HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell was asked yesterday if Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll should step down from office in light of her unusual behavior at a political rally in Pittsburgh on Monday.

Not at all, said the governor, who, like Mrs. Knoll, is an enthusiastic backer of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

A group of high-profile Democrats, including Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, were holding a rally in Market Square to get supporters psyched up for Tuesday's Democratic primary against challenger Barack Obama.

"I understand she delivered some pretty good blows" to a couple of local officials, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, as she pushed her way to the microphone, said Mr. Rendell, who wasn't there.

"Maybe the Steelers and the Eagles should be interested in drafting her," quipped Mr. Rendell, an avid football fan and a TV commentator on Eagles games.

Mrs. Knoll got upset when Mr. Ravenstahl didn't introduce her. Then Mr. Onorato, who was about to introduce Mr. Clinton, again bypassed Mrs. Knoll, so she pushed forward to grab a microphone before Mr. Onorato handed it to Mr. Clinton.

"These two men can't stand women," she said of the mayor and the county executive.

Mr. Rendell put the episode down to the "exuberance" and "passion" of Mrs. Knoll, a former state treasurer and loyal Democrat for more than 50 years.

"She's a passionate supporter of the Clintons, and Hillary specifically," the governor said. "She wasn't recognized by the local officials speaking at the program.

"I'm not sure I would have done it," Mr. Rendell told reporters in a conference call yesterday, "but it just shows the exuberance she brings to politics, along with some pretty good elbows.

"I love exuberant people. When Catherine gets her mind set, it's pretty hard to dissuade her. I can't dissuade her."

At her victory speech Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Mrs. Clinton recognized Mrs. Knoll for her support.

Mrs. Knoll is known for doing odd things occasionally, such as referring to the governor, whose name is Edward G. Rendell, as old-time actor "Edward G. Robinson," or barging into a military funeral in Carnegie in 2005 and handing out her business card in a misguided effort to help the family.