Philadelphia Inquirer endorses VALERIE MCDONALD ROBERTS

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

That leaves VALERIE MCDONALD ROBERTS. As a former Pittsburgh city councilwoman and school board president who is now Allegheny County recorder of deeds, she is far and away the Democrats' most plausible choice.

She's had to balance government budgets and manage a bureaucracy. She's been on the front lines of decision-making about crime, community development and education.

The two main roles of the lieutenant governor are leading the state's emergency services and chairing the parole board. After the Hurricane Katrina debacle, no state should be cavalier about the former duty. Of the four, Roberts promises the steadiest hand in a crisis.

Knoll admits that the parole board has become swamped by a backlog of cases, meaning taxpayers are paying to keep locked up people who've served their time. She speaks vaguely of wanting the board to meet more often, but hasn't made that happen.

Roberts, 50, also promises to be a better salesperson for a state that must send a national message that it is about youth and the future, not just gray hair and the past.