Dan Onorato is one persuasive politician -- at least in terms of persuading others to contribute to his campaign fund.

Whether the Allegheny County chief executive will prove as persuasive in other ways could determine how persuasive he'll be with voters if, as expected, he runs for governor in 2010.

Onorato filed a campaign finance report in May that showed he has about $2.4 million in his campaign account. He didn't have to file such a report this year because he isn't running for anything, but a spokeswoman said he did so because Onorato is donating to other politicians on this year's ballot.

That filing was a way of persuading potential rivals not to challenge him. His $2.4 million is more than the combined total in the campaign accounts of three other potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates -- Auditor General Jack Wagner, Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow and Lehigh County Chief Executive Don Cunningham.

Before Onorato's 2010 gubernatorial campaign takes on an aura of inevitability -- and we all know such auras can evaporate, don't we, Sen. Clinton? -- remember that he has to persuade:

• Port Authority and its unionized workers to agree on a new contract that dramatically cuts costs and avoids a transit strike.

• The public -- and, quite likely, a court hearing a challenge from irate bar and restaurant owners -- that his tax on poured alcoholic drinks, imposed to help fund Port Authority without raising property taxes, is legal and fair; and that, if it generates far more revenue than expected, as seems likely, it isn't just a money grab by a self-aggrandizing politician.

• The state Supreme Court that the base-year assessment system, a cornerstone of Onorato's "no property tax hikes at any cost" strategy, should not be struck down as unconstitutional.

• State lawmakers and residents that Pittsburgh and Allegheny County should merge, a question he wants Harrisburg to put before voters in 2009.

Onorato will have a lot of explaining to do on the 2010 gubernatorial campaign trail if his powers of persuasion fail him on any or all of these matters.

Persuading people to give him money isn't the same as persuading Democrats he should be their gubernatorial candidate or voters that he should be governor. To make his case for 2010, he'll need to be even more persuasive in the rest of 2008 and 2009.