1991: It Was A Very Bad Year in PA
1991
Most of us have good days and bad days. But can entire years be good or bad?
Englishman John Dryden believed so as far back as 1666. His famous poem,
³Annus Mirabilis,² described the memorable events of that year. Queen
Elizabeth II supplied the bad year example more than 300 years later when
she dubbed 1992 an annus horribilis for the misfortunes it had brought her.
But whether a year has been mirabilis or horribilis depends on your point of
view. Dryden¹s original annus mirabilis of 1666 was also an annus horribilis
if one happened to die from the plague ravaging London or burn to death in
the city¹s infamous fire.
Perhaps more important is that certain years seem to stand out as pivotal
turning points, critical junctures crowded with consequential events that
mark eras and even define generations. Entire nations experience these
years. So do states.
In Pennsylvania, 1991 was one of those years‹a crucial crossroads in
commonwealth history that continues to resonate in state politics twenty
years later. Five key episodes stand out:
* Bob Casey had just won reelection to his second term as governor by more
than one million votes. He immediately faced a huge state deficit caused by
one of the worst recessions up to that point in time. Amid considerable
furor and recrimination, he and the legislature eventually agreed in August
to raise the state¹s income tax to cover that deficit for the first time in
a decade. That same summer, Casey startled Pennsylvanians by announcing that
he suffered from a rare life threatening disease‹familial amyloidosis. The
governor would undergo an extraordinary heart-liver transplant in 1993,
serve out his term, and courageously fight the disease that would take his
life in 2000.
* Earlier in June, powerhouse Congressman Bill Gray, a Philadelphia
Democrat, who was House majority whip, announced that he would not seek
reelection. He resigned to become head of the United Negro College Fund.
Gray had been elected to Congress in 1978 and, like his father and
grandfather before, was pastor of the Bright Hope Baptist Church. At the
time of his departure, he had become the highest-ranking African American
member of Congress and one of its most powerful members.
* The following month, Frank L. Rizzo, legendary two-term mayor of
Philadelphia, died of a heart attack. Rizzo, a charismatic though polarizing
figure, had switched parties and won the Republican nomination for mayor of
Philadelphia in May. Rizzo¹s primary opponent was Ron Castille, who
ultimately became chief justice of the state Supreme Court. His Democratic
opponent was Ed Rendell, a former two-term district attorney. Rizzo¹s death
made Rendell¹s victory a cakewalk, jump starting Rendell¹s political career
after he had lost both a gubernatorial primary to Bob Casey in 1986 and a
mayoral primary to incumbent Mayor Wilson Goode in 1987. Rendell went on to
serve two terms as mayor of Philadelphia, followed by two terms as governor
of Pennsylvania.
* Also in July, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter was rushed to the hospital with
chest pains, initially thought to be a heart attack. Fortunately the medical
diagnosis turned out to be a case of indigestion. Specter would later beat
back far more serious health problems and win reelection three more times
before losing in 2010 after switching parties. Specter would become the
longest serving and most influential senator in the history of the state.
* But the most enduring event of 1991 did not come until the year was almost
over. On April 4, Pennsylvanians were shocked when popular U.S. Senator John
Heinz died in an airplane/helicopter crash. This tragic event set off a
cascade of political actions and reactions that arguably presaged the 1992
presidential election. First, Governor Casey appointed his Secretary of
Labor and Industry, Harris Wofford, to Heinz¹s vacant Senate seat. It was a
surprising choice. Wofford had considerable national experience as an
advisor to President John F. Kennedy and was one of the founders of the
Peace Corp. But he was not considered a strong statewide candidate to hold
the seat in the upcoming special election in November. In fact, Wofford¹s
perceived vulnerability prompted nationally prominent former Governor Dick
Thornburgh to resign as Bush¹s attorney general to seek the Senate seat.
Many believed Thornburgh¹s election a certainty. But in an upset that
stunned the nation, Wofford defeated Thornburgh decisively after having
trailed him by as much as 40 points. Thornburgh came to be seen as a proxy
for the increasingly unpopular President George H. W. Bush, and many
analysts saw the election as precursor to the upcoming presidential
election. Indeed, Wofford¹s campaign, brilliantly run by James Carville and
Paul Begala, used the same economic and healthcare arguments that would
elect Bill Clinton in 1992.
Now, twenty years later, these transcendent moments of 1991 continue to
reverberate across state and national politics. Rarely has so much,
happening so fast, had a more profound influence on subsequent state
history.
——————
Politically Uncorrected is published twice monthly, and previous columns
can be viewed at http://politics.fandm.edu <http://politics.fandm.edu/> .
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any institution or organization
with which they are affiliated. This article may be used in whole or part
only with appropriate attribution. Copyright © 2011 Terry Madonna and
Michael Young.
