2000: The decade started off with the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia back when the Wachovia Center was still called the First Union Center.
2001: In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Bush turned to PA’s own Governor Tom Ridge to head the new Department of Homeland Security. A former Assistant District Attorney and congressman from Erie, Ridge was thrust into the national spotlight in a job that he had to create and learn on the fly. After his resignation in 2004, Ridge wrote a (tell-all) book, and spent the rest of the decade active in politics at the state and national levels.
2002: After almost eight years of the Rendell Administration in Harrisburg, it’s easy to forget that when the Governor first ran in the Democratic primary in 2002, not even the State Democratic Party was behind him (they had thrown their support behind Bob Casey). Philly’s former mayor has a big personality and political acumen that have made him a force to be reckoned with, and handily beat out Mike Fisher to take the commonwealth’s top job. For our money, Rendell has been one of the most colorful governor’s PA has ever had.
2002: After the 2000 census, PA lost two congressional seats, and the resulting redistricting of the state’s Congressional districts at the hands of the Republican controlled General Assembly spawned a legal fight went all the way the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of 2003. As the 2010 census approaches, another re-districting effort is on the horizon, and with Pennsylvania likely to lose another seat in Congress, expect another dramatic chapter.
2005: The July 2005 middle of the night passage of a pay raise for themselves ended up shaking the General Assembly like hardly anything had before. It ended up becoming one of those events in history where a majority of the general public who normally barely notices government and political action mobilized for a sweeping change. Incumbents (even judges) lost primaries and general elections in numbers never seen before.
2006: The story of Luke Ravenstahl’s rapid ascension to Mayor of Pittsburgh is of the one-in-a-million-shot variety. Following the untimely death of Mayor Bob O’Connor, Ravenstahl was sworn in as mayor at the age of 26, and easily won re-election in 2007. Mayor of Pittsburgh is hardly an easy job, but Ravenstahl’s youthful enthusiasm has undoubtedly had an effect on Pittsburgh’s image (G-20 summit anyone?). Plus, how many Democrats would love to have Bill Clinton at one of their fundraisers? By age 28, Ravenstahl had crossed that off his list. It will be interesting to see what he does with his 30s…
2006: The 2006 midterm elections were brutal for Republicans nationwide, but no one felt the heat more than the once popular and powerful Rick Santorum (he was the 3rd ranking R in the Senate at the time). His 18-point loss to Bob Casey was the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent Senator since 1980. The blue tide also swept out Melissa Hart, Don Sherwood, Curt Weldon, and Mike Fitzpatrick, but Santorum’s shocking defeat was felt most by Rs statewide. Still, though, Santorum’s conservative credentials have allowed him to remain relevant, and he has even floated a run for President in 2012.
2007: Bonusgate is like Pennsylvania’s own little soap opera – It goes on for years, some characters stay the same, some come and go, and there are plenty of plot twists to go around. Starting in 2007, everyone waited months for the promised second (and third) rounds of charges, which have arrived in recent weeks. We’ve already seen multiple scandals, a trial, an acquittal – everything but the legal kitchen sink. With Tom Corbett’s gubernatorial race heating up, his roles as AG and candidate will only make this storyline more intriguing.
2008: The 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary was one of the hardest fought ever, and in April, with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama very close in the delegate tally, all eyes were on PA’s late primary. Not since the ‘70s has PA’s primary held a significant role in the nomination of a president—its April date is just too far into the game. But, like it had many times before, the 2008 election turned convention on its head. For once, PA, the last big delegate prize, mattered. The week before the primary, Clinton and Obama were at Messiah College for CNN’s nationally televised compassion forum, and Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center for an ABC News debate. Clinton won by 9 points (though less than expected). The rest of course, is history.
2009: The biggest surprise that wasn’t occurred in April this year when longtime Republican Arlen Specter switched parties. The one-time Republican moderate is now a Democrat, and in the re-election fight of his life, first in a primary battle with Joe Sestak, and presumably in a general election contest with Pat Toomey. Specter’s life story proves, though, that long odds are never really that long for Specter. The first November of the next decade will show us if he can beat them yet again.
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