Lentz & Meehan agree on Israel—not much else

HAVERTOWN—It was a relatively tame display of two candidates expressing their solidarity with and support for Israel and its its security. But as the focus shifted to economic policy, the debate between Democrat Bryan Lentz and Pat Meehan turned heated.

By the time the hour was up Tuesday night, the two 7th District rivals had laid out starkly contrasting visions. And with Lentz aggressively looking to keep Meehan on the defensive for much of the…

September 22, 2010 at 6:00 am | Comments (12)

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)

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)

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)

Lentz takes to the airwaves with first two ads

With 48 days until voters go to the poll, Democratic congressional candidate Bryan Lentz is taking his campaign to TV screens with two new commercials.

The 30-second spots were set to hit the airwaves in the 7th District Tuesday morning. Though the size and scope of the first ad buy was unclear, Lentz’s war chest and the expensive Philadelphia media market would indicate that the first buy will be relatively small. Though he is expected…

September 14, 2010 at 10:22 am | Comments (9)

Cantor raising cash for Meehan

The man who stands to become House Majority Leader if Republicans prevail in November is boosting the campaign coffers of 7th District nominee Pat Meehan.

Eric Cantor, the Virginia representative who is currently Minority Whip, will headline a fundraiser for Meehan Sept. 21 in Philadelphia.

Both Meehan and Democratic nominee Bryan Lentz have received significant support from their respective party leaders throughout the last year in the competitive, open-seat race. Meehan was on of several…

September 13, 2010 at 10:01 am | Comments (0)

Retired general to stump for Lentz

A retired Army General who served in Iraq will hit the campaign trail next weekend with former Army Ranger and current congressional candidate Bryan Lentz.

Retired Major General Paul Eaton will headline the Vets for Lentz kickoff event next Saturday afternoon in Upper Darby. Lentz, a Democrat, is running against Republican Pat Meehan and independent Jim Schneller in the 7th District.

Eaton headed up operations to train Iraqi troops shortly after the 2003 invasion, and…

September 10, 2010 at 8:00 am | Comments (0)