A small crowd gathered at the Agricultural Arena after Saturday's football game to hear Gov. Ed Rendell and others speak in support of Democratic candidates in this year's election.

Pittsburgh Steeler legend and Penn State alumni Franco Harris, state legislature candidate Jon Eich and Mary Hoeffel, daughter of Senate candidate Joe Hoeffel, also addressed the audience.

Rendell referred to Penn State's football loss before turning more toward politics.

"I know we're all depressed," Rendell said, referring to the loss.

But Rendell said he had "good news" for the audience.

He built on Eich's earlier announcement that Democrats outnumbered Republicans 3-1 among 10,000-some newly registered voters in Centre County.

"The news across college campuses is all the same," he said. "We're cooking. We're cooking with gas."

While speaking in support of Kerry, Rendell said his advice to voters is always to vote for a candidate who is smart enough to handle the job.

"Let me repeat that," he said with a smile. "Find someone who is smart enough to understand the complex issues."

Rendell described Hoeffel as "someone with a good heart" and Eich as someone who will provide "a progressive vote."

He said Pennsylvania currently ranks third lowest in subsidies for its colleges.

"Rising tuition is pricing out a lot of even our middle-class kids," he said.

He said that as the richest nation in the world, the United States should use its wealth to provide for all Americans.

"Use it to make college affordable for every citizen," Rendell said.

He said the $12,000 tax cut he and his wife received as a result of the Bush's tax cut did not allow them to do anything more than they could without it.

Rendell added he would rather see that money go toward health care and education.

"This election presents the clearest choice I've seen in my entire life in politics," he said.

Harris compared the election to a tied football game with two minutes left on the clock.

"Now we're engaged in the most important game of our life," he said. "We'll bring the touchdown home on Nov. 2."

He described the Bush administration as a tough opponent with "power, influence and an agenda of fear" and asked Democratic supporters to continue their efforts in the next week.

"Hope and confidence will win over fear," Harris said. "And also it takes courage."

Mary Hoeffel promoted her father as a change to incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

"If you like the failed policies of the Bush administration, you can vote for Arlen Specter," she said.

Hoeffel said the "failed health care reform" supported by Specter has "just been a sweet deal for the insurance companies."

Rendell said though only about 50 people attended the event, the work done by the Centre County Democrats is more important than the event's turnout.

"It's never the number of people. It's what the people do," he said.