PHILADELPHIA-Anyone who thought Gov. Ed Rendell would quietly drop off the national stage after helping deliver Pennsylvania to President-elect Barack Obama should think again.
There was Rendell this afternoon, standing in front of the nation's governors after they met with Obama, speaking for many of them and at moments eclipsing even the political superstar who stood barely 10 feet to his left, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. There was California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, lauding his Democratic colleague as a "great partner." And when the press conference he assembled was over, it was Rendell who quickly found himself mobbed by reporters, both local and national.
"We didn't come here begging for help," Rendell insisted shortly after the governors met with Obama about the financial crisis and the possibility of federal aid for states.
With Rendell currently the chairman of the National Governors Association and the new administration sending signals that it will likely echo his emphasis on infrastructure investment, don't expect this routine to stop any time soon. When a Republican colleague voiced concern about an escalating federal role in the economy, it was Rendell who got to frame what he said was Obama's belief that something had to be done.
"If we're asking for any money at all, it's for the citizens of our state," Rendell said.
See video of Rendell talking to reporters here.
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