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LEFTOVERS: Trivedi strikes back, Rendell the pundit, get ready to laugh

The feuding continued Monday in the 6th Congressional District, when Democrat Manan Trivedi rounded up some military veterans to speak out against Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) in a new Web video.

You might remember that last week Gerlach called out Trivedi for not having lived in the suburban Philadelphia district for years. For some of that time, Trivedi was a Navy doctor in Iraq. So Trivedi’s campaign called it a slight against his military service. “For the last 8 years I was in the military,” Trivedi said in a statement. “It appears that Jim Gerlach is so out of touch that he doesn’t realize that when men and women from this community serve in the military, that service also brings with it the sacrifice of having to leave home. So while Jim Gerlach went to Washington, I went to Iraq as a battalion surgeon.”

It should be noted that Gerlach’s campaign never really denigrated his service, and that Gerlach spokesman Mark Campbell took pains to say he wasn’t doing so. Nevertheless, they did open the door to this type of push-back by attacking Trivedi for being outside the district for an eight-year period, during some of which he was serving overseas in Iraq. “Congressman Gerlach enjoys much veteran’s support and respects veterans,” Campbell said Monday. “Sadly it is Trivedi who is now, as we speak, misleading and manipulating veterans by twisting what was actually said by the Gerlach campaign.”

Anyway, the video features veterans calling for Gerlach to apologize. You can check it out at bottom.

Meanwhile, there’s some indication that Gov. Ed Rendell might turn toward political punditry as part of his post-electoral career. Our friends over at PoliticsPA report that the guv, already a staple on cable news, is even open to the idea of signing on with conservative standard bearer Fox News.  “I am now in a position that I am looking for a job, so anybody who has any interest in talking to me, I would be happy to talk to them,” Rendell told reporters. “You know the old saying, ‘Beggars can’t be choosy’? I’m in that situation.”

Speaking of Rendell’s punditry, he had some harsh words for Republicans Monday. Appearing on MSNBC, Rendell said that GOP calls to repeal the 14th Amendment are “cuckoo” and show that many in the GOP are just “nuts.” You can check out the video here, courtesy of our friends at Politico.

And here’s something we’re very excited about. Tuesday in Philadelphia, we’ll be attending the 20th annual Candidates Comedy Night, hosted by Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky. We had a blast in 2008 but missed last year’s shindig, so we’re really looking forward to this one. All the proceeds benefit a charity for kids, and the politico make bold, albeit sometimes futile attempts at cracking up the crowd.

Both the major-party candidate for governor and senate are expected to attend, as are contenders in the 6th, 7th, 8th and 13th Congressional Districts.

We at pa2010.com Central will be there in force, and we’ll post all the video highlights online for your enjoyment.

August 9, 2010 at 10:15 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Comedy Night, Ed Rendell, Jim Gerlach, Manan Trivedi, PA-6

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