Staff writer

bmiller@observer-reporter.com

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, an ardent supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton's quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Wednesday that he'd "absolutely love" to see her and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama share the ticket, no matter who was at the top.

On the other hand, Rendell's not flinching at the prospect of the race going down to the wire at a brokered convention this summer.

Rendell analyzed the results of Tuesday's primary, downplaying the effect of his support for Hillary Clinton in a conference call with reporters from around the state.

The governor, emphasizing, "I'm speaking only as myself," said an Obama-Clinton or a Clinton-Obama pairing would be a team he'd like to see.

But if the campaigns are still fighting for every superdelegate vote in August, that's also OK with the governor. Reaching back into the dusty annals of the Democratic Party, he dredged up the fact that Woodrow Wilson was nominated on the 46th ballot, went on to win the presidency (in a three-way race with Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose party) and a second term.

"Endorsements by politicians in presidential races don't mean jack," Rendell said of his extremely active role in the Hillary Clinton campaign while his rival, Sen. Bob Casey Jr., backed Obama. "Casey voters voted for Hillary Clinton almost 70 to 30."

While Clinton's margin of victory fluctuated between 9.2 and 9.4 percentage points Wednesday as the last of the returns straggled in, it was widely reported as a 10-point win over Obama.

"All 10 points should be credited to Hillary Clinton, maybe one point to Chelsea Clinton. Hillary Clinton won this on her own. No politician influences the vote for president of the United States."

Rendell also lauded Clinton's debate performance last week in Philadelphia. "She was sharp, she was crisp," Rendell opined. "Sen. Obama stumbled."

Saying he's not angling for a Cabinet post in a Clinton administration because the presidential campaign "reinforced my view that I can only work for myself," Rendell said Clinton, in campaigning hard throughout the state's largest media markets while surrogates fanned out to smaller counties, ran a gubernatorial campaign while Obama's was more typical of what one would see in a fall presidential general election.

There's not much common ground between Rendell's observations and those of a local Obama supporter.

"I don't see them on the ticket together," said Carl Haberl of South Strabane Township, a retired schoolteacher who made an unsuccessful run as an Obama delegate from the 12th Congressional District to the Democratic National Convention in Denver Aug. 25-28.

Locally, Haberl said he thinks the Obama campaign was up against "the politics of intimidation in Washington County." Not only was there a showdown between the rival campaigns at North Main and Chestnut streets, but a utility crew jackhammered the street in front of the Obama headquarters for two hours Tuesday morning just as the Obama phone bank started making get-out-the-vote calls.

As the Democratic presidential contenders move on to Indiana, North Carolina, Guam and West Virginia, you won't see Haberl and other members of the Obama camp tossing their signs and bumper stickers in the trash can.

"We're going to keep our team together for the fall. When we're all done with this process, unless there's some tricky business going on, we expect him to be the nominee of the party," Haberl said of Obama, whom he met at a rally at Soldiers and Sailors Hall in Oakland.

Washington County Commission Vice Chairman Bracken Burns met Sen. Hillary Clinton in the same venue, different event.

As the top male vote-getter among delegates running in the 18th Congressional District, Burns fully expects to be heading to Denver in August.

While a poll by Washington & Jefferson College students during the last week of the campaign showed Clinton leading Obama by nine points among county Democrats, Clinton outpolled the Illinois senator by a much greater margin, 71.4 percent to 28.6 percent.

Burns discussed the county's demographics, citing three points that made Washington County Clinton country: a large population of senior citizens, in which he included himself; a "less-urban area" and a large number of female voters.

Larry Spahr, Washington County elections director, said he couldn't break down Democratic voters by gender because that characteristic was no longer required under the National Voter Registration Act of 1995.

"I think we probably have more female voters," Burns said. "Women I ran into in the last month or so were very, very passionate about Hillary Clinton."

Burns also cited the Clintons' appearances in and around Allegheny, Washington, Greene and Fayette counties as significant, citing Hillary Clinton's visit to California University of Pennsylvania. Turnout wasn't great there, but at almost the same time, former President Bill Clinton was 20 miles away in Greene County.

"I do think it makes a statement when a candidate takes the energy to come to your county. Whether you go or not, you pick up the paper and you say, 'Oh, my God, she came to my county.'"

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