Ed Rendell Chats With Rich Zeoli About Hillary Clinton, Chris Christie And The Pope
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ed Rendell addressed a series of political issues on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT with Rich Zeoli, including Hillary Clinton's campaign corralling reporters in a rope line during a parade she attended New Hampshire and calls for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to resign in order to run for President.
Rendell said the decision to use a rope to separate Clinton from the media looks horrible, but he understands why it happened.
"Because Hillary Clinton is covered by more media than any candidate, probably in history, when she marches in a parade, the media surround her and she can't even get to the people on the sidelines. The whole point of marching in a parade is to be seen by the people and to reach out and shake hands with the people. I remember in 2008, marching with Hillary in the St. Patty's day parade in Pittsburgh and Scranton. We were able to veer off to the left and to the right and shake hands with people, but that's not possible for her now. They did this, and I'm not sure the visual is a great visual but I understand why they did it because otherwise she should stay at home."
He stated he doesn't take seriously any calls by Democrats in New Jersey for Christie to step down as Governor to run for President.
"The Democrats who are calling for him to resign are wrong. Adlai Stevenson, when he ran for President in 1952, was Governor of Illinois and continued to serve as Governor. Mike Dukakis, when he ran for President in '88 was Governor of Massachusetts and he continued to serve as Governor of Massachusetts. In this electronic age, the Governor can do a lot of his work anywhere in the United States, anywhere in the world for that matter. The key component is when he's needed in Trenton, will the Governor come back and be there? I think knowing Chris Christie, the answer to that is yes."
Rendell also took a stand against calls to shutter businesses and lock down the city when the Pope comes here in September.
"There's got to be a balance here and there's got to be a solution. A lot of the Parkway institutions want to do special exhibits that are keyed in to the visit of the World Meeting of Families and the Pope's visit. Of course we have to have security, but reading today about an eight foot fence in downtown Philadelphia, that makes absolutely no sense to me. I see the Pope go all across the world and there doesn't seem to be that type of security. Nobody wants to risk harm happening to the Pope, but there has to be an appropriate balance."
