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Corbett, Rendell spar over Phila. voter turnout

GOP luminaries, including three governors, urged voters today to make a last-minute push for U.S. Senate nominee Pat Toomey and gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett, under fire for comments he made yesterday.

At a luncheon in Upper Darby on Thursday, Corbett addressed expected voter turnout in mainly Democratic Philadelphia. " ... [W]e want to make sure they don't get 50 percent. Keep that down," Corbett said.

Gov. Rendell, in an interview on MSNBC, accused Corbett of urging the GOP to suppress the Philadelphia vote, adding, "that's almost a federal crime."

On Thursday, Corbett bristled at any suggestion that he was advocating an effort to hold down the vote in the city. "I'm insulted by that," he said.

Today, at a rally in Lancaster, Corbett directed his fire at Rendell rather than his opponent, Democrat Dan Onorato.

"I'm going to cut spending," Corbett said. "I am going to cut the size and cost of state government. Do you really want four more years of Ed Rendell-like policies?"

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty picked up on the spending theme, saying the difference between the two parties was like the difference between an "open bar" and a "cash bar" at a wedding reception.

"We're up against the party that acts like it's an open bar," Pawlenty said. "It's time to close the open bar."

Pursuing the alcohol them, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said, "Our government has been a drunken spending spree.

"They've even given drunken sailors a bad name."