“I think the president should be accessible, should answer questions that aren’t pre-screened, but I think there should be a little bit of dignity to the presidency,” Rendell said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

We’re assuming Rendell’s rule doesn’t apply to governors, considering that the former Philadelphia mayor is a longtime fixture on “Eagles Postgame Live.” Rendell was in favor of Obama going on “Morning Joe.” Check out a video clip of his remarks at bottom.

Meanwhile, Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) is giving big bucks to the National Republican Congressional Committee. Gerlach has given $100,000 so far this cycle, the latest cash coming in the form of a $44,000 contribution made during an NRCC fundraiser on Tuesday. Politico first reported news of the contribution, which took us by surprise considering that Gerlach represents a Democratic-leaning district in the Philly suburbs and is facing another stiff challenge, this time from Reading doctor Manan Trivedi. We were doubly surprised in light of Gerlach’s relatively modest cash-on-hand advantage.

Mark Campbell, Gerlach’s longtime political adviser, told us the same thing he told Politico: that the contribution was made partly because an internal campaign poll found Gerlach holding a big lead over Trivedi, 54 percent to 29 percent. “We are never overconfident, and we always run like we are 10 points down,” he said. “But it’s safe to say Jim Gerlach’s views represent the values of the taxpayers of the 6th District.”

We don’t necessarily doubt the results of the poll—Trivedi has done barely an iota of paid media. But it’s worth noting that just earlier this week, friend-of-the-site Alex Isenstadt reported that Gerlach is among a number of “endangered incumbents” being boosted in fundraising call sessions by party leaders. And Gerlach could effectively get that money back if the NRCC ends up doing independent ad buys on his behalf. Trivedi spokeswoman Lindsay Fritchman pointed this out in pushing her own narrative. “This transfer pretty much demonstrates how much trouble [Gerlach] is in,” she told Politico. “He’s handing them the money because he knows that’s the only way he can beat Manan.”

The race is currently No. 4 on our Congressional Power Rankings.

And speaking of House seats that are in play, the National Journal has identified two Keystone State districts as being among the 40 seats most likely to switch parties this fall. One is the open seat in the 7th District, where Democrat Bryan Lentz and Republican Pat Meehan are vying in the state’s most competitive House race. The other is the 11th District, where incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski is trying to fend off yet another challenge from Republican Lou Barletta.

Politico reports that the group, the Emergency Committee for Israel, is taking to the airwaves this week with the first of many ads to come. And its initial 30-second spot, which will run during a Phillies game, hits the Democratic Senate nominee over his Israel policies.

“Does Congressman Joe Sestak understand Israel is American’s ally?” asks the ad by the group, which is led by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, among others.

The ad goes on to revive criticism of Sestak’s 2007 speech before the Council on American-Islamic Relations, using that to claim Sestak “raised money for an anti-Israel organization.” The ad also hits Sestak for joining in a letter that called for more humanitarian aide to the Gaza Strip during the latest war there. Sestak has defended engaging CAIR, noted that Gov. Ed Rendell attended the same 2007 event, and said his call for humanitarian aide didn’t change his support for Israel. The ad comes as Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey are set to court suburban Jewish voters who often supported Senator Arlen Specter.

“I believe Israel is our strongest ally and our vital ally in the Middle East and in the world,” Sestak recently told The Jewish Exponent. “The more secure Israel can feel about our support, the more secure we will be able to feel as we engage the world to work toward a two-state solution.”

Sestak spokeswoman April Mellody waved off the attack, telling Politico: “Joe is a strong supporter of the state of Israel. His record is clear on the matter and in stark contrast to his opponent who voted against aid for Israel. It’s political silly season so its not surprising these conservatives are trying to distort Joe’s record.”

See the ad below.

That was the message from Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) on Monday morning, when he told Fox29 that it was the “right move” for Obama to fire General Stanley McChrystal in the wake of disparaging comments McChrystal and his staff made to Rolling Stone.

“You can’t have a general criticizing our allies,” Murphy said.

The sophomore congressman, who faces Republican Mike Fitzpatrick in November, had kind words for General David Petraeus, the former Iraq commander who is taking over in Afghanistan.

“He is an American hero, he will do a great job in Afghanistan because we have to get it right,” Murphy said. “We have to bring Osama Bin Laden, the person who literally murdered thousands of innocent American civilians on 911 to justice.”

See video of Murphy’s interview below.

President Obama’s grassroots arm of the Democratic National Committee utilized its massive e-mail list for the first time on Sestak’s behalf Wednesday. “In the fall election, voters will face a decision between a Democrat who represents a progressive vision for the future of Pennsylvania, and a Republican who made his fortune trading the derivatives that helped cause the recession,” the e-mail said. “The choice is clear: we must elect Congressman Joe Sestak to be our next U.S. Senator.”

OFA made a late-campaign push for Senator Arlen Specter last month. Politico notes that it took more than a month after the primary for OFA to e-mail on his behalf, and that a Web page the group had up for Specter hasn’t been taken down.

“Until I get them,” Issa said.

The Republican congressman from California was speaking to reporters here Friday evening before he was set to deliver the keynote speech at the state GOP’s summer dinner. Issa has become something of a hero to Pennsylvania Republicans after emerging as the party’s chief inquisitor into the position the Obama administration offered Joe Sestak to keep him out of the Senate primary. The White House has said it was only an unpaid gig, but Issa has kept up the charge, calling for investigations into what some call “Jobgate.” His appearance came as Democrats have started to push back against Issa in particular, with party strategists pointing reporters to car-theft indictments in 1972 and 1980.

“It’s really ironic that the member of Congress with the most checkered past would be preaching to anyone about ethics and morality,” one strategist told pa2010.com in an e-mail. “BP has more credibility talking about environmental protection than Darrell Issa does talking about ethics. The fact is, Darrell Issa is just playing politics—but with a past like his—he should know that if you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones.”

Issa isn’t letting up.

“All I ask for is truthful answers,” Issa said. “If they had given us truthful answers on day one, this story would have died on day two.”

The controversy has been kept alive largely by Issa and the media. While there remains some debate over claims of illegality, a growing consensus has emerged among legal experts that such activity has rarely if ever been prosecuted.

Issa says that’s besides the point.

“If you don’t draw the line here,” he said, “then where do you draw it?”

Sestak, in an interview on PBS, said it was “wrong” for President Obama and others to back Specter.

“There’s no more kings, there’s no more king makers in America,” Sestak said the “Travis Smiley” show. “And if the Democratic Party should stand for anything when they are trying to get me out of the race, they should be for enticing people into the race. This President said it so well and I believe [that] he believes it: believe in principle and politics will follow. No. The party establishment was wrong in what it did.”

See video of the interview below.

Sestak was on the other end of the state, but there were early conflicting accounts as to whether or not he was actually invited, and a press corps already juiced up from the so-called Jobgate controversy was ready to point out any possible tension between Obama and Sestak. That seemed to be mostly a misunderstanding by day’s end, and our friends at Early Returns 2.0 explain what went down.

Meanwhile, Sestak’s Republican rival Pat Toomey is benefiting from an increase in campaign contributions from Halliburton, the oil services company that is once again under a harsh spotlight, this time for its role as a contractor on the oil rig that exploded on the Gulf Coast and is still spewing weeks later. The company has been stepping up donations to incumbents and candidates, Politico reports, and Toomey got $2,500 from the pot.

From the Lehigh Valley, our friends at Pennsylvania Ave. note that Bethlehem mayor and congressional hopeful John Callahan is meeting this week with a group of retired military officers who are pushing for the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay. This is actually part of a larger campaign, with the group, which includes two generals, traveling around talking to candidates and the press about Gitmo. Yours truly is meeting with them Thursday afternoon.

And former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the one-time and likely two-time presidential candidate, endorsed a slate of Republican candidates in the Keystone State Wednesday. Among the lucky GOPers to win the support of Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC were gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett, incumbent Congressmen Jim Gerlach (R-6) and Charlie Dent (R-15) and congressional challengers Mike Fitzpatrick and Lou Barletta. The PAC is also spreading $15,000 worth of campaign cash between the candidates. Romney has already backed Toomey and 7th District candidate Pat Meehan.

“Pennsylvanians are fortunate to have so many candidates committed to keeping taxes low, cutting wasteful spending, and creating a pro-growth environment,” Romney said in a statement. “It is critical that we elect fiscally-conservative leaders who will focus on turning our economy around rather than growing the size of government, and that is why I am proud to endorse these candidates today.”

As November approaches, leaders in the other party will campaign furiously on the same economic argument they’ve been making for decades,” Obama said at Carnegie Mellon University. “Fortunately, we don’t have to look back too many years to see how it turns out. For much of the last 10 years, we tried it their way. They gave tax cuts that weren’t paid for to millionaires who didn’t need them. They gutted regulations, and put industry insiders in charge of industry oversight. They shortchanged investments in clean energy and education, in research and technology. And despite all their current moralizing about the need to curb spending, this is the same crowd who took the record $237 billion surplus that President Clinton left them and turned it into a record $1.3 trillion deficit.”

The pointed criticism, delivered from a battleground state less than six months before the midterm elections, amounted to one of Obama’s most explicit arguments against the GOP this November.

“Before I was even inaugurated, the congressional leaders of the other party got together and made a calculation that if I failed, they’d win,” Obama said. “So when I went to meet with them about the need for a Recovery Act, they announced they were against it before I even arrived at the Capitol.”

Shortly after Obama’s speech, state Republican Party chairman Rob Gleason said the stimulus package, the new health care law and cap-and-trade energy legislation still before Congress would be the key issues in November.

“Pennsylvania has lost 86,000 jobs since the stimulus has passed,” Gleason told reporters on a conference call.

“When President Obama campaigns in 2012, Pennsylvania will be a far more Republican state,” he added. “The only person that stood with the president on the stimulus bill was Arlen Specter, and he lost.”

Michael Macagnone reported from Pittsburgh. Donald Hoegg contributed reporting.

The Tribune-Review reports that Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Senator Bob Casey and Congressmen Jason Altmire (D-4), Mike Doyle (D-14) and Tim Murphy (R-18) all declined invitations from the White House to join the president when he speaks at Carnegie Mellon University.

The reasons ran the gamut from previous campaign plans (Onorato) to anniversary trips with the wives (Casey and Doyle).

Obama will be joined by Senator Arlen Specter and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

One politics professor told the newspaper that so many elected officials turning down an invite from the president is “peculiar, to say the least.”

The disclosure, made by White House counsel Robert Bauer, came as questions about the job offer reached a fever pitch, with Republicans calling for an investigation, Democrats recommending disclosure and the issue eating up oxygen on cable news and in the blogosphere.

In a memo, Bauer said that “allegations of improper conduct rest on factual errors and a lack of basis in the law.”

The one-and-a-half page memo, released to reporters shortly after blogger Greg Sargent first broke the news of Clinton’s involvement, sought to put to rest a distraction in the high-profile Senate race between Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey. It framed any discussions as being done at arms-length from administration officials, and as part of the Democratic Party’s “legitimate interest in averting a divisive primary fight”—a race that Sestak eventually won. Whether the White House explanation will assuage critics remains to be seen.

Any of the unpaid advisory positions—such as roles on administrative boards or commissions—would have been in addition to Sestak’s continued service in Congress, and would have provided Sestak, the memo said, “an opportunity for additional service to the public in a high-level advisory capacity for which he was highly qualified.

Bauer also said that the discussions were consistent with past practices.

“There have been numerous, reported instances in the past when prior Administrations—both Democrat and Republican, and motivated by the same goals—discussed alternative paths to service for qualified individuals also considering campaigns for public office,” the memo said. “Such discussions are fully consistent with the relevant law and ethics requirements.”

Click here to see the memo.

UPDATE—Sestak issued the following statement shortly after the White House released the memo: “Last summer, I received a phone call from President Clinton. During the course of the conversation, he expressed concern over my prospects if I were to enter the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and the value of having me stay in the House of Representatives because of my military background. He said that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had spoken with him about my being on a Presidential Board while remaining in the House of Representatives. I said no. I told President Clinton that my only consideration in getting into the Senate race or not was whether it was the right thing to do for Pennsylvania working families and not any offer. The former President said he knew I’d say that, and the conversation moved on to other subjects. There are many important challenges facing Pennsylvania and the rest of the country. I intend to remain focused on those issues and continue my fight on behalf of working families.”