AD WATCH: Health care hits and misses from conservative groups

In four recent TV ads targeting Pennsylvania Democrats, a pair of conservative groups have said the newly-enacted health care law makes massive Medicate cuts, raises taxes and risks seniors losing their doctors.

The health care overhaul’s effect on Medicare is a hotly debated subject infused with tension. After examining the facts, we find these four ads from the 60 Plus Association and Americans for Job Security to be only HALF-TRUE. A separate Americans for …

September 21, 2010 at 12:03 pm | Comments (3)

Christie calls Meehan a ‘man of character’—campaign breaks $2M mark

SPRINGFIELD—One of the rising stars of the Republican Party came here to stump for congressional candidate Pat Meehan Monday night, as the 7th District candidate said a big infusion of cash had put his campaign over the $2-million mark for the cycle.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Meehan’s colleague when both were U.S. Attorneys, headlined a fundraiser at Springfield Country Club here, calling Meehan “a man of strong character and strong will.” Very much in …

September 21, 2010 at 7:30 am | Comments (8)

AD WATCH: Lentz fibs on pay raise, tax cuts

The first two TV ads from Democrat Bryan Lentz seem like standard political fare: …

September 20, 2010 at 10:43 am | Comments (0)

NRCC polls four Pa. districts

Republicans recently spent more than $75,000 for snapshots of the political climates in four Keystone State House districts.

The National Republican Congressional Committee commissioned polls in the 3rd, 7th, 8th and 11th Districts—…

September 20, 2010 at 9:40 am | Comments (4)

Labor’s mailers target Toomey, House hopefuls

The next round of organized labor’s big direct-mail campaign is zeroing in on Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey and five GOP House candidates.

The AFL-CIO mailers, obtained by pa2010.com ahead of their formal release Monday morning, are part of pThe direct-mailers, part of a campaign that includes more than 2 million mail pieces that will hit homes across the country, hew to the familiar Democratic attack lines this cycle. The mailer targeting Toomey says he “profited while working families struggled.” The pieces targeting 8th District Republican Mike Fitzpatrick and 10th District Republican Tom Marino depict an elderly union couple saying: “We worked hard. We did everything we were supposed to do. Now Mike Fitzpatrick wants to change the rules.”/p
pOther mailers targeting Mike Kelly in the 3rd District, Pat Toomey in the 7th District and Tim Burns in the 12th District accuse the GOP nominees of pledging to protect tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. The attack refers to the Americans for Tax Reform pledge that a plethora of candidates have signed. It doesn’t actually pledge those candidates to protect such tax breaks as a rule, but the conservative group has said that some measures which would end the tax breaks would also violate the pledge./p
pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/PA-SEN-Toomey-neg-2-FINAL.pdf" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F09%2FPA-SEN-Toomey-neg-2-FINAL.pdf','Click+here+to+see+the+mailer+targeting+Toomey.')" target="_blank"Click here to see the mailer targeting Toomey./a/p
pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AFL1039_PA031.pdf" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F09%2FAFL1039_PA031.pdf','Click+here+to+see+the+mailer+targeting+Kelly.')" target="_blank">Click here to see the mailer targeting Kelly.

pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AFL1084_PA081.pdf" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F09%2FAFL1084_PA081.pdf','Click+here+to+see+the+mailer+targeting+Fitzpatrick.')" target="_blank"Click here to see the mailer targeting Fitzpatrick./a/p
pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AFL1084_PA101.pdf" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F09%2FAFL1084_PA101.pdf','Click+here+to+see+the+mailer+targeting+Carney.')" target="_blank">Click here to see the mailer targeting Carney.

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September 20, 2010 at 9:09 am | Comments (0)

NRCC’s first ads target most competitive races

The Republican Party’s first slate of general election TV ads in Pennsylvania is coming to homes in the state’s four most competitive House districts.

The National Republican Congressional Committee on Saturday unveiled spots targeting Congressmen Patrick Murphy (D-8) and Paul Kanjorski, Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper, and 7th District candidate Bryan Lentz. In the cases of Dahlkemper and Lentz, the NRCC is taking to the airwaves before its candidates.

The ad against Lentz says the two-term state …

September 18, 2010 at 1:22 pm | Comments (7)

On the trail, Lentz learns of shipbuilding

PHILADELPHIA—Democrat Bryan Lentz took an early-morning tour of the Aker Philadelphia Shipyard here Friday, soaking up some pointers about how he can best encourage job creation if elected to Congress this year.

The south Philadelphia stop was the 22nd of Lentz’s 10-week, 25-stop economic tour. Lentz, a two-term state lawmaker who’s running for the open seat in the 7th District, has visited businesses and held town halls during that time. Republican nominee Pat Meehan has …

September 17, 2010 at 11:43 am | Comments (7)

Obama touts Lentz in the 7th

President Obama threw his weight behind Democrat Bryan Lentz’s congressional campaign Thursday, giving Lentz his highest-profile supporter to date.

While Obama’s support for Democratic hopefuls is generally assumed, it’s more rare for him to issue individual endorsements to House candidates. Lentz was one of the first elected officials in Pennsylvania to back Obama’s bid for the White House.

“With so much still left to be done, and too many families struggling to get by, we …

September 16, 2010 at 4:12 pm | Comments (8)

New Meehan site targets Lentz as Pelosi ally

Republican Pat Meehan’s congressional campaign will unveil a new Web site Thursday arguing that Democratic opponent Bryan Lentz is a “rubber stamp” for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Web site, …

September 16, 2010 at 10:01 am | Comments (6)

Clyburn to raise cash for Lentz, Trivedi

The third-ranking Democrat in the House is coming to Philadelphia to help boost the campaign coffers of congressional candidates Manan Trivedi and Bryan Lentz.

Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC), the Majority Whip, will be headlining a fundraiser for the two candidates Sept. 26 in Philadelphia.

Trivedi, who is running in the 6th District, and Lentz, who’s battling for the open seat in the 7th District, have already formed a joint fundraising committee. The event with Clyburn …

September 14, 2010 at 11:15 am | Comments (1)