PA--McDonald Roberts Comes Up Short...Way Short

Despite the clear assistance that Valerie McDonald Roberts would have given Democrat Ed Rendell in his bid for a second term as Governor of Pennsylvania, the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds is getting thumped by 43 percentage points in tonight's primary(www.blackpolicy.org/black-policy/php?s=PA) and appears to be on her way to finishing a distant second in the four candidate field.

McDonald Roberts came to race with impeccable credentials and closed the race with endorsements from the state's major newspapers, but the incumbency of Catherine Baker Knoll was too much to overcome. So the Rendell/Baker Knoll team will take on Republican nominees Lynn Swann (www.swannforgovernor.com) and Jim Matthews in November.

With Swann in the race and McDonald Roberts now out it will be interesting to see how the African American vote in November shakes out. Will they stay firmly and largely in the Democratic camp and thus boost Governor Rendell? Or will more than the usual 8-10% that vote for Republican candidates at any given time give Swann and the GOP an opportunity? Only time will tell.