Ridge: Gearing up for VP run in 2000?

You might get the idea that the 53-year-old Republican is running for office. But with a 40-point lead in the polls less than a week before Election Day, Ridge has his eyes on other goals: a record margin of victory and a strong enough showing to be considered a viable vice presidential candidate in 2000. "Simply winning is not going to achieve [Ridge's] objective," said Michael Young, a politics professor and director of the Center for Survey Research at Pennsylvania State University's Harrisburg campus. "Ridge wants a victory that's going to raise eyebrows outside of Pennsylvania. He wants to catapult himself onto the short list for vice president [in 2000]." In a state where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by 400,000, Ridge's dominance is unusual. For a man who was known as "One-Term Tom" after his first year in office in 1995, the poll numbers are nothing short of remarkable. At this point, Ridge can do no wrong: He has been endorsed by the Democratic mayors of Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's second -and third-largest cities. His job approval rating stands at 63 percent. And he has 100 times more money in the bank than his opponent, Democratic State Rep. Ivan Itkin (Pittsburgh). Ridge has been cautious -- wisely so, by most accounts -- in his campaign proposals. He has stressed his program to provide school-choice vouchers to parents, promised to crack down on crime and emphasized the role his tax cuts played in bringing prosperity to Pennsylvania. And though his detractors say more could have been done to bring the commonwealth her share of the economic boom pie, there is no doubt that Pennsylvanians are better off today then four years ago. Ridge hails from Erie, a city of 105,000 perched on the shore of the great lake of the same name, 135 miles north of Pittsburgh. He has served the area both as an assistant district attorney from 1979 to 1982 and as a six-term representative in Washington from 1983 to 1995. A 1967 graduate of Harvard University, Ridge interrupted his studies at Dickinson Law School to serve for two years in Vietnam before returning to complete his degree in 1972. He was awarded a Bronze Star for valor during his military duty. With such a high approval rating, Ridge is golden. But it wasn't always so. Early in his first term, a series of blunders left many wondering if the Capitol Hill veteran understood Pennsylvania politics. Ridge's attempt to push through a school-vouchers proposal failed -- twice -- despite a brand-new, one-vote Republican majority in the House to match the GOP dominance in the Senate. Ridge also drew flak for publicly fumbling the deal to bring shipbuilder Meyer Werft to Philadelphia's then-on-the-brink naval shipyard. But it has been smooth sailing ever since. Ridge was sworn into office on the cusp of an unprecedented economic boom which has yet to end. During his term, unemployment has also fallen this year to 4.8 percent -- its lowest level this decade -- and crime is down. Even the shipyard snafu turned out well. Ridge helped bring a Norwegian company, Kvaerner, to take over the old navy yard in South Philadelphia, though at a much higher taxpayer cost than the deal with Meyer Werft brokered by Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell.