Attorney General Mike Fisher is hardly the first politician to call for the sale of the state liquor system. He won't likely to be the last. But while politicians argue over the rights and wrongs of booze control, the state liquor system is now Jonathan Newman's headache.

As chairman of the Liquor Control Board, he's the guy with the unenviable task of trying to make the State Stores profitable while adhering to laws that are basically designed to discourage liquor sales.

"It's a challenge that keeps me awake at night," he said. "But I do believe you can market wine and spirits in a socially responsible manner."

Newman, named chairman in August, is a Philadelphia native who now lives in Bryn Mawr. He had no experience in booze sales before Gov. Tom Ridge named him to the board in 1999.

But, as a lawyer with the Philadelphia law firm of Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell & Hippel, he knew politics. He owned a small horse breeding business and was willing to take on a daunting challenge.

And daunting it is. Despite the good-time nature of the product he sells, many Pennsylvania consumers long ago wrote off the LCB as one of the worst institutions in the state and fled to New Jersey or Delaware in search of what they perceive as lower prices and better service.

Newman insists that good bargains can be found in Pennsylvania, where all bottles have a standard 30 percent mark-up as opposed to other states where supply and demand make prices fluctuate.

He also says that he can address some of the other criticism leveled at the State Stores through new programs like a feature on the LCB Web site www.lcb.state.pa.us that, starting in December, will enable consumers to order their favorite speciality bottles and have them delivered to their local liquor store. Other programs in the works include a wine of the month club.

Whether these efforts improve the LCB's image remains to be seen. Newman has to keep his hopes in check within a system that was set up after prohibition to keep liquor consumption under control.

Some laws have lightened over the years but Sunday and late night sales are still banned.

But Newman insists he's not discouraged. "I'm very marketing oriented," he said. "I think [we] can... make a lot of innovations and at the same time deliver profits to the Legislature."