PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is making the rounds promoting his new book and doing a little reflecting.

Gov. Rendell, a Democrat, whose been on a tour to promote his book, “A Nation of Wusses” said nobody should think his Republican successor Tom Corbett is a wuss.

“No, the answer is that he is not a wuss because he told you, ladies and gentlemen and citizens of Pennsylvania, he told you in the campaign what he was going to do,” Rendell said.

While Rendell opposes Corbett’s cuts in funding for education, transportation and social services, he said Corbett is staying true to his word.

“He’s doing exactly what he told you he would do. You may disagree with it, but don’t consider him a wuss. Consider him to be a politician who’s had the courage to say something and stick to it,” Rendell said.

Rendell said Corbett is dead wrong in his policy choices, especially when there is a budget surplus like this year.

“You’ve got to make sure when you do have a surplus that that money doesn’t go into a rainy day fund when we’re cutting education and that money is spent for good things,” Rendell said.

But if he believes he’s doing the right thing, Rendell said Corbett should ignore public opinion polls that put him at his lowest levels of job approval.

“These polls are insane. If Abe Lincoln was subject to these polls, at the end of his second year as president, he would have had a nine percent approval rating,” Rendell said.

KDKA Political Editor Jon Delano asked the former governor if he missed being the state’s top executive.

“Sure. I said for me being mayor and governor was a 10 out of 10. I feared that when I left public office my life would be a five. The good news, Jon, is that it’s an eight,” Rendell said.

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