Published: March 21, 2008 11:26 pm      

Former lieutenant governor backs Obama

As her campaign has descended on Pennsylvania, Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton has picked up key endorsements from top party officials.

Clinton is ahead of rival Barack Obama in statewide polls, and she and her husband have made numerous campaign stops during the past few weeks.

But Johnstown native Mark Singel, a Harrisburg lobbyist and former Democratic lieutenant governor, says Obama cannot be counted out.

“I do not believe you can take an accurate poll on this race in Pennsylvania until Election Day,” he said.

Singel said he is endorsing Obama and serving as a “sounding board” for the campaign. He said he hopes to offer “some wisdom achieved after some 25 years” in politics.

“It’s a complicated state, and there are pitfalls to avoid,” Singel said in an interview from The Winter Group, the Harrisburg-based lobbying firm he established in 2005.

Singel has extensive political experience. He was a Cambria County-based state senator from 1981 to 1987, when he began serving as the late Gov. Robert P. Casey’s lieutenant governor.

When Casey underwent a transplant operation in 1993, Singel became acting governor for about six months.

Singel also ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 1992 and for governor in 1994, when he finished second to Republican Tom Ridge.

He chaired the state Democratic party from 1995 to 1998. And this year, Singel will be listed on the primary ballot as a potential delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Singel said he has been impressed by the Obama campaign, which on the national level has pushed the U.S. senator from Illinois ahead of Clinton in terms of pledged delegates and the popular vote.

“I really do believe in this notion of hope and change,” Singel said. “I think (Obama) has demonstrated an unusual level of grace and style.”

Singel said Obama has sufficient experience to become president and has proven himself to be a “consensus-builder.”

He will have to use those skills in Pennsylvania, where Gov. Ed Rendell is one of Clinton’s high-powered Democratic backers.

Since March 14, Clinton has received endorsements from Allegheny County’s chief executive, Pittsburgh’s mayor and U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown.

Singel acknowledges that there have been fewer “splashy appearances” in Pennsylvania from the Obama campaign.

But he said Obama’s supporters are “a highly sophisticated group of professionals” working hard at the grassroots level.

“What is happening behind the scenes is a tremendous surge of activity from the volunteers,” Singel said.

That includes voter-registration efforts, and the Obama camp has opened a downtown Johnstown office at 508 Main St.

However, the Clinton campaign is engaging in those same activities, including two local voter-registration events held Friday. The campaign also expects to open a Johnstown office soon, a spokeswoman said.