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Rendell discusses presidential race, his future

HARRISBURG - Former Gov. Ed Rendell, on a rare return visit to the capital, weighed in Monday on the presidential race, tweaked the state House majority leader for his comments on the voter-ID law, and toyed with running for vice president in the future.

HARRISBURG - Former Gov. Ed Rendell, on a rare return visit to the capital, weighed in Monday on the presidential race, tweaked the state House majority leader for his comments on the voter-ID law, and toyed with running for vice president in the future.

Rendell, speaking at a Pennsylvania Press Club lunch, said the first presidential debate on Oct. 3 was Mitt Romney's "last best chance." He called the Republican "a strong debater" compared with President Obama, who he said has a harder time in short-answer debate formats.

"If it's a draw, the campaign's over," he said. If Romney doesn't win the debate, he predicted, big GOP donors will begin to exit the race. "There's some talk of giving up the ship in Republican circles," said Rendell, a commentator for MSNBC. "When I say give up the ship, all the super-PAC money ... will go almost 100 percent to congressional and senatorial races."

Rendell said he had tried to follow the lead of President George W. Bush by refraining from criticizing his successor. He noted Gov. Corbett's pledge to cut spending and raise no taxes. "He stuck to his word," Rendell said.

Then he unleashed a raft of mock praise on House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) for "courageously" telling a GOP group in June that the state's new voter-ID law would help Romney win Pennsylvania. "He told the truth," Rendell said. "They didn't pass that law to prevent voter fraud. . . . I mean, Mike Turzai is one of the most honest and courageous and wonderful persons that I've ever met in my experience in government."

When he left Harrisburg in January 2011 after two terms as governor, Rendell said he was done with elected office after 24 years, including stints as mayor and district attorney. Lately, though, he speaks of missing it.

He has often said he doesn't have the temperament for Congress because he'd have to get along with everyone, and Monday, he said he wouldn't run for president because he didn't want to spend three years running back and forth between Iowa and New Hampshire. Plus, he has often talked up Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's prospects for the White House.

A Clinton-Rendell ticket in 2016? "I'm hoping the lure of being the first woman president in the history of United States would be too great for her to resist," Rendell replied, "and I would aid her in any way I could."