Rendell says idea of NYC mayor bid 'pure B.S.'
Ed Rendell blows off talk of his running to succeed Mike Bloomberg as mayor of NYC, as some politicos there had urged. He loves being in the mix, though.
Rendell says idea of NYC mayor bid 'pure B.S.'
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) recently was approached by a key adviser to New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who tried to recruit him to renter politics and run for mayor of the Big Apple. It seems that Bloomberg, a notoriously picky manager who built a massive media empire and who has waged war as mayor against cigarettes, trans-fats and Big Gulps, has been less than impressed with the roster of his would-be successors.
“Pure B.S.,” Rendell, who was born in Manhattan, said of the idea that he would seek to govern his native city. He did, however, seem amused by the buzz that mention of his possible candidacy had generated in the Acela Corridor’s media-political complex. It was touched off by a report Monday in the New York Times.
“I haven’t been there for 50 years,” Rendell said in a brief interview with The Inquirer late Tuesday. He went to prep school in the Bronx, thinks he may have been to Brooklyn once, and has only been in Queens for “tennis matches,” he said, referring presumably to the U.S. Open.
“I’m not going to run for mayor of a city I don’t really know,” Rendell said.
That would seem to leave open the possibility that the former two-term governor and two-term mayor of Philadelphia might run for something. Nope, Rendell said. “The only thing I am interested in running is Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president” in 2016, he said. Asked what steps were happening on that front, Rendell said, “there’s plenty of time.”
The most overrated Mayor in the history of Philadelphia = Fast Eddie Rendell. Boy was he exposed as governor.— MrBigDizzle- I'm not a great fan of Hillary but she should have better sense than hook her horse to your wagon— robtpenn
- Could it be possible, fast Eddie coming out of retirement to run for public office again? Go Eddie, they need you up there.— junethe4th
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
