HARRISBURG Most politicians avoid vacation discussions

Image-conscious legislators try to change the topic.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Vacations are a touchy subject around the Capitol these days.
When lawmakers reconvene Tuesday, they'll have no shortage of things to talk about: property-tax relief, education spending, the legalization of slot machines, prescription drugs for senior citizens -- the same topics that have been getting little more than lip service since the beginning of the year.
But what they did for their summer vacations is one thing that most elected officials would just as soon keep to themselves.
Though they feel the same seasonal urge to get away from it all that afflicts other Pennsylvanians, Harrisburg politicians also worry about whether or not taking time off -- particularly this year -- is good for their image.
When asked about vacations, they usually try to change the subject to how hard they've been working during the legislative recess. Or they talk of a "working vacation" -- like the one Gov. Ed Rendell took this past week at the summer home in Ocean City, N.J., that he and his wife built several years ago.
The Democratic governor enjoyed some tanning time on the beach and went out to dinner with Midge, but he took one day out of his vacation to appear at a public event in Bucks County and devoted a fair amount of his time at the shore to business meetings and phone calls, his spokeswoman said.
"It's really the first time he's left Harrisburg all summer for an extended period," said the spokeswoman, Kate Philips.
What others did
The Senate's ranking Republican, President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer of Blair County, also took a beach break, though his spokesman initially dodged the question by emphasizing how busy Jubelirer has been with constituent meetings and other business.
Jubelirer's executive assistant, David A. Atkinson, grudgingly allowed that his boss made time for a family getaway, but described it only in cryptic terms. It lasted less than a week, he said. At "a place where there is some sand," he added. In the United States? Atkinson answered in the affirmative.
"He did not go to any overseas garden spot," he said.
Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill, R-Lebanon, did not go the beach but escaped to an East Coast tourist area with his extended family for "about a week," said his chief of staff, Erik Arneson.
For the record, Brightbill and other legislative leaders have all been working hard, their offices said.
House Speaker John Perzel has not taken a vacation -- technically, anyway -- but he spent nearly a week in Ireland, where he promoted his home city of Philadelphia as a tourist destination. The trip was financed by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Steve Miskin, a spokesman for House Republican leaders.
Perzel also spends many weekends at his and his wife's house at the New Jersey shore, Miskin said.
Farther destinations
House Majority Leader Samuel H. Smith, R-Jefferson, attended a weeklong family reunion in Hawaii immediately after the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in San Francisco, which he and most other House leaders from both parties attended in July, Miskin said.
House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese, D-Greene, is skipping next week's legislative session so he can take a weeklong trip to France, where he plans to bicycle and study Impressionist art. DeWeese had been planning the trip since last year, said spokeswoman Barbara Grill.
House Minority Whip Michael R. Veon, D-Beaver, took several days off to ride his motorcycle to and from Harley-Davidson's 100th anniversary celebration in Milwaukee.
But summer vacation season is over now. And everyone agrees there are plenty of other things to talk about.