Ed Rendell has been dogged for months by rumors of a possible romantic relationship with a 40-year-old aide. A Philadelphia magazine reports on the rumors in an issue hitting newsstands Friday, but apparently finds no one who will go on the record, and no real concrete evidence.
In other words, if the subject were a Republican running for president, you’d call this piece New York Times quality.
Rendell’s response is, shall we say, audacious:
Then, the I’m-an-unromantic-schlub defense, also known as the “Who am I, Mark Sanford?” defense:
“Do you think I would ever use the words ‘soul mate’ or ‘love of my life?'” he asked. “Ed Rendell would never enunciate those phrases. That’s like Romeo and Juliet.”
Next, the unorthodox but compelling argument in which Rendell ponders aloud exactly which women he should be having affairs with, if he were indeed having affairs:
Gov. Rendell demonstrates his herculean restraint by talking about all the portly-politico-loving skirts he’s turning down:
And, finally, we have the ringing endorsement of Rendell’s wife when she was faced with speculation that he had a dalliance with Eliot Spitzer’s paid paramour:
It’s all so comically frank and unflattering, I think I’m forced to believe him.
