Republicans targeting 6 Pa. House members

A list of 70 Congressional incumbents being targeted next year by the National Republican Congressional Committee includes six from the Keystone State.

The list, first reported by …

Thanking the troops

PHILADELPHIA—Last week week, the Irish Pub here was the center of action for anyone who wanted to thank two World War II veterans who helped our country emerge victorious on D-Day so many years ago. South Philadelphia born-and-raised, William “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward “Babe” Heffron, members of Easy Company in the HBO movie, “Band of Brothers,” had a book signing that was overflowing with people from all walks of life—political, moms and dads, military, …

Is Sestak finally going to do this? Maybe Colbert gets the scoop

Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) has taken the art of political tease to a new level.

In a Twitter message and press release Monday morning, Sestak’s campaign said it would be streaming a “major campaign announcement” on its Web site Tuesday morning.

We can only hope that he’ll finally end his long, painstaking march to the Senate race and make it official.

His Twitter message asked supporters to retweet the big news. The campaign told reporters …

Gerber endorses Pike

State Representative Mike Gerber (D-Montgomery) endorsed Doug Pike for Congress in the 6th District Monday, adding a rising star in the party to Pike’s rapidly growing list of endorsements, Pike’s campaign said.

Pike has been endorsed by members of Congress, the mayor of Reading, and now Gerber.

Doug Pike Announces Key Montgomery County Democratic Endorsement

By PIKE FOR CONGRESS

Ardmore, PA — Today Pike for Congress is announcing a key Montgomery County Democratic endorsement in the race for U.S. Congress in the 6th District of Pennsylvania: State Representative Mike Gerber.

“I am honored to have Representative Gerber standing with me in my campaign to represent the 6th District,” said Doug Pike, the Democratic candidate for U.S. House in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District. “I look forward to working with him in …

The vacation that isn’t

I’m back from vacation, but the members of Congress are leaving for theirs. “Vacation” is of course an odd term for Congress. One could argue that this is when the real work begins—this year especially.

What the members hear in August will most likely determine the fate of health care reform, and with it (perhaps) the position of the two parties for the 2010 elections. Expect an …

Scarnati’s special election date forces Reibman out

Gov. Ed Rendell really has reason to fume now. Last week he spoke angry words directed at Joe Scarnati for deciding to hold a special election for Rob Wonderling’s state Senate seat on Sept. 29 instead of Nov. 3, when the general elections for state and local offices will happen. Now, the only Democrat considering a run for the seat, Glenn Reibman, has dropped out of the race, saying that Scarnati’s chosen date does not …

Specter wants to talk single-payer? (Updated)

The Inquirer had an interesting tidbit in its roundup of yesterday’s raucous town hall meeting on health care reform: The newspaper reports that Senator Arlen Specter “said he thought single-payer insurance should be on the table.”

Wow. That’s something that even the most liberal Democrats in Congress are loathe to say in public, and definitely a new twist on Specter’s recent pa href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/daily/20090803_Temperatures_rise_at_health-care_meeting.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.philly.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Finquirer%2Fhealth_science%2Fdaily%2F20090803_Temperatures_rise_at_health-care_meeting.html','The+story')" target="_blank"The story/a doesn’t provide a direct quote for what Specter said, so I can’t fully judge. I e-mailed Specter’s Senate spokeswoman for clarification, and will let you know when I hear back. In the meantime, check out the video below that someone put on YouTube, which shows Specter and Kathleen Sebelius being booed for their responses to a question about whether members of Congress are actually reading the legislation being drafted (a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/blogs/fortyfourthestate/show_comments.php?entry_id=4745" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pittsburghlive.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pittsburghlive.com%2Fx%2Fpittsburghtrib%2Fblogs%2Ffortyfourthestate%2Fshow_comments.php%3Fentry_id%3D4745','hat-tip+to+Forty-Fourth+Estate')" target="_blank">hat-tip to Forty-Fourth Estate).

Obviously, tensions are high.

UPDATE, 11:15 a.m.—A couple Specter …

The First Read — August 3, 2009

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.

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WEEKEND LEFTOVERS: Corbett rounds out the team, Gerlach says lay off the logo, another one for pike and the Dems target Dent
Several items slipped by us …

Harrisburg approval ratings dip near all time low

Pennlive.com reports that the latest Quinnipiac University poll puts  approval ratings for Pennsylvania legislators close to an all time low. Favorability ratings for Pennsylvania legislators have dropped to 27 percent, which is just one percentage point higher than it was in the months following the General Assembly’s decision to give themselves a pay raise in 2005. That year, 20 percent of the General Assembly’s 256 seats were replaced by new legislators. This suggests that many should …