GOP plays ‘what-if’ game with Schweiker
HARRISBURG – After Gov. Mark Schweiker garnered instant national celebrity status for his role in the recent rescue of nine trapped miners from the Quecreek mine in Somerset County, some Republicans say they can’t help but wonder “what if” he were their candidate for governor. With GOP candidate Mike Fisher trailing Democrat Ed Rendell by as much as 14 percent in some polls, some are wondering if the race would be closer if Schweiker was running.
As a Bucks County native, Republicans believe that Schweiker would have been able to neutralize Rendell’s overwhelming popularity in southeastern Pennsylvania, which has enabled him to win the Democratic primary by a landslide and build a large lead over Fisher in the polls.
“I think Mark would have been a great candidate, and I think he would have won,” said Harry Fawkes, chairman of the Bucks County Republican Party for the past 30 years. “I think Fisher is a great candidate, but Mark has been there (in the governor’s office). It’s going to be a close race.”
“Right now, Mark Schweiker probably has higher name identification than Mike Fisher has,” said Larry Ceisler, political analyst for Fox News – Philadelphia. “So the Republicans right now are not running their strongest candidate.”
Schweiker was appointed governor last fall, after then-Gov. Tom Ridge resigned to take a job in President Bush’s Administration.
Shortly after taking office, Schweiker announced that he would not seek election because he wanted to spend more time with his family. Consequently, the GOP is running Fisher, the state attorney general and a former state senator from the Pittsburgh area, against Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia.
“Mark Schweiker would potentially do a better job (than Fisher) at wooing voters on both sides in the suburbs of Philadelphia,” said state Rep. Matthew Wright, R-Langhorne.
“He has the same experience and values as people in the area. You could put him in Bucks, Chester, Delaware or Montgomery county and he’d fit right in with the philosophies of the everyday person.”
Schweiker could have also aided other Republican candidates in their races, said Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bensalem.
“Absolutely, from a political standpoint it would have been much, much better for any (Republican candidate) in Bucks County and probably Southeastern Pennsylvania having Mark Schweiker at the top of the ticket.”
But political analysts say such speculation may be presumptuous. One of the reasons Schweiker received so much acclaim for his leadership at Quecreek Mine was because observers were convinced his concern was sincere.
“The real question would have been whether the press corps would have been as kind to him if he were running or if they would have thought he was trying to milk the situation for his own gain,” said G. Terry Madonna, a political analyst at Millersville University.
“I think if he was running, people would really look at him with suspicion,” Ceisler said. “And that’s the cynical society we live in.”
But it’s all irrelevant since Schweiker isn’t running.
Despite Rendell’s early lead, political analysts and Republicans alike agree the gubernatorial race is far from over.
Many voters are away on vacation and haven’t paid much attention to the race, thus far, so the polls may not be an accurate predictor at this point, Fawkes said. Former governors Dick Thornburgh, Bob Casey and Ridge all trailed their opponents in summer polls before the election, Madonna said.
“The campaign hasn’t even started,” Ceisler said.
Wright believes Fisher has some advantages that Schweiker doesn’t.
“Mike Fisher will do well out in western Pennsylvania. He is from there,” Wright said. “Mark Schweiker may not have been able to do that.”