Pols oppose having 9/11 trial in Pa.

Republicans and Democrats alike are coming out against a reported proposal to try the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the Keystone State.

With reports surfacing that the Obama administration might seek to relocated the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from lower Manhattan to western Pennsylvania, GOP candidates are speaking up in outright opposition to the idea, and Democrats are more than lukewarm to the idea, too.

“Holding Khalid…

January 30, 2010 at 4:52 pm | Comments (0)

DelCo leader endorses Lentz

A top official in the Delaware County Democratic Party endorsed state Representative Bryan Lentz for Congress Wednesday, effectively giving Lentz the vast majority of the local party organization’s support.

The backing of the party’s first vice-chair, Tony Campisi, was also the surest indication yet that state Representative Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) is not going to run in the 7th District primary. Vitali has yet to publicly make a decision, but Campisi, who is gunning for the…

January 27, 2010 at 5:44 pm | Comments (4)

Dem leader says Sestak should pull a Gerlach

A funny thing happened on the way to interpreting results of the new Rasmussen poll that has Democratic Senator Arlen Specter trailing Republican Pat Toomey,  49-40 percent: Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman T.J. Rooney made case for Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) to drop out of the Democratic primary against Specter.

Rooney talked what a “good Democrat” is and said it would be “travesty to lose [Sestak] in Congress. This doesn’t seem to be the…

January 21, 2010 at 3:40 pm | Comments (13)

The last refuge of a news anchor

Last Fall I wrote a jocular post concerning, among others, Dawn Stensland, in which I suggested that her tabloid history might not be the best preparation for a run against Pat Meehan in 7th Congressional District. Stensland’s shadow campaign has predictably gone nowhere, and her husband Larry Mendte has now chimed in with a blog post—picked up by The Inquirer, no less—in which he suggests…

January 19, 2010 at 4:07 pm | Comments (6)

The not-so-secret is out: Dems don’t see a primary in PA-7

There are three Democrats running for the party’s nomination in the 7th Congressional District, and one who’s still considering a run, but Thursday quietly brought confirmation of what we had long assumed: Democrats already see state Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) as their candidate.

A Politico report brings us a list of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s top-priority races. In Pennsylvania, the 6th, the 7th and the 15th are all among the party’s…

January 14, 2010 at 11:30 pm | Comments (5)

Meehan says ‘political gamesmanship’ beneath him (Updated)

Former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan’s campaign signaled late Thursday that it wasn’t necessary for him to offer up an opinion on a controversial dual officeholder within the 7th District he’s seeking to represent, declining again to directly answer his Democratic opponent’s call to do so.

“As a candidate for federal office Pat Meehan is not going to take part in the partisan opportunism being engaged in by the Republican and Democrat[ic] parties,” Meehan…

January 14, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Comments (16)

Lentz camp: Meehan ‘afraid to stand up to Republican machine’

With former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan appearing to dodge state Representative Bryan Lentz’s (D-Delaware) call to take a stance on a state lawmaker who is controversially holding two elected offices, Lentz’s campaign is taking the opportunity to paint Meehan as beholden to Delaware County GOP leaders.

“It is no surprise that Pat Meehan is afraid to stand up to the Republican political machine that created him,” Lentz campaign manager Vincent Rongione said late…

January 14, 2010 at 5:09 pm | Comments (16)

Lentz hits Meehan over Civera’s two-job controversy (Updated)

State Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) on Thursday directly injected a colleague’s much-criticized decision to hold two elected offices into his congressional race, calling on his likely Republican opponent to join him in demanding that state Representative Mario Civera (R-Delaware) resign his House seat.

It was the first time that Civera, who has been pummeled by Delaware County Democrats for backing off a campaign pledge and keeping his Harrisburg job despite winning a seat on County…

January 14, 2010 at 2:14 pm | Comments (11)

EXCLUSIVE: Gerlach’s district director to run Meehan campaign

A longtime legislative and campaign aide to Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) has been tapped to run former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan’s campaign in the neighboring 7th District, according to a Republican familiar with the campaign’s decision.

Bryan Kendro, who is currently Gerlach’s district director, is expected to be announced as Meehan’s campaign manager early next week. His stint with Meehan will be his first as a campaign manager, but he has worked in various capacities…

January 8, 2010 at 11:07 am | Comments (3)

Meehan, Hoeffel show advantages of name recognition

Reports that Pat Meehan  raised $580,000 for his congressional race in the last quarter of 2009, while Joe Hoeffel raised $400,000 for his gubernatorial campaign in the same quarter, demonstrate the large advantage the current system provides toward candidates with high name recognition.

That Meehan is well known from his days as U.S. Attorney, and Hoeffel from his occupancy or candidacy for almost every conceivable office (he’s currently a Montgomery County …

January 7, 2010 at 11:30 am | Comments (6)