John Hanger

Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hanger calls for the decriminialization of medical marijuana and small amounts of marijuana during a Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013 news conference in the state Capitol. Earlier in the day the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws endorsed Hanger, marking the first time the organization has backed a Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate.

(Robert Vickers)

It's the biggest political cliche in the book: Pennsylvania is just Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between.

As he heads into 2014, Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hanger says the Keystone State has shed that image and has emerged as a more progressive and more tolerant state. And, of course, he's just the guy to lead it into that bright future.

Hanger says Pennsylvania is on a similar trajectory to New York City, where avowed progressive

Bill DiBlasio

has captured both the imagination of Gothamites and the mayor's office, and Massachusetts, where

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

has embraced the cause of economic populism.

But first,

Hanger

has to win his party's gubernatorial nomination -- and that's no mean feat in a season where no fewer than eight Democrats have set their sights on sending Republican

Gov. Tom Corbett

back to the private sector.

In the first installment of "

Politics as Usual

" for 2014,

Hanger

tells

PennLive's John L. Micek

and

Robert J. Vickers

that he has more than $1 million on-hand for his gubernatorial bid.

And while that's less than state

Treasurer Rob McCord

($6 million) and way, way less than former

Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf

($13.27 million), Hanger says he has the organization and grassroots support to help him capture the party's nod.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Hanger sketched out his jobs and education plan (more of both); discussed his proposal to decriminalize medical and recreational marijuana and to capitalize on Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale industry.

It's all inside this week's edition of "

Politics as Usual.

" You can stream this week's podcast in your browser or download it to your desktop to listen to on your phone or mobile device. You can also subscribe to the podcast on

iTunes

You can follow Politics as Usual co-hosts John L. Micek and Robert J. Vickers on Twitter at @ByJohnLMicek and @PatriotNewsPol.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.