From the With Friends Like This, Who Needs Enemies file:

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell had a message for Democratic convention goers Sunday, even though it came in an interview with USA Today:

“Yeah, she wants to run again,“ Rendell said Sunday morning.

“She,“ of course, is Hillary Clinton, and let’s just put it this way: He wasn’t announcing her participation in a charity 5K.

Rendell detailed his thoughts on how Clinton became more at ease on the campaign trail as the primary season wore on. And he added some commentary on Barack Obama’s newly minted VP pick, Joe Biden:

“Joe is only known by political insiders, by the eastern half of Pennsylvania and by Delaware,“ Rendell said. “That’s his base.“

But Rendell said Americans would quickly warm up to the “straight talker” once they learn more about him. Rendell said Biden’s credentials on foreign policy, his ability to work the “middle of the road” politically and even his propensity to speak very bluntly will help Obama, an Illinois Democrat, in the end.

“Even his mistakes, you shake your head and you have a tendency to say ‘Gosh,‘ “ Rendell said. “But that’s Joe.“

Are they painting Biden and his penchant for eyebrow-raising sound bites as the political equivalent of “Manny being Manny?“

Anyway, Rendell was delivering a clear message to Democrats, and it’s no coincidence his comments were made on the eve of the convention: Don’t get too worked up about Obama; Hillary isn’t going anywhere.

Whoo hoo! A ringing endorsement for party unity! I can just see convention participants now, barrelling down the streets to spread the good news of Obama-Biden ‘08.