The Elephant in the Room: A twist in race for governor

It was 1993, and I was a wet-behind-the-ears Western Pennsylvania congressman floating my candidacy for the upcoming U.S. Senate race. Sitting across the table from me at the Palm Restaurant on Broad Street was Billy Meehan. When half of Philadelphia wasn't dropping by our table to pay respects to the Republican icon, I was pitching my candidacy.

After Meehan had listened to me long enough to be polite, he summed up how Pennsylvania pols feel about U.S. Senate races.

"Congressman, I don't give a damn who the next senator is," I recall him saying. "You got no jobs! I'd rather have two state senators than one U.S. senator. The only jobs U.S. senators can deliver are federal judges. You know what you get when you appoint a judge?"

"No," I winced.

"Ninety-eight people who are upset with you for not picking them and one ingrate who forgets who got him there."

For the reasons the late party leader articulated, the race for governor was the headliner in 1994, and just about every other year the state had one. The exception, at least so far, is this year.

The state's current Democratic U.S. Senate primary has enough excitement for a reality show. It matches Pennsylvania's longest-serving Republican senator against a congressman who claims the Obama administration tried to bribe him.

But with less than six weeks until the primary, none of the four Democratic gubernatorial contenders seems to have gotten traction. None has more than 20 percent support in the polls, and all are well behind the likely GOP nominee, Attorney General Tom Corbett. More than half the likely Democratic primary voters are undecided.

This is not quite what Gov. Rendell's fund-raising apparatus expected as it coalesced behind Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato's gubernatorial candidacy in a bid to bring about the Rendell machine's "third term."

Onorato did his part to make himself attractive to the Rendell money folks. Over the past few years, he has transformed himself from a blue-collar, pro-business, pro-life, pro-gun, conservative Democrat to one who is liberal, tax-and-spend, only personally opposed to abortion, and in favor of "commonsense" gun control.

Onorato is counting on $6.7 million in the bank to seal the deal, but there are other options.

On the right is state Auditor General Jack Wagner, who is still a pro-life, pro-gun Democrat. Wagner's strong showing at a Democratic State Committee meeting denied Onorato the party's endorsement, and his impressive 2008 reelection margin made him look formidable. But the soft-spoken war veteran hasn't been able to raise enough money for a high-profile race, which likely has something to do with his positions on life and guns.

On the far left is Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel. On paper, he should be the darling of the crowd that supported Barack Obama in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary. Then again, Obama didn't win the 2008 Pennsylvania primary.

Hoeffel, like Wagner, can't seem to get folks to ante up. He raised no money when he ran against Specter six years ago, and he's raising even less this time around.

So game, set, match to Onorato, right? It sure seemed so - until, from out of nowhere, came State Sen. Anthony Williams.

This West Philadelphia "Tony-come-lately" has a message that just may break through. Williams is not your typical liberal black legislator, à la fellow West Philadelphian Rep. Chaka Fattah. He not only votes with Republicans on occasion; he also works hard to cultivate good bipartisan relationships.

In fact, his marquee issue puts him at odds with Democratic elites and deep-pocketed teachers' unions. Williams, you see, is an unabashed supporter of charter schools and school vouchers. This principled stand turns out to be incredibly popular with his constituents and helpful in one other important way: He raised more than twice as much money as any other contender last quarter, thanks largely to school-choice advocates and middle-class blacks who see him as the future.

Now, with endorsements by Mayor Nutter and Philadelphia State Rep. Dwight Evans, Williams stands to get a sizable vote in the city.

Williams' willingness to promote solutions that break with the liberal policies that have so damaged his own community just might appeal across the commonwealth. If so, Pennsylvania's race for governor could once again take center stage.