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Clout: Ed vs. Sarah: His thoughts, but actually not his words

"I'M ED RENDELL and I would have approved this message." That's the political disclaimer that came to mind yesterday when we heard about a little dust-up in Des Moines, Iowa, between Gov. Rendell and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"I

'M ED RENDELL and I would have approved this message

."

That's the political disclaimer that came to mind yesterday when we heard about a little dust-up in Des Moines, Iowa, between Gov. Rendell and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

The Iowa Democratic Party this week sent voters an e-mail from Rendell, the keynote speaker at next week's annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner, urging them to beat the attendance that Palin drew last month at the annual Ronald Reagan Dinner for the Iowa Republican Party in the same Des Moines venue.

The e-mail, which sets a goal of 1,300 $100 tickets sold by the Oct. 16 event, also takes several shots at Palin in Rendell's name.

"While Palin has offered nothing but extreme rhetoric and repackaging of failed Bush-era policies, Democrats have provided real leadership and our nation is better off because of it," said the e-mail, first reported yesterday by Politico.com. "As someone who has served at all levels of government I can spot a real leader when I see it and Sarah Palin is anything but that."

Rendell also said: "Pundits like Palin don't want our nation to move forward, in fact they're promising to take it backwards."

That sounded a lot like Rendell to us. But Rendell spokesman Gary Tuma said that the Iowa Democratic Party took the liberty of writing and sending the e-mail without showing it to him.

Rendell "didn't authorize it," Tuma said, "but he's not upset about it either."

The e-mail seems to be mathematically off on its challenge.

The Iowa Democratic Party said it was only 250 tickets away from hitting 1,300 attendees. Local and national news reports after Palin's event put the crowd there at 1,500.

Sam Roecker, a spokesman for the Iowa Democratic Party, said that the GOP may have sold 1,500 tickets for Palin's Sept. 17 event but that the hall appeared to hold just 1,300 people that night.

"We just use the 1,300 because we thought that was more accurate to match Sarah Palin's turn-out," Roecker explained.

Miller's many election foes

In City Council's 8th District, which runs from Lehigh Avenue up the west side of North Broad Street and over to the Montgomery County line, a savvy politician doesn't need a majority of the support from voters to win.

Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller has proved that more than once, surviving multicandidate Democratic primary elections to claim the seat.

And they're lining up again.

Cindy Bass, an adviser to U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah who ran unsuccessfully in 2007, has declared her plans to run again.

"No matter where I go throughout the district, I still hear the need for change," said Bass, who has a website up and is holding events and fundraisers. "People are interested in some new leadership. It's been a district without planning for a long time."

Miller, who is enrolled in the city's controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan, has not yet announced her plans.

Miller won a four-way race in 2007 with almost 32 percent of the vote. Bass came in second with 26.5 percent of the vote.

More candidates are likely to enter this fight. Those who have been considering a run include Council staffers Derek Green and Latrice Bryant.

The GOP installment plan

We were a little perplexed by the latest campaign-finance report filed by the Republican City Committee. Everyone knows that much of the GOP's base lives in the far Northeast section of the city, but Republicans listed an $1,123.59 "office" expense for Faulkner Cadillac, just over the Bucks County line in Trevose.

Republican chairman Vito Canuso assured us that his party was not moving out of the city.

The expense actually paid for car repairs for one of the three women - Canuso declined to identify her - who work for the Republican City Committee.

The employee is repaying the party in $100 monthly installments, said Canuso, adding that the expense may not have been properly documented in the report.

Quotable:

"We are going for a 'hicky' blue-collar look."

- A casting call from the National Republican Senatorial Committee for an attack ad on West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin. The ad, shot at the Oregon Diner, in South Philly, with at least one local actor, was pulled from television after the casting call was leaked to Politico.com.

Staff writers Catherine Lucey and Kevin Bevan contributed to this report.

Have tips or suggestions? Call Chris Brennan at 215-854-5973 or e-mail

brennac@phillynews.com.

Check out the Clout blog at:

www.phillyclout.com.