I can hardly contain myself.
The next day at a Capitol news conference, he said, "Stay tuned," because he might also push for a Constitutional Convention, which could lead to term limits, merit selection of judges and a smaller Legislature.
I, for one, am already cheering: Go, Eddie! Go, Eddie!
Just a few observations and a couple of questions.
First, Rendell's calls for these and other reforms in the past went nowhere. Why would they happen now?
He says he'll tap "ire" of voters over the long-delayed budget (which still isn't finalized) and ongoing scandals. Fine, but lots of that "ire" is aimed at him, especially west of Paoli.
His job-performance ratings in the Franklin & Marshall/Daily News Poll, though much higher than the Legislature's, are the lowest of his incumbency: less than 30 percent of voters in polls taken in June, August and October say he's doing a "good job."
So he enters his last year in an office he can't seek again and wants campaign-finance limits with no lobbyists? This after building a career soliciting and collecting roughly a bazillion dollars from any lobbyist with breath and from any sensate being with a checkbook?
"I think I could pass a lie detector," Rendell told the Scrantonians. "I've never once let a campaign contribution influence a state decision."
Good to know. So this reform would be for everybody else? All the scum, who, I suppose, would not do well with a lie detector? Oh, and certainly no one believes that Comcast or Penn, both of whom pay Rendell for services, have any special influence with his administration.
Second, a Constitutional Convention is a great idea, as it was a decade ago, as it was when raised directly with Rendell more than four years ago. Philly Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans publicly called on the Guv to get behind it. He didn't. And the Democratic-controlled House crushed the proposal.
