Carney’s looking golden

Looks like Chris Carney’s days as a vulnerable Congressman could be near their end. Carney, a Democrat in the more conservative 10th District, had been considered vulnerable by Republicans last year, only to beat Chris Hackett more more than a dozen points.

Now, Republicans see him as a much tougher target.

“

Specter lauds court pick

Continuing his recent

Specter applauds Sontamayor pick

It appears President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court will have no realistic problem getting confirmed by the Senate. Check out the laudatory statement put out almost immediately by the Specter camp:

I applaud the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Her confirmation would add needed diversity in two ways: the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the high court. While her record suggests excellent educational and professional qualifications, now

…

A Lt. Gov. Web site

Looks like Republican Nick DiFrancesco is the first candidate to get a campaign Web site up for Lt. Gov.

Full Story

THE PRESS ROOM: Kortz gets some CQ love

An occasional series of articles exploring how political campaigns are playing out in the media.

It’s no secret that in state Representative Bill Kortz’s insurgent campaign for Senate, the biggest challenge is pKortz, the Allegheny County Democrat who has made clear he won’t be stepping aside for Senator Arlen Specter, got his first national press victory today, in the form of a fawning profile in emCongressional Quarterly/em./p
pHeadlined “a href="http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003125077" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.cqpolitics.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cqpolitics.com%2Fwmspage.cfm%3FdocID%3Dnews-000003125077','Meet+the+Democrat+who+Won%22t+Give+Specter+a+Clear+Field')" target="_blank"Meet the Democrat who Won’t Give Specter a Clear Field/a,” the piece recaps Kortz’ working-class background and his identity as a less conventional politician./p
p“I come from the working class,” Kortz says in the piece. “and the working class is what’s getting hammered right now, and it didn’t have to be. And that’s why I’m running—that’s the No. 1 reason.”/p
pWhether other national publications will give Kortz a call remains to be seen. For now, score one for the “unpolitician.”/p
pemPrevious articles in The Press Room:/emspanbr /
/span/p
pspanem /ema href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/05/the-press-room-leak-caught-torsella-camp-off-guard/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fthe-press-room-leak-caught-torsella-camp-off-guard%2F','Leak+caught+Torsella+camp+off+guard')" target="_blank">Leak caught Torsella camp off guard

Scranton backs Toomey for Senate

In another sign that Republicans are

Scranton Endorses Toomey

By PAT TOOMEY FOR U.S. SENATE

ALLENTOWN, PA – Today, Pat Toomey’s campaign for U.S. Senate announces the endorsement of former two-term Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor, Bill Scranton.

In a statement Scranton said: “I’m very confident in Pat Toomey and happy to support his candidacy.  Pat’s message of government reform, fiscal discipline, and restrained spending is one that all Pennsylvanians can rally around.  I call upon our party leaders to unite around Pat Toomey’s candidacy and…

The First Read — May 26, 2009

Good Morning!

Every Monday-Thursday morning, pa2010.com compiles the most important political news of the day, from newspapers to the blogosphere and back. Enjoy this edition.

pstrongPennsylvania Dems slow to accept Specter/strongbr /
Through a series of conference calls and personal meetings, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) is methodically working his way through the Pennsylvania Democratic Party organizational chart in an attempt to win over his new colleagues. a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22937.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.politico.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fnews%2Fstories%2F0509%2F22937.html','Read+More')" target="_blank"Read More/a/p
pstrongChallengers not lining up to take on formidable Carney/strongbr /
Two years ago, the list of Republicans seriously thinking about challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Carney in the 2008 election included 11 names. Today, it’s down to two, both of whom have previously run for elected office and lost. a href="http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2009/05/25/news/wb_voice.20090525.t.pg12.cv25cdcarney_s1.2552483_top7.txt" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.citizensvoice.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.citizensvoice.com%2Farticles%2F2009%2F05%2F25%2Fnews%2Fwb_voice.20090525.t.pg12.cv25cdcarney_s1.2552483_top7.txt','Read+More')" target="_blank">Read More

Justice Dept. Investigates Pa. Contractor Tied to Murtha
In tiny, cash-strapped Monongahela, Pa., the city clerk was stunned when federal investigators arrived this fall with a subpoena seeking information on a crime-fighting grant she’d never heard of. She takes pride in tracking every dollar in the municipal budget.…

WEEKEND RECAP: Corbett gets handed a setback, Meehan’s successor is out, Murtha digs in and more

When nuggets of news slip through the cracks, pa2010.com takes a look back at the week to make sure you didn’t miss what we did.

It was a busy week of small developments, news that came in welcome trickles after the busy deluge of recent weeks.

Here’s some of what you may have missed.

Attorney General Tom Corbett suffered a Full Story

Corbett’s setback

This week saw the first of what could potentially end up being a series of political setbacks for Attorney General Tom Corbett’s gubernatorial aspirations, and illustrated more starkly than even before the political challenges inherent in his Bonusgate investigation.

It happened Thursday, when a judge