the next breath there were some voters in Pennsylvania who weren’t going to vote for Hillary Clinton because they couldn’t see a woman as commander-in-chief of the Armed Services.

When I ran for office the first time, there were some voters in Pennsylvania who weren’t going to vote for me because I’m Jewish.

NORRIS: But to the extent that race is a barrier, how does this campaign overcome that?

Gov. Rendell Interviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered”

RENDELL: Well, I think, when the economy is troubled -- and Pennsylvania, we’re doing better than most states. We actually ended the year in a surplus, but -- and we’ve gained jobs this year. Most states have lost jobs and the country has lost over 250,000 jobs.

But when the economy is troubled, people look to, who’s going to bring them help? Who’s going to help their budgets? And if they decide that Tom Jones is going to be the best help to their budget, they don’t care if he’s purple, green, fuchsia, aqua, black, white, red. It doesn’t matter. They’re looking for that help. And that’s what message -- if Barack Obama gets that message across to working-class whites, he’ll get the significant majority of their votes, race notwithstanding, notwithstanding.

NORRIS: Ed Rendell, the governor of Pennsylvania, thank you so much for speaking with us. Have a great convention.

RENDELL: My pleasure.

END

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Aug 25, 2008 19:13 ET .EOF

GOV. RENDELL IS INTERVIEWED ON NPR’S “ALL THINGS CONSIDERED”

AUGUST 25, 2008

SPEAKERS: GOV. EDWARD G. RENDELL, D-PA.

MICHELE NORRIS, NPR CORRESPONDENT

[*] NORRIS: We’re here with Governor Ed Rendell.

Thank you so much for joining us. RENDELL: My pleasure.

Gov. Rendell Interviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered”

NORRIS: I understand that you’re planning to cast your ballot for Hillary Clinton.

RENDELL: If there’s a roll call -- you know, the campaigns decided there was a roll call. We’re not certain yet what type of roll call it will be. But if it a traditional roll call, I would urge all of the Clinton super-delegates, as well as the Clinton elected and pledged delegates, to cast their votes for Senator Clinton. She won them fair and square.

I mean, gosh, the people of Pennsylvania, in a 10-point victory -- and for presidential politics, that’s huge -- gave her a 10-point victory. They deserve to have us, the delegation, cast our votes for Hillary Clinton.

Then they’ll put a period behind it. They’ll say we did everything we could. Now let’s get to the next phase, and that’s electing Barack Obama .

I think there will be a cathartic effect. The more I talk to our Clinton delegates, I believe we need something like that.

NORRIS: You know, I’m going to play devil’s advocate with you, because the other argument that I heard on this is that what it might do is whip up the enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton, as opposed to helping people become more enthusiastic for the eventual nominee.

RENDELL: Well, I would think that would be a problem were Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton not speaking at the convention. I mean, if you care about Hillary Clinton and you followed her and care about the things she’s fought for, you have to do what she says. I mean, put it behind us.