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By Teresa Masterson
Staff Writer NBC10.com

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So I heard the Governor would be at the local delicatessen Election Day and I decided to see what he has for lunch.

Rumor had it that the Famous Fourth Street Deli, at Bainbridge and (obviously) Fourth Street, is the unofficial meeting place for Democratic state and city candidates and politicos every Election Day.

Knowing that the quaint delicatessen, famous for huge corned beef sandwiches and fresh baked cookies, among other things, only seats a small number of people, I was interested in seeing if this famed political lunch parade was open to the public.

It was. How very democratic.

I arrived at the Famous Fourth Street Deli Tuesday morning to meet the owner, Russ Cowan, and former owner and Philadelphia Zoning Board chairman, David Auspitz, who were excited and eager for the imminent arrival of the day’s celebrities.

Auspitz had gotten confirmation that Gov. Ed Rendell, state Sen. Vince Fumo and Electrical Union boss John Dougherty were among the lunch party. Considering the fact that Fumo and Dougherty have been compared to the Hatfields and the McCoys, with a history that includes accusations of vandalism and a hit-and-run, I was definitely sticking around in hopes of at least a food fight in the presence of the governor.

According to Auspitz and Cowan, the lunch tradition began 30 years ago when Philadelphia political boss Pete Camiel started coming to the deli on Election Day to drink a glass of tea while holding a cube of sugar in his teeth for good luck. Fellow Democrats Doc Sweitzer, Neil Oxman and David Glancy started meeting there with Camiel, and each Election Day the crowd got bigger.

According to Auspitz, Rendell’s visits are not limited to Election Day. He comes for his favorite sandwich whenever he’s in town and once had Al Gore in tow.

Before the lunchtime crowd arrived, I decided to check out some of the South Philly polling places to get a feel for the day’s turnout. Election officials told me that not too many people had shown up yet on the warm November day, but most come after work, as is the trend.

While no voters were actually at the polls when I was there, I met two young guys handing out literature in front of a polling place in a fire station, asking people to vote for Democrat Rendell and Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

Rendell and Santorum being strange bedfellows indeed, I asked the two men on what issues they were basing their choices. One walked away and the other flat-out said he didn’t know. He said he belongs to the electrical union and was told to come down and encourage people to vote for Santorum and Rendell. He was just following orders.

“I believe in our union; whatever they feel is right, that’s the way we go,” said Mike.

Nothing like an uneducated voter trying to educate voters.

I headed back to the deli.

The lunch parade started at noon, as men in suits arrived in black SUVs accompanied by other men in suits, while local media gathered to watch.

Highlights of the lunch parade consisted of Fumo, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, and Sharif Street, Mayor John Street’s son who is planning to run for city council. (See Slideshow)

Abraham said that she came for corned beef and gossip. As the Democratic big wigs came and left, we, the media, patiently waited for the biggest wig of them all to arrive.

Rendell never showed.

Auspitz told me that Rendell’s favorite sandwich at the deli is chopped liver. Maybe he stood us up because he didn’t want to tempt fate. Considering it was Election Day, who wants to risk the possibility that you are, in fact, what you eat?

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