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Wednesday, November 06, 2002

By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent

PHILADELPHIA -- Even as the vote counting was just beginning, Ed Rendell's supporters brimmed with confidence.

	Ed Rendell supporters at the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel cheer election results as their candidate is elected governor of Pennsylvania. (Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette)

The crowd chanted, "Ed-die, Ed-die, Ed-die." The Philadelphia Eagles pep band, Stars and Stripes, played "Happy Days Are Here Again."

Those in the know, the campaign volunteers and union organizers who worked the streets yesterday, weren't projecting merely a Rendell win. They were talking about the political massacre of Republican Mike Fisher.

Said state Sen. Allen Kukovich, D-Manor, who is also Democratic state party chairman, "Tonight, with this victory, is the beginning of a Rendell renaissance."

Kukovich said that when the polls opened, he had hoped for a 10 percent Rendell margin of victory. But as he traveled east across the state, stopping at voting precincts along the way, his confidence grew that it would be even higher.

One volunteer, Michael Showell, a 17-year-old high school student, was recruited by Rendell's organization to help get out the vote by waving signs in front of city hall yesterday. It was his first exposure to politics.

"I'd do it again, definitely," he said. "I'm going to get my little brother involved next year. It's really spurred my interest in politics."

More experienced campaigners were equally impressed.

"I have been involved in beaucoup campaigns, and I have never been involved in such a well-orchestrated campaign. Never," said Charlie Murphy, a member of Local 274 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Union in Philadelphia. "It was incredible. It was unbelievable. I felt like I was in the military.

"Union rank and file were directed where to push to get voters to the polls, loaded them in vans, knocked on doors and were directed by pseudo-generals using wall maps highlighted on areas to concentrate on."

Voter turnout in Philadelphia and the suburbs, as a result, was large.

The goal was to give Rendell a resounding victory that Republican leaders in the state House and Senate could not ignore, said Bob Ryder, a member of the Philadelphia Teamsters Local 463.

"We weren't just looking to send a good guy to Harrisburg," he said. "We were looking to enable this guy to get things done."

Barbara Hafer, the Republican state treasurer who crossed over to endorse Rendell, said his margin of victory "will send a message to the [Republican] House and Senate leaders," making Rendell's dealings with them smoother.

Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy said he was pleased that Allegheny County helped give Rendell "a mandate."

"I probably haven't been as excited about an election since John Kennedy," Murphy said.