If Tom Ridge came back to PA, I bet he could be re-elected governor.
He was a good governor, and many of us liberal types were sorry to see him go. He didn't always agree, and he didn't always go along, but he knew how to listen and compromise. The conservatives mostly liked him too, because he's Republican.
There are those in PA who believe that Ridge was tapped for Homeland Security in order to neutralize him as a possible political rival to Bush. He's a moderate Republican, and so a threat. It was a very effective move on Bush's part, because when you give a man a high-profile job herding cats and no budget to buy cat harnesses, he winds up looking bad and you still look generous for giving him a job.