swan has spoken with several republican leaders re the race. he is testing the waters for a run.

rendell won the pittsburgh, lehigh valley, and philly clusters-about a dozen counties out of more than sixty. while that's not a lot of counties, it's where the bulk of PA's population is located.

on paper, swan's profile is potentially dangerous for rendell. high name recognition, with a western PA base that could hurt rendell in pittsburgh, and as an african american, he could hurt rendell in philly.

whether that is enough to overcome rendell's HUGE lead in fundraising, and the fact that the Governor's approval rating is pretty high, is an open question. the other open question is whether, as interesting as swan is on paper, he makes a compelling candidate in person. celebrity might be enough to get you elected in California, but PA voters tend to be a pretty savy lot.