AD WATCH: Onorato sticks to the record

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato’s introduction to general election voters has come in the form of two TV ads: one summarizing his record as Allegheny County executive and another one that, among other things, teaches voters how to pronounce his name.

The quirky, pronunciation one makes no disputed factual claims, and therefore earns our score of FAIR GAME. The longer, 60-second spot about his record in county government makes several factual claims. Taken together, we…

Dahlkemper on 60 Plus

Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3) is pushing back against the ads run against her by the conservative 60 Plus Association.

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AD WATCH: Sestak’s Navy bio vs. a questionable lobbyist claim

In two recent TV ads, Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak’s campaign has tried to frame the race as a choice between a dedicated public servant who made his life in the Navy (Sestak) and a Wall Street sympathizer who has the financial sector’s interests at heart (Republican Pat Toomey).

pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/09/a-note-on-covering-ads/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fa-note-on-covering-ads%2F','%5BClick+here+to+read+more+about+our+AD+WATCH+fact-checking+series+and+the+different+scores.%5D')" target="_blank"[Click here to read more about our AD WATCH fact-checking series and the different scores.]/a/p
pAs to the purely biographical ad, Sestak was indeed a three-star Navy Admiral; he was indeed the director of defense policy for the National Security Council in the Clinton administration; he did command an aircraft carrier battle group; and he did buck his party by staying in the Senate primary against Arlen Specter when the White House and others sought to push him aside./p
pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/09/sestak-ad-serving-our-country-vs-serving-wall-street/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fsestak-ad-serving-our-country-vs-serving-wall-street%2F','The+contrast+commercial')" target="_blank">The contrast commercial is more complicated. In it, a narrator opens:

Pat Toomey: a trader on Wall Street who went to Congress and voted…

DCCC’s first ads target Kelly, Barletta

Democrats have used their first TV buy in Pennsylvania to go after Republicans challenging their two most vulnerable incumbents in the state.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s first two TV ads, obtained by pa2010.com ahead of their formal release Monday afternoon, target Republicans Mike Kelly and Lou Barletta. Kelly is running against freshman Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3), while Barletta is challenging longtime incumbent Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) for the third time in eight years.

The…

Carney pollster sees 8-point lead

Buoyed by stronger name recognition, Congressman Chris Carney (D-10) is holding an eight-point lead against Republican Tom Marino just five weeks before Election Day, according to a Carney campaign poll memo.

In the memo, released Monday amid other poll data showing Marino ahead despite troubling headlines for the challenger, Carney campaign pollster Margie Omero writes that “as news of Marino’s failed ethics, integrity and leadership continue to mount, voters have taken notice.” The memo describes…

Why isn’t the Tea Party stronger here?

What accounts for the difference between Pennsylvania, where establishment GOP candidates seem to be cruising to victory in statewide races, and states like Delaware or New York, where Tea Party-backed insurrections have thrown the party into confusion?

Laura Vecsey

Another poll shows GOPers ahead in statewide races

Republicans continue to hold healthy leads in both of Pennsylvania’s competitive statewide races, according to a new poll.

The Muhlenberg College survey released this weekend found Republican Tom Corbett edging Democrat Dan Onorato by nine points in the race for governor, 46 percent to 37 percent, with 17 percent of likely voters still undecided. Republican Pat Toomey holds a smaller, seven-point advantage against Democrat Joe Sestak in the Senate race, 46 percent to 39 percent,…

Toomey ad questions Sestak’s independence

A new TV ad from Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey’s campaign seeks to undermine Democrat Joe Sestak’s claim to any modicum of political independence.

The 30-second spot juxtaposes Sestak’s comment that he wants to President Obama’s “strongest ally” with a tough line of questioning the Democratic nominee received from “Meet the Press” host David Gregory earlier this year.

It was not formally announced by the campaign,

NRCC keeps up attack on Dahlkemper, Kanjorski

Republicans continue to make Pennsylvania’s two most vulnerable incumbents their two favorite targets.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is up with two new TV ads targeting Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3) and Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11). The 30-second spots follow ads the GOP has already run against the two well-funded incumbents.

The ad against Dahlkemper fires back at a TV ad her campaign ran that was called “misleading” by FactCheck.org. The ad against Kanjorski takes broader…

Swinging for the fences

Baseball playoffs are finally approaching. While commentators on ESPN will say that defense and pitching wins championships, the fact is that you can’t win if you don’t swing the bat.

The same goes for politics

There is the old phrase “go down swinging,” but the truth of the matter is that you win swinging, too. That means bringing the fight to your opponent and giving people a reason to vote for you instead of just…