VANITY FAIR NOMINATES Edward G. Rendell

Hall of Fame

VANITY FAIR NOMINATES

BECAUSE as mayor of Philadelphia he took a city that was downtrodden and scared and dying and has restored to it the most important emotion of all—hope, BECAUSE he saved the city from sure bankruptcy by declaring war on the unions and extracting hundreds of millions of dollars in concessions, BECAUSE he balanced a deeply in-the-red budget without severely curtailing services, and without looking to the federal and state governments for more funds, BECAUSE in the day and age of the cookie-cutter politician, who doesn't go 10 minutes without taking a poll, he thinks and speaks with his heart and is utterly unafraid to be human, BECAUSE he shows up for municipalpool openings in swimming trunks decorated with flags of the world's nations, and once, in order to raise $5,000 for the city's recreation department, got into a wrestling match with a mascot—a six-foot pig. BECAUSE when he originally declined to appear with Mickey Mouse at a promotion for Disney, he justified it by saying, "I'd do the same for Bugs Bunny." BECAUSE, after being cajoled, he threw up his hands in frustration and said, "All right, I'll do the fucking mouse." BECAUSE he believes passionately in our cities, and fears that the economic boom has caused us to lose "the moral imperative" over them by leading us to wrongly assume that all the horrors of urban poverty have suddenly been solved, BECAUSE in the 23 months he has left in his final term, there is still so much that he alone can do for the city, BECAUSE Philadelphia will seem empty and sadly different without his remarkable presence.

BUZZ BISSINGER