Leadership Quote by Edward G. Rendell

“Creating new jobs” is the politician’s most reliable multipurpose tool: it sounds moral, measurable, and urgent while remaining conveniently nonspecific. Rendell’s phrasing is built to travel. “Pennsylvanians” narrows the beneficiary list to an in-group, signaling local loyalty in a state where regional identity (Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia vs. the vast “T”) often matters as much as party labels. “Continues” quietly argues incumbency: whatever you think of the present, the speaker has been on the case, steady at the wheel. “Highest priority” is a classic hierarchy claim meant to preempt the objection that other issues - taxes, schools, the environment - might be getting shorted. If jobs are first, trade-offs can be framed as necessary.

The real subtext sits in “throughout the Commonwealth.” Pennsylvania’s economy has long been a patchwork of winners and losers: old manufacturing towns, energy regions, universities, logistics corridors. Saying the jobs will appear “throughout” is a promise against uneven development, a hedge against accusations of favoring big metros or politically convenient counties. It’s also a subtle signal to legislators and donors: the benefits will be geographically distributed, which is how you assemble a durable governing coalition.

Contextually, Rendell’s era in state politics coincided with anxieties about deindustrialization and competition for mobile employers. The line is less a policy blueprint than a reassurance ritual: the state is open for business, and the governor wants credit for the next payroll.