State Update

Happy Easter?

The White House is displaying state Easter eggs, some of which are pretty cool if you're into that sort of thing. I personally like the entries from Kansas, Montana, Missouri and New Hampshire. But one certainly stands out. Pennsylvania's is a rendition of Gov. Ed Rendell (D).

After some research, I found an explanation from The Patriot-News in Harrisburg. The egg is the creation of Stephanie Robenseifner, a 21-year-old senior illustration major at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in Lancaster, the paper reports.

Normally, I paint portraits," said Robenseifner... "So when our professor told us about the contest, I decided to paint the governor."

Robenseifner, whose decorated egg beat out 11 others in the state contest, said she took a raw egg, inserted a pin into both ends to create holes, then blew the egg out of the shell. She filled the shell with a liquid material which hardened, then used acrylic paint for the governor's portrait.

"I've never met Gov. Rendell," she said. "I worked from photos. It took me eight hours to finish. His wife saw the egg at the [Pennsylvania State] Farm Show and said she was pleased with it. He's seen pictures of it."

So it wasn't Rendell's idea, anyway. And, yes, Rendell is Jewish.

Swann pulling ahead?

A recent poll shows that even though conservatives want more substance, former Pittsburgh Steelers star Lynn Swann (R) is pulling ahead of incumbent Ed Rendell (D) in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial contest, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

"I think this is a very important appearance for Lynn Swann," said Lowman Henry, executive director of the Pennsylvania Leadership Council, which champions conservative causes and is organizing today's conference. "It will show whether he will connect with the grassroots conservative movement in Pennsylvania."

And that movement, political analysts say, is crucial, particularly because polls show him and Rendell in a razor-edged race. An IssuesPA/Pew Poll released yesterday showed Swann with a slight lead over Rendell, and about a third of registered voters saying they could vote for either candidate.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains that the poll shows why voters in southwestern Pennsylvania can expect to see a lot more of Rendell there, as he tries to boost his low numbers in the Pittsburgh area.

More details on the poll are available here.

License to vote

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) vetoed legislation Monday that would've required voters to present valid photo ID before casting a ballot. His veto notwithstanding, many states have enacted similar legislation in the last year.

Perhaps the controversy is most heated in Georgia, where a federal court threw out a law passed last year. There, lawmakers passed another version of the law in January. For some good background on the issue, check out the Stateline.org story from last spring, when this movement started picking up steam.