LEFTOVERS: Rendell says get over it, Kanjo & reporters, Meehan talks corruption

Give Ed Rendell this much: The lame-duck governor is nothing if not the fighter-conscience of the Democratic Party.

Rendell this week joined the Obama administration in telling liberals to buck up before the midterm elections, and leave their malaise at the door.

“This isn’t about President Obama,” Rendell said late Monday on MSNBC. “It’s about whether the Democratic Party, not perfect, but certainly bent on trying to preserve theories in government and progressive practices, is…

October 5, 2010 at 4:21 pm | Comments (15)

Anti-abortion group again targets Dems in radio spots

The anti-abortion group Americans United for Life is up with a new slate of radio ads targeting Democrats, and three Pennsylvanians are among its familiar list of targets.

Democratic incumbents Kathy Dahlkemper, Chris Carney and Paul Kanjorski are all among those targeted by the ads, which are virtually identical to previous radio spots run by the group. Recently-filed campaign finance data indicates that Americans United for Life is spending about $12,000 on the ad campaign…

October 5, 2010 at 3:11 pm | Comments (3)

NRCC adds Carney to latest TV targets

A trio of new TV ads from national Republicans hits the airwaves in Pennsylvania, and for the first time this cycle the GOP has Congressman Chris Carney (D-10) directly in its crosshairs.

The National Republican Congressional Committee unveiled the three new spots Monday morning. Two target Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3) and Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11), vulnerable incumbents who have already been the subject of NRCC TV spots. But the ad against Carney marks the first…

October 4, 2010 at 1:53 pm | Comments (5)

Kanjo keeps up the Hazleton attack in new ad

The latest TV ad from Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) keeps building on what has become the foundation of the campaign’s media blitz: arguing that Republican opponent Lou Barletta is a failed mayor in Hazleton.

Kanjorski’s campaign tries to frame the 30-second spot as a response to Barletta by pulling a screen shot from

October 3, 2010 at 2:18 pm | Comments (3)

Realtors make ad buy for Kanjorski

The country’s realtors are going to bat for Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) with a half-a-million-dollar TV ad buy.

The National Association for Realtors’ political action committee spent almost $530,000 on the ad buy, according to campaign finance data. It comes as both parties are heavily investing in the northeast Pennsylvania district, with Republican Lou Barletta mounting his third challenge against Kanjorski in eight years.

Video of any TV spots were not available on the group’s…

October 1, 2010 at 7:08 am | Comments (2)

LEFTOVERS: Labor mail, Dukakis for Trivedi, Lentz mocks Meehan’s debate skills

Organized labor continues to play big in the direct-mail game ahead of November.

The state’s AFL-CIO rolled out its latest mail pieces Monday, the third week in a row it’s hitting up homes across Pennsylvania. The new mail pieces, targeting Senate candidate Pat Toomey and six GOP House candidates, paint Republican hopefuls as friends of Wall Street who want to outsource American jobs.

They err on at least one count, the same count that has…

September 27, 2010 at 4:19 pm | Comments (11)

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…

September 27, 2010 at 11:29 am | Comments (5)

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…

September 27, 2010 at 10:59 am | Comments (0)

Polls show Republicans leading in NEPA

Polls commissioned by The Times Leader have found Republicans Tom Marino and Lou Barletta well positioned to knock off a pair of Democratic incumbents in northeast Pennsylvania.

A poll by the newspaper found Barletta leading Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) by 11 points,

September 26, 2010 at 2:18 pm | Comments (2)

Barletta ad (calmly) fires back at Kanjorski

Facing a deluge of attack ads against him, Republican Lou Barletta has taken to the airwaves for some relatively gentle push back.

In Barletta’s latest TV ad, which began airing late last week, he sits at a diner counter and says Congressman Paul Kanjorski’s (D-11) “negative campaign doesn’t surprise me, or them.”

“He’s been in Washington so long,” Barletta says, “and become so out of touch that he has lot sight of the reality that…

September 26, 2010 at 1:45 pm | Comments (1)