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Lunch at the Reading Terminal: An electoral requirement

PHILADELPHIA—If there’s one thing every candidate—Democrat or Republican, up-ballot or down-ballot—can agree on, it’s that stumping at the stories Reading Terminal Market is mandatory political fare in this city.

For seemingly as long as there’s been both politics and a Reading Terminal Market downtown here, candidates have put in last-minute face time with the Philly crowd, the perfect spot to pound a few pre-election day carbs. On Monday it was Democratic gubernatorial candidates Joe Hoeffel and Dan Onorato who made a swing through while the lunch crowd was in full force, stopping patrons mid-cheesesteak to shake hands and make their final pitches.

Onorato, who commands a wide lead over his opponents heading into Tuesday’s primary, was trailed by an entourage of supporters and camera crews as he made the rounds. He took some time to talk about some of Philadelphia-specific issues, like his support for the Delaware River dredging project. The Allegheny County executive side-stepped questions about Tom Corbett, the Republican he seems increasingly likely to face in the fall, saying his focus is squarely on Tuesday.

And he said he’s taking increasingly bitter attack ads from his opponents as a sign of success.

“Look, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in politics,” he said, “it’s that if you’re getting attacked, they must think you’re doing pretty good.”

Hoeffel, who is trailing in the polls—most surveys still have him in single digits—said he’s not giving up hope.

“There’s a lot of undecided voters,” Hoeffel said. “And I think I’ll do very well here in the southeast.”

The two candidates were all smiles when they bumped into each other in front of Spataro’s sandwich shop, where they exchanged a friendly handshake and a few jokes about who would run out of campaign cash first.

May 17, 2010 at 4:48 pm

--Amy Brisson

Tags: Dan Onorato, Joe Hoeffel

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