Pa. Democratic Party endorses Casey for gov.

Gubernatorial candidate Bob Casey received the state Democratic Party's endorsement for the upcoming Democratic primaries Saturday morning, one day after his opponent and former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell announced that he would withdraw his name from consideration for the endorsement.

"The endorsement is an indication that the elected members of the State Democratic Committee feel that Bob Casey is the best candidate to represent the people of Pennsylvania and is the best democrat to win the general election," Neil Cashman, head of the state Democratic Party, said. "We have two good candidates and either one would be better than [Republican gubernatorial candidate] Mike Fisher, but we felt that Casey was the best."

Casey, who has served as Pennsylvania's Auditor General since 1996, is looking forward to the support the committee's endorsement will bring to his campaign.

"We're grateful for the endorsement," said Matt Casey, Bob Casey's brother and campaign advisor. "We viewed ourselves as the underdog for the endorsement because Rendell was really the quintessential party insider. We had our work cut out for us."

Rendell chose not to pursue the endorsement, saying he did not want a divisive floor debate and would instead take his campaign directly to the voters of Pennsylvania. Rendell made his announcement Friday evening, at a debate between the two candidates before the Democratic Women's Caucus in Harrisburg.

Rendell emphasized the dissension that the party's endorsement can bring in his decision to withdraw.

"The main reason [Rendell chose to withdraw] is that there was a lot of arm twisting and a lot of other things going on," said Dan Fee, spokesman for Rendell. "We need to win in the fall. We don't need to be setting up division and bitterness and that is all the state committee endorsement does."

Matt Casey, however, mentioned Rendell's lack of support among state Democratic party representatives as a reason why he might not have wanted to seek the endorsement.

"I think [Rendell's decision] was a rational decision based on the fact that there was an overwhelming number of votes for Bob Casey," Matt Casey said.

Additionally, Rendell would not have had two-thirds majority in the committee for the organization to issue no endorsement between the two candidates.

Rendell will now focus on garnering support among the people of Pennsylvania, playing down the importance of the endorsement for winning the election.

"If you look at the track record, you can win the primaries without the actual nomination. The endorsement wasn't our goal. [We'll put forth] the same effort. We're still focused on winning the primary," Fee said.

Fee stated that Rendell's experience, including eight years as Philadelphia's mayor, will be key to his success in May's primaries and in the general election next fall.

"Rendell is the one candidate that has experience running a government," Fee said. "He is the only candidate who has balanced a budget, cut taxes, created a single job or taken a single criminal off the streets."

At the same time, the state Democratic Party also cites Casey's experience as a reason for his endorsement.

"He has a proven track record across the state as a vote-getter and as a representative for all the people," Cashman commented. "He cares about the issues that the people of Pennsylvania care about and the issues that are important to the people of Pennsylvania."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.