Governor-Elect Tom Wolf Ready To Take Oath Of Office
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new chapter in Pennsylvania government begins Tuesday in Harrisburg, as Tom Wolf is sworn-in as governor.
Wolf will place his hand on a family Bible outside the East Wing of the Capitol, and take the oath of office as Pennsylvania's 47th Governor. Former Governor Ed Rendell will introduce Wolf at the noontime ceremony.
"What you do in an inauguration speech, you sort of set out markers for where you want to go," Rendell says, "your vision for where you want to drive the state."
But Rendell doesn't place too much importance on a governor's first official words.
"Inaugural speeches are always sort of overemphasized by the media," he says. "My guess is very few Pennsylvanians will actually hear Tom Wolf speak. Very few heard me speak."
He says it was seven degrees out at his first inaugural. The first family is scheduled to host an afternoon open house at the governor's mansion -- before a $100-a-ticket nighttime reception at the Hershey Lodge.
After that, there won't be much of a Wolf honeymoon, with a state deficit approaching $2-billion. But Rendell says it is possible for Wolf to get things done with a Republican Legislature.
"The first thing he's got to do is sit down and engage all four caucuses, the Democrats as well, in conversations about what their goals are, what their needs are, and what he wants to accomplish," he says. "I think Tom has the personality, the character, the patience, the fortitude to be a good negotiator and to get the things that he wants done, and to understand there are things that he has to give the Legislature that they want."
In the meantime, Wolf has listed online the sponsors who contributed more than $500 to his inaugural committee.