Rendell: Trump Has “Crossover Appeal” in Pa.

There is surely part of Ed Rendell that sees Donald Trump as a kindred spirit. How could the author of A Nation of Wusses not see a little bit of himself in the shtick of a man whose candidacy seems to grow with every “politically incorrect” statement he makes?

Certainly, Rendell isn’t dismissing the possibility that Trump could win Pennsylvania in a general election.

“He has crossover appeal with some blue-collar working-class Democrats,” Rendell told the New York Times, in a story gauging Trump’s chances in a general election race against Hillary Clinton.

The Times reports Rendell said the key to defeating Trump “was to keep coaxing him into making offensive or extreme comments that would alienate independents and others who might normally vote for a Republican nominee.”

That hasn’t worked so far, but Rendell — long a Clinton partisan — figures the math works out in his candidate’s favor.

“For every one of those blue-collar Democrats he picks up,” Rendell said of Trump, “he will lose to Hillary two socially moderate Republicans and independents in suburban Cleveland, suburban Columbus, suburban Cincinnati, suburban Philadelphia, suburban Pittsburgh, places like that.”