Read David Broder’s entire column in The Washington Post here:

Because the history of this office is weighty in terms of national politics, with figures including Rendell, Tom Ridge, Dick Thornburgh, Milton Shapp, Bob Casey and Bill Scranton all playing prominent roles in their parties, the outcome may be more important than the highly publicized fight for Arlen Specter’s Senate seat.

But because both candidates come out of the west and neither is well known in the Philadelphia media market, where 40 percent of the voters live and elections are usually decided, both spent last weekend shaking hands and rubbing shoulders at neighborhood events in this city — classic retail campaigning in a race that only this week has moved into TV advertising.