Keystone Speaker

Now, he calls a campaign operative to double-check the date of an upcoming Clinton fundraiser, and he talks awhile about his disinterest in getting a BlackBerry and about the fact that he still doesn't do e-mail . . .

And then there is a rare moment of silence, during which the governor of Pennsylvania can think of nothing more to say.

The Rendell Rules

Mark Aronchick, a Clinton campaign state co-chairman who's known Rendell since college and has advised him on and off for decades, recalls a moment in the '90s when he had to meet the private jet of some big wheel who was considering doing business in Philadelphia. The big wheel was meeting the mayor for the first time and was worried because he'd arrived late for their dinner. Aronchick told him not to be concerned. He offered the four rules of dealing with Ed Rendell:

1) "As late as you are, he'll be later."

2) "However many people there are between the door and the table, add at least a minute or two per person."

3) "The chances are higher rather than lower that he's on a two-day cycle with his suits. Or maybe three. So don't expect [him] all pressed and walking out of GQ or anything."

4) "Order what he's ordering or else he's gonna be spearing half of your stuff."

And so it was. The big wheel loved him.

Little wonder Rendell and Bill Clinton get along so well, with their chattiness, their charm, their perpetual tardiness. They met in the winter of 1992, Rendell recalls, during his first term as mayor and shortly before the Arkansas governor had effectively secured his party's nomination.

The mayor endorsed the candidate soon after, and he and his wife, Midge -- who would later be appointed a federal appeals judge by Bill Clinton -- met Hillary Clinton during the course of that campaign. One of Rendell's favorite pictures is of Hillary and Midge campaigning, two successful attorneys, both blond, both dressed in red. Little wonder Hillary and Eddie got along -- the parallels are hard to miss.

"Hillary loves characters, she always has," McAuliffe says. "She likes people who just speak their mind."

Rendell says he and Hillary kid around sometimes, and when he's asked for examples, they all involve Bill. There was the time recently when he asked Hillary, "Is it okay if we work Bill from 9 to 9 and give him six stops and end up in Elk County?" and she laughed and said, "You can work him as hard as you want." And there was the time when he asked if he could take Bill to Jo Jo's in Pittsburgh, where they make massive omelets and put the home fries inside , and she said, sure, but only if he got one made with egg whites.