This type of activity is why Pat Meehan will be the next Congressman in the 7th District. This event was reported but Meehan is known in Delaware County to be out and about supporting all kinds of community events. He is a real man of the people and a real person from Delco. It’s my bet that Lentz would need Greg Vitali to e-mail him directions to where Havertown even is!

P. O’Neill – Bryan is a lifelong resident of Delaware County. He could drive to Havertown with his eyes closed.

Meehan has an impressive resume, but Bryan is the experienced legislator with a record of service to back it up with. That’s why he’ll be our next congressman.

Matt M. – Check your facts. Lentz is a Philadelphia native who moved into the district 4 years ago for the sole purpose of running for Congress. He’s a Philly political operative at heart who was campaign manager for Seth Williams.

Lifelong resident of Delco. That’s funny!

Yes Pat & Hah,
This 45 minute stretch stint in Public service certainly makes him like a 7th district version of Mother Teresa…. I think it is great that he is doing something for the Susan G Komen Foundation, I think it is important, but seriously, its 45 minutes and it is in front a news camera… I wouldn’t rush off to nominate him for saint hood just yet. I have never worked as a water ice scooper, but is it that tough a job he couldn’t hold down the fort for a whole hour? And to correct your misconceptions, Bryan Lentz did not always live in the District, for a while he was with the 82nd Airborne in Iraq.

Let’s clear the air about one thing: neither Lentz nor Meehan are natives of Delaware county. Both chose to make their home here and raise their family here. So let’s talk about the men and the issues.

Before moving to the district, Lentz was an airborne ranger who served in Sinai, Bosnia and Iraq. He was a prosecutor who actually went into the court room and tried cases. While Pat Meehan was dropping hockey pucks as a minor league ref, Bryan Lentz was jumping out of airplanes in defense of his country.

Meehan on the other hand, although a law school graduate, has never entered a court room to try a case of any kind. From the beginning of his carreer he has been a political operative working on the campaigns of Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter. He was hand picked by the Delco Republican Machine and party boss John McNichol to be DA because he is exactly what a crooked political machine likes in a DA–a guy who wouldn’t know where to find the witness stand in a court room with a map. And he did his job well . . . no pay to play in Delco!

Buzz, How does trying a case in a court room become a qualification to be a Congressman?

Let’s see – as an assistant DA trying cases you gain understanding of social problems through interaction with the victims of crime who often are the poorest, oldest or weakest members of society, but on the other hand, as Rick Santorum’s campaign lackey you get to hang with rich donors in mainline mansions where you gain insight on the problems of managing your domestic staff and the right fork to use.

Or maybe as an ADA actually trying cases you gain a firsthand understanding of the human tragedy of gun violence, but on the other hand, as Rick Santorum’s campaign doormat you get to sit around with Rick and his NRA buddies and dream up legislation like the Santorum sponsored Senate Bill 2249 (2006) which attempted to eliminated the requirement to furnish a social security number when getting a gun license, or Santorum’s vote against background checks on gun purchasers at gun shows (Amdt #362; Bill S. 254 (1999)).

Ah, I see the leftists are out with the usual talking points. Basically, you can take everything they are saying about Pat and apply it to every other R candidate for congress. It is a complete joke!

Face it guys. The D’s are demoralized and your turnout will be way down as compared to 08 and even 06. Meehan wins in a walk by approximately 8 points. Keep up with the stale “he’s another Rick Santorum and he caused the meltdown” talking points though. They are good for some laughs.

Meehan has also lived in the district for at least a decade if not much more. I know that because I used to drive on Edmonds Ave in UD on my way to work while Pat was waiting with his young son at the bus stop for school.

Lentz is a wanna be. His strategy was perfect for the 06, 08 cycle. The expiration date has expired.

Thomas J-
If your main “achievements” on your resume are being a DA and and a US Attorney, then it does seem a bit “odd” not to have courtroom experience.

I think part of the issue is that Meehan got installed as DA by the Delco GOP machine and then appointed by Bush, but he wasn’t all that qualified or competent. Rather, it seems as though he was picked to be a political puppet.

Thomas J, How does scooping a water ice in a stand become a qualification to be a Congressman? Oh, I see, it’s something that Meehan actually did, in stark contrast to eight years as George Bush’s political appointee parked in his office suite while career prosecutors did the work.

MD, good job going to the boogeyman “leftists” rhetoric to sidestep Meehan’s lack of achievement and avoid a substantive dialogue. FYI, Reagan ended the cold war. Also, when you wake up, you will recognize that no one is able to say Meehan “caused the meltdown”; to the contrary, the attack is: “he has never done anything” — hence how could he cause the meltdown?

Maybe Meehan could be more useful at the park being a “pooper-scooper”.

CS, Your attempt to portray Meehan as a detached US Attorney and District attorney is either blindly partisan or simply uneducated. To state that Meehan doesn’t have firsthand knowledge of these same issues shows a complete lack of understanding of how our legal system works. Patsy, you’re name is appropriate.

DD, maybe it is odd that he doesn’t have courtroom experience but DA’s and US Attorney’s who try the case themselves are generally grandstanding after staffer did the heavy lifting. My question was how does that experience vs. lack of it better suit a person to be a Congressman. Also, the term you’re looking for is “ELECTED” as DA.

Rather than childishly making fun of my name and attacking others alleging a lack of “understanding” of the legal system or attacking hardworking DAs and USAs who actually try cases as “generally grandstanding”, you could for a moment drop the Republican political playbook of divisive and stagnating attack politics and offer substance in support of your beliefs and Mr. Meehan’s achievements.

Nice try Patsy, but who did I attack? I asked a question. CS started out with a credible answer but it denigrated with the weak Santorum connection. If somebody wants to attack Pat Meehan’s record he has a long history of public service to go after. If you see asking somebody to explain their position as an attack you need thicker skin. Try not to be so defensive, and learn the difference between an attack and a challenge.

Thomas J-
In Delco at the time Meehan was DA, installed and elected were synonymous.

Thomas:

Attack 1: on hardworking DAs and USAs; you wrote:”DA’s and US Attorney’s who try the case themselves are generally grandstanding” (by the way — Tom Marino former Lycoming County DA and USA for the Middle District and candidate in the 10th CD has tried a lot of cases as is he “generally grandstanding”?)

Attack 2: about CS you wrote:”is either blindly partisan or simply uneducated”

Attack 3: about CS you also wrote “shows a complete lack of understanding of how our legal system works”

Attack 4: about me, you wrote:” you’re name is appropriate.” (next time go with ‘your’, like Lentz a better choice)

3 sentences: no question mark, 4 attacks, and not one fact or substantive credential offered for Mr. Meehan.

Nice work.

I hate to agree with DD and the infamous MAtt from UD, but Meehan is a lightweight. He did run Specter and Santorum campaigns. He was selected by the republican machine to run for DA against an underfunded opponent when the voter registration was 2-1 in favor of republicans, and he won. He sought re-election unopposed because no registered democrat lawyers wanted to run against an incumbent with such a registration deficit. He became US Attorney for the EDPA in the shadow of 9/11 when noone was paying attention to what GWB was doing. Tellingly, he kept his job during the Rove purge because he followed the credo-prosecute Democrats and leave republicans to rob pillage and plunder, like Tom Corbett.
Look, Lentz has been in the army, in combat, was a DA in Philly, a practicing lawyer, ran successfully in a hotly contested state house race and sought and won reelection to that seat in the face of some competition. I do not particularly care for Lentz, but there is no choice between him and Meehan…Lentz is the best choice of the lot, wiht a tremendous resume and record of accomplishment.

Being from the 7th District, I find it amazing how many local Dem committee people are writing off Lentz as a lightweight who will get no traction. Of course, they cannot say this publicly but it is the chatter in all of the political and business circles. He must have been a paratrooper in the army because his political career thus far has been all about parachute politics – jumping around to different places. Lentz recently got smacked down by an 80 year old state rep in the local paper for not knowing who represented Upper Darby in the state house and senate. Lentz needs to learn that there is more to Delaware County than just Swarthmore College and its environs before he is ready to jump to the next office.

I like that fact that Meehan has little political experience. Yes he worked with Specter and Santorum, but he doesn’t have a legislative career. With all the insider politics in Washington and politicians who use service as a career and a permanant job, it’s great to see a guy who wants to actually serve the public. Right now I feel – and I believe most Americans agree with me – that an illustrious legislative background is inversely proportional to public service.

On a seperat note, Rita’s is awesome and I think this is just a fun thing that he’s doing to get out there, get seen, take a bit of a break, but not really campaign. I wish I didn’t have to be at work!

To the guy who suggested Meehan become a “pooper scooper” — congratulations. You have successfully elevated the debate on this website to the level of 2nd grade taunts.

You guys are nuts. Lentz’s campaign is stuck in neutral. They’re not making any inroads outside of Lentz’s district, their fundraising is lagging, and they’re running in a cycle in which Democratic turnout will be terrifyingly low. Meehan by 6-8 points.

Diano please get a life. You should spend less time clogging up space on the internet with your communist garbage and more time volunteering for Lentz, maybe he’ll give you a job where you can actually be a functioning member of society. Keep telling yourself that people actually take you seriously.

I cannot wait for November. If anyone actually knew who Lentz was he may have been asked to scoop water-ice as well. Pooper scooper, that’s funny. I’d bet my life if Lentz was doing the same event tonight you Dem’s would have your heads so far up his a** I’d need to get you some knee pads.

@P.Lombardo-Lentz is only in his second term and has spent less time in politics than Meehan, who spent six years as elected DA and years as political operative for Specter and Santorum before parachuting into DELCO to run for DA, and now congress.

http://www.pa2010.com/2009/07/santorum-thinks-meehan-should-bow-out-run-for-congress-instead/

Meehan wanted to be gov. His boss Santorum encouraged him to use the 7th as a “launching point for him”. A launching point to what, may I ask?

Mitchell-
Communist??
You should be the one worried about people taking you seriously.

Tony-
Meehan and his supporters plan to shovel a lot of sh*t this election, so it seemed a good warm-up idea for them.

[...] Pat Meehan, water-ice scooper | pa2010.com [...]

Man, that water ice was delicious last night. I don’t know what it is about him but Meehan made ordinary water ice taste like mother’s milk!!! This guy is special. Had some water ice one time that was scooped by a Dem and it tasted like cat urine.

Lentz is a Sestak lackey. Too bad Joe has bigger fish to fry or Lentz would still be shlepping up to Harrisburg every week.

Meehan has the track record and the experience to do the job correctly. Not just ribber stamp Obama’s liberal agenda.

Lentz, like Sestak before him, will just be another Obama boot licker. Would Lentz have voted any differently that Sestak for HCR? Cap and Trade? Stimulus? No. And that’s why he will lose.

It is going to be a bloodbath in November for the Dems and Lentz will be one of the losers.

Meehan will win with 60%+ of the vote. Don’t kid yourself. Delco is fed up with the Dems and the Obama/Pelosi mess they put us in.

This race won’t even be close.

Just wondering will this be Pat Meehan plan to pay for healthcare reform, will he introduce a bill to replace the democratic healthcare plan with one where we barter waterice for doctor visits and priscription drugs?

Dave hates military officers,thinks they are stupid and beneath him, or is it only navel officers you hold in contempt Dave?

It is a good thing Pat is doing for charity irrespective of his motives.
Still on the merits, he is affable and intelligent but politically he is a fiction of Arlen Specter and the decrepit war board.
In person Pat, keeps using the same scripted tag lines I hear from Bohner and Cantor. Being “somebody else’s “guy” ain’t gonna cut it anymore.
I for one am really really tired of hackneyed Frank Luntz shticks,
Lentz on the other hand, every time I have talked to him had intelligent something to say relevant to both the national issues as well as local.
affairs.
Still waiting on Pat to do the same.