Ed Rendell, the Short-Fused Governor

Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania and running for re-election against Lynn Swann, has had yet another run-in with a reporter:

An angry Gov. Ed Rendell took a tape recorder away from a newspaper reporter during an impromptu interview this week, refusing to give it back for several minutes, according to the paper.

Rendell's campaign spokesman came up with a creative excuse for the governor's abusive behavior:

"The governor is clearly a passionate person, and he's spent every day for the last 20 years being hounded by members of the media and being attacked by Republicans, and the question for people who live their life like that is not how come it happened, but how come it doesn't happen more often," said Dan Fee, Rendell's campaign spokesman.

In other words, my guy's so unstable I'm surprised he doesn't go wacky more often. I'm not sure that's a defense I'd want to use in court.
This is not the first time the Rendell has blown a gasket:

Rendell has been involved in other confrontations with reporters, including grabbing the neck of a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter in May 1994 when he was the city's mayor. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Gar Joseph, in a Friday item entitled "Rendell 6, reporters 0," cites five other alleged physical confrontations with reporters from the Inquirer or Daily News.

In February 1999, the Daily News also reported that Rendell grasped a reporter's notebook after becoming angry during an interview.

And yet, I'm sure the media will treat him most favorably in his race against Swann. After all, Rendell is one of them.