Leftovers: Meehan on Fumo and Rendell the editor

Before we get overwhelmed by campaign finance data, a couple leftovers that slipped by us yesterday at pa2010.com Central.

Former U.S. Attorney and GOP gubernatorial hopeful was on TV responding to the surprisingly lenient verdict for Vince Fumo. He also issued a statement, saying: “While I am deeply disappointed in the length of former Senator Vince Fumo’s sentence, we cannot forget that justice was realized and Vince Fumo was soundly convicted for a pattern of criminal behavior. He has been removed from the legislature and is now going to jail. This is a remarkable event that no one thought would happen. When the jury spoke back in March, they did so unambiguously and found him guilty on all counts. Fumo’s crimes were far worse than those of others—such as Corey Kemp and Rick Mariano—and yet his sentence was dramatically less severe. We are sending the wrong message to those in power that if you abuse the public trust, don’t worry because the punishment will be weak.”

And as if Gov. Ed Rendell doesn’t have enough on his plate, we learned that he’ll be making a foray into journalism as guest editor of Politics magazine later this year. Mike Huckabee is also giving it a go as guest editor (disclosure: I have written for the magazine).