If Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell gets elected next Tuesday, whom will he pick as his chief of staff? “Maybe David Sweet,” said Rendell. Sweet is currently Rendell’s campaign manager.

Sweet, a partner at Pepper Hamilton, said that there had been no discussion about the chief of staff position and that the election was not over yet.

"I would consider it," said Sweet from his Harrisburg office, "but there has been no discussion."

Fisher Rapping

Rendell was in town on Monday night to pick up money from the Pride of Philadelphia Election Committee (POPEC) at the home of POPEC President Mark Segal, who is also publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News. Ed walked away with almost $75,000. POPEC had been fundraising for Rendell since last December.

Rendell was late for his check party, which was attended by about 20 or so POPEC board members.

Segal, who has known Rendell since 1974, reiterated to the room that Rendell has always been a staunch supporter of gay rights and, as mayor, he signed the domestic partners bill, giving same-sex, city-employee couples the same health benefits as straight couples. (The law has since been challenged in Commonwealth Court by the Urban Family Council and the court overruled the city. An appeal is in the works.)

"I have been battered almost since June by [Republican Mike Fisher] -- of course not in Philadelphia, but around the state for supporting domestic partnership and gay rights," said Rendell. "If you think that way you can't possibly govern. The anti-choice letter he sent to Catholics... He bashes gays, not understanding that... a vast majority of Catholics don't want gays to be discriminated against. There are so many things that make up family values, and who's to say what an American family is?"

Kevin Harley, spokesperson for the Fisher campaign, confirmed that Fisher sent out a letter to Catholic leadership in support of pro-life issues.

"But that is not bashing," said Harley on Tuesday from the campaign office. "Ed Rendell is thin-skinned with anyone who disagrees with domestic partnership. Mike Fisher disagrees with domestic partnership and believes in a traditional marriage between a man and a woman," he said.

Fisher's views have done nothing to hurt Rendell's standing with the LGBT community.

Mike Marsico, co-chair of Liberty City Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club, who attended the POPEC event, said that Liberty City is "taking over" the Fifth and the Eighth Wards in the city.

"That's river to river," said Marsico. "We'll go door-to-door on Monday and again on Tuesday; we'll hit 70,000 households, Republicans too. Most of the gay community is concentrated in those two wards," he said.

He added that Bump, the night club/restaurant located at 13th and Locust streets, will open at 6 a.m. as an operational center and volunteer stop.

He said that about $25,000 has been raised by Liberty City to support Rendell and to create a statewide structure for future races.

"Fisher is gay-bashing for votes," said Marsico, who travels around the state garnering Rendell support from local communities.

"Every debate, Fisher brings up that Rendell does not have the same traditional Pennsylvania values that [Fisher] has because Rendell supports same-sex values and choice," he said.

Fisher spokesman Harley repeated his stance. "Just because you disagree does not mean you are bashing," he said.

"We had a fundraiser with Liberty City, the Human Rights Coalition, the Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Alliance for Political Action and the Pennsylvania Gender Rights Coalition, on Sept. 29 at the Ritz-Carlton," said Doug Shaps, Outfront!'s executive director.

"We brought in $35,000 there and, on Sept. 9, members of the LGBT community, including several OutFront! board members, raised close to $62,000 at a fundraiser at a private home on Bainbridge Street," said Shaps.

All About Breasts

Healthy breasts were the focus Friday night at the Breast Health Institute's (BHI) annual black-tie fundraiser, "Give the Shirt Off Your Back!," held at the Penn's Landing Hyatt.

BHI, along with Fashion Group International, hosted the event that brought in more then 400 guests in support of fighting breast cancer.

Every year more then 200,000 women in America are diagnosed with breast cancer. BHI and FGI want to make that number zero.

Rochelle Schwartz formed BHI in 1990, in response to the growing number of women with the disease. Her husband is Dr. Gordon Schwartz, a breast surgeon at Jefferson Hospital. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to raising funds for clinical research, education and public awareness of breast cancer. For more information on BHI, call 215-627-4447.