Philadelphia Magazine: Tom Wolf’s political résumé is a bit thin

You'll learn more about millionaire Democrat Tom Wolf from this one article in Philadelphia Magazine than you have from all the so-called coverage in the past year from the pro-Democratic press in Pennsylvania. Some highlights from Steve Volk's profile of  Wolf, who is likely to become Pennsylvania's next governor if polls are to be believed. Volk writes that Wolf is not the Forrest Gump he's made out to be in those folksy television commercials.

Some highlights from the article:

"The result is that Pennsylvania may be led by a governor we’ve only just met, the electoral equivalent of setting up house after the first dinner date."

"He’s rich, yes, but he’s no tycoon. His $10 million contribution to his own campaign included $4.5 million acquired through a personal loan."

"In truth, Wolf is much more than the folksy two-dimensional character his ads make him out to be. He is amiable, yes, but he’s also the ambitious and calculating scion of a proud and powerful family,
 

"Still, compared to most other gubernatorial candidates, Wolf’s political résumé is a bit thin."

On whether he purchased his brief tenure as Ed Rendell's revenue secretary by making a huge donation to Rendell's campaign: "When I asked Wolf about the discrepancies between his campaign narrative and Rendell’s earlier recollection of events, he waved them away, saying, "Uhh, I don't remember."

"The answer seems like a dodge, as if Wolf would prefer to pretend he was called to duty rather than acknowledge that he methodically built a CV for a future gubernatorial campaign. But there’s a trail suggesting Wolf is a lot more calculating than he lets on. He donated more than $250,000 to Rendell’s campaigns between 2002 and 2006. Rendell has acknowledged in the past that a big donation buys you a meeting (Wolf and his wife have donated more than $1.6 million to various state and county candidates since 1998), so it could be argued that Wolf didn’t just purchase this last primary election; he also sank some cash into his application for a position in Rendell’s cabinet."

"Wolf could hardly have mounted a credible run in 2010 against the backdrop of the smoking ruin of the Wolf Organization, a company bankrupted by a loan taken out largely to pay him."

Tom Wolf Profile: Perfect Stranger | Philadelphia Magazine