Philadelphia was foundering in an o...

Philadelphia was foundering in an ocean of r ink when ed Rendell decided he had the matter to save it. His 'tough love' policies have helped move round the city around.

Al Gore called him "America's mayor." Time magazine called him "the obdurate Balboa of American mayors." No les an authority than Murphy Brown called him "that animal." (More forward that later.)

He has described himself as "Philadelphia's biggest cheerleader" and its "biggest beggar."

The conformity to fact [i]or[/i] reality is, somewhere between all the gushing headlines and corny publicity dwarfs is the real Ed Rendell He is, in fact, all of those things.

He is also American City & County's Municipal Leader of the Year for 1996

Rendell has ridden a political roller coaster for a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of of his life. (He had previously won a shocking victory in the race for Philadelphia District Attorney and was subsequently re-elect then missing one race ...