Editing Ed Rendell (section)

===Involvement in presidential elections===
[[File:RendellPA.JPG|right|thumb|Rendell speaking in support of Barack Obama in [[Horsham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|Horsham, Pennsylvania]], on October 13, 2008]]
Rendell was a [[John Kerry presidential campaign VP selection process|potential candidate]] to serve as [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[John Kerry]]'s running mate in the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential campaign]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/elections/2004/veepomatic_bios.htm|title=Who Will it Be?|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=October 7, 2014}}</ref>

Rendell's popularity, particularly in the suburban ring of counties around Philadelphia, was a key to Kerry's victory in Pennsylvania, one of the most hotly contested [[swing state]]s in the 2004 presidential election.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}

On January 24, 2008, Rendell announced his endorsement of [[Hillary Clinton]] in her [[Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign|race]] for the Democratic presidential nomination.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_549028.html|title=Clinton receives Rendell backing - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review|access-date=2016-02-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211153640/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_549028.html|archive-date=2008-12-11}}</ref> He stated that "[Hillary] really cares about moving this country forward. She also has the best health-care plan for America."{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

As one of Hillary Clinton's staunchest supporters, Rendell argued that many media outlets' coverage of her campaign were biased. On March 31, 2008, he congratulated Fox News on what he considered to be the best campaign coverage. Addressing ''Fox & Friends'' host [[Steve Doocy]], Rendell said, "I think during this entire primary coverage, starting in Iowa and up to the present, Fox has done the fairest job, has remained the most objective of all the cable networks ... You actually have done a very balanced job of reporting the news, and some of the other stations are just caught up with Senator Obama, who is a great guy, but Senator Obama can do no wrong, and Senator Clinton can do no right."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/31/clinton-surrogate-ed-rend_n_94280.html|title=Clinton Surrogate Ed Rendell Praises Fox News For "Most Objective", "Balanced" Coverage|first1=Danny Shea Editorial|last1=Director|first2=The Huffington|last2=Post|website=[[HuffPost]]|date=March 31, 2008}}</ref>

Rendell reached out to various Pennsylvania mayors in order to get them to speak out in support of Clinton.<ref name="Seelye"/> He assisted her with establishing her messages.<ref name="Seelye">{{cite web|last1=Seelye|first1=Katharine Q.|title=At Clinton's Side in Pennsylvania, Governor Rendell Is a Dedicated and Often Blunt Promoter|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/us/politics/15rendell.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=December 2, 2016|date=April 15, 2008}}</ref> Some superdelegates maintained a neutral stance prior to the Pennsylvania primary as a result of Rendell talking them into remaining neutral until the Pennsylvania primary was over. Clinton also benefited from televised endorsement ads Rendell made on her behalf.<ref name="Seelye"/>

After Clinton dropped out of the race, Rendell endorsed Senator Barack Obama in June 2008 and made several campaign appearances on his behalf.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comment-blog.advance.net/cgi-bin/mte/mt-search.cgi?tag%3DEd+Rendell%26blog_id%3D794|title=Archived copy|access-date=2016-02-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211163909/http://comment-blog.advance.net/cgi-bin/mte/mt-search.cgi?tag=Ed%20Rendell&blog_id=794|archive-date=2008-12-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rendell_Obama_hasnt_changed_his_mind_0629.html|title=Rendell: Obama hasn't changed his mind on telecom immunity|website=The Raw Story|date=2008-06-29|access-date=2016-08-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/06/obama_philadelphia_fundraiser.html|title=Obama holds Philadelphia Fundraiser with Gov. Rendell|access-date=October 7, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415152554/http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/06/obama_philadelphia_fundraiser.html|archive-date=April 15, 2014}}</ref>

As state governor, Rendell was one of the 768 [[superdelegate]]s to the Democratic National Convention.<ref>{{cite web |title=The expectations game |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/early-returns/2008/03/31/The-expectations-game/stories/200803310225 |website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |access-date=16 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Like In 2008, Ex-Pa. Governor Says Clinton Will Win State's Democratic Primary |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/04/26/475696028/like-in-2008-ex-pa-governor-says-clinton-will-win-states-democratic-primary |newspaper=NPR.org |access-date=16 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref>