But one type of event has not been on his schedule: appearances for John Street, the Democratic candidate whom Rendell has endorsed to succeed him in office.

While there is no question that the incumbent supports Street - and polls are said to show that 90 percent of voters know it - he has not put in a lot of "face time" for the candidate in recent weeks. A number of prominent Rendell financial backers also have made hefty contributions to Republican Sam Katz.

Rendell's response? "You guys got to be kidding. It's ludicrous," he said of suggestions that he might not be doing all that he can for Street.

Rendell says he has been doing plenty, as does Street's campaign, and that he'll being doing much, much more as the campaign enters its final two weeks today.

"I will be on TV the last 11 days, probably a quarter-million dollars worth," Rendell said about commercials planned for the home stretch.

"I'm doing a direct-mail piece that will go to every Democratic home. I've got the President [Clinton, that is] to do both a letter and a phone call, and an appearance. I just got Bill Bradley to do a letter," Rendell said.

"I've contributed over a quarter of a million dollars to John Street," he said, adding that a recent party he threw for Street along with two co-hosts netted the candidate an additional $325,000.

Ken Snyder, Street's press secretary, said the campaign was "delighted with the total support and commitment Rendell has offered."

"He's burned up the phone lines generating support for Street, political and money support," Snyder said, adding that Rendell is on the phone several times each day with the campaign. He also holds a strategy session with Street and top aides at his home every Sunday.

Yet it is out in the open where Rendell has not been seen as often, at events held by Street.

When Katz last week unveiled his plan to cut the wage tax to 4 percent, Street tried to poke holes in the Republican's proposals. At a morning-after news conference, Street enlisted the help of State Rep. Dwight Evans, a fallen Democratic primary foe, and David L. Cohen, Rendell's former chief of staff.

Despite the collective fiscal wisdom of those two men, none carried nearly the weight that Rendell would have brought to the issue. A few choice words by hizzoner could have done serious public-relations damage to Katz's plan.

Asked about Rendell's whereabouts, Street said the mayor was out of town.

Rendell, who said he was, in fact, speaking in New York at a fund-raiser for Street, said his debunking of the Katz plan came at a news conference several weeks ago. His statement that Katz's plan would "jeopardize the fiscal stability" of the city echoed in a subsequent paid Street campaign ad.

Still, several people involved in the race both for Street and Katz said Rendell could have made the most forceful case against the Katz plan. And he didn't.

Street's campaign disputed the notion that Rendell has not been "out there" at public appearances for the candidate. Snyder said Rendell has campaigned with Street in various neighborhoods, though when asked how often, he estimated perhaps four times - over the past two months.

Rendell said other duties use up his time, including being mayor and serving in his new capacity as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

"I am doing a brutal schedule - mayor, the DNC and my Street work," he said, adding: "I am not an atom. I cannot be split."

Rendell's steadfast support for Street may seem less so because he has not taken overly critical shots at Katz - and he won't. Not only has Rendell pledged to stay away from negative campaigning, he has known Katz and his wife, Connie, since 1975, and he likes the Republican.

"I am not going to tell anybody that Sam Katz is going to be a bad mayor because I don't believe that," Rendell said in an interview this week. "I just think John Street would be the best of them all, and he's earned that.

"I think Sam Katz would be a B-plus mayor, and John Street would be an A mayor," Rendell said.

While his candor and aversion to negative campaigning are laudable, they also could be seen as a signal to some undecided Democrats that it's OK to vote for Katz.

"I think his heart's in it," said one prominent Democrat helping Street's campaign. "But not like with Marty [Weinberg, who lost to Street in the primary. . .He would do anything to beat Marty."

Larry Ceisler, a political consultant, agreed that Rendell's voice in the wage-tax debate last week could have helped win the day for Street, but he said Rendell had been doing quite a lot for the former Council president.

He pointed to Rendell's prodigious fund-raising and the fact that the mayor has taped TV ads for Street. "In the end," said Ceisler, "for right or wrong, these campaigns are waged with paid advertising, and that's where he's been."

Rendell has appeared in two ads for Street, one of which used a photo of the mayor and cited a newspaper quotation. The other featured Rendell touting Street's abilities.

Several new ads featuring Rendell are being prepared now, said Snyder.

Where Rendell has been most helpful is in raising money.

Yet a large number of traditional Rendell supporters - including some of his biggest donors in the past - have put their money on Katz in this contest.

Twenty of those individual contributors - not counting donations from political action committees or law firms and other partnerships - alone have given Katz about $600,000, including $200,000 from Sidney Kimmel, the head of Jones New York apparel company, and $125,000 from John C. Haas, retired chairman of Rohm & Haas.

But Rendell said that was only because many of his own contributors are Republicans who now are simply returning to a GOP candidate.

"As far as my contributors, a good 40 percent are Republicans who give to me and in almost every other election to Republicans," said Rendell.

Much of the money Rendell is raising will be used for TV ads but also for get-out-the-vote spending, or so-called "street money" used to get people to the polls on Election Day. One insider said the Street campaign and the Democratic City Committee combined were likely to spend $500,000 on that effort, seen as critical to a Street victory; Katz's core supporters are considered more likely to go to the polls without prompting.

It is in this realm, getting out the vote, that Rendell may have provided the biggest boost for Street. The mayor, and DNC chairman, has arranged for President Clinton to speak on Street's behalf Oct. 29 - four days before Election Day.

Clinton continues to be popular, especially among African Americans, who overwhelmingly favor Street. A rousing endorsement by Clinton could spur turnout and make the difference between victory and defeat on Nov. 2.