Internal Meehan poll shows Republican in strong position

An internal poll conducted for Republican Pat Meehan’s congressional campaign shows the former U.S. Attorney in a strong position to win the fiercely competitive 7th District race against Democrat Bryan Lentz.

The survey, described in a poll memo provided to pa2010.com by a Meehan campaign adviser, appeared to contain few surprises. Meehan is significantly better-known than Lentz in the Delaware County district, after years on the local political scene and a stint as district attorney.…

July 13, 2010 at 6:31 pm | Comments (17)

Staffing up, Lentz readies a change of campaign manager

As he staffs up considerably for the homestretch before Election Day, Democrat Bryan Lentz is getting ready to switch campaign managers.

Vincent Rongione, who has run Lentz’s 7th District congressional campaign for more than seven months, is transitioning to a general consulting role. Rongione told pa2010.com he’s making the switch because he’s moving out of Pennsylvania for personal reasons. Kevin McTigue, who was recently hired as political director, will be taking over as campaign manager, while Rongione will continue to play a role in political strategy and big-picture public relations.

July 13, 2010 at 11:09 am | Comments (23)

Meehan says he raised more than half-a-million last quarter

Republican congressional candidate Pat Meehan continues to raise money at fast clip.

Meehan, a former U.S. Attorney, said Monday that he raked in more than $500,000 in campaign cash between April 29 and June 30. The exact numbers won’t be available until campaign finance reports are filed later this week, but Meehan’s campaign said he has now raised more than $1.6 million in his bid for the 7th District seat being left vacant by Democrat Joe Sestak. The campaign said it has more than $1 million in the bank.

July 12, 2010 at 3:38 pm | Comments (3)

Uncertainty killing job creation

Over the past few months, I have met and spoken to many small business owners and managers to see how we can restore growth in our economy. Despite spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on bailouts and stimulus programs, we continue to see high unemployment. With so many people not going back to work, the inescapable question is “Why not?”

Some truly astonishing figures recently released by the Federal Reserve offer a clue. Those…

July 12, 2010 at 12:50 pm | Comments (5)

POST-HIATUS RECAP: Corbett’s gaffe, a Dem petition pile on, action in the 11th

A surprising amount of news happened while we were taking a little breather last week. So before we move forward, it seemed prudent to offer up a little recap.

The story of last week had to be Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett’s comments that Pennsylvanians are purposefully staying jobless to collect unemployment benefits. The attorney general made the claim during a radio interview Friday, during which he said: “People don’t want to come back to…

July 12, 2010 at 12:25 pm | Comments (4)

When Republicans and Democrats agree

Just when we thought Democrats and Republicans couldn’t agree on anything, this week brought some great news.

It started Monday when Democrat Bryan Lentz and Republican Pat Meehan, our two most bitter congressional rivals in the state, came dangerously close to complete and total agreement on a piece of legislation. The bill would lump disabled veterans and their businesses into groups that get preference for state contracts, which is more in line with federal law.…

July 1, 2010 at 1:25 pm | Comments (5)

LEFTOVERS: Fundraising pleas, NRCC lifts Fitzpatrick, Biden/Pelosi details

It was the last day of the FEC fundraising quarter on Wednesday, which meant the typical batch of last-minute pleas from candidates seeking cash.

The morning started with an e-mail from Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-13) on behalf of Manan Trivedi, the Democratic candidate in the 6th District. Schwartz had backed Trivedi’s opponent Doug Pike in the May primary, but now she was going to bat for Trivedi. “This district has been a challenge over these…

June 30, 2010 at 5:29 pm | Comments (7)

EXCLUSIVE: Biden, Pelosi to headline Philly event for Lentz & DCCC

Two of the country’s top Democrats are heading to Philadelphia to raise some cash for House candidates, and Bryan Lentz will be raking in some of that money.

Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be headlining a fundraiser July 19, according to Democrats familiar with the event. The proceeds will be split between Lentz’s campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, though the exact nature of that split remains unclear. Some…

June 28, 2010 at 11:00 am | Comments (9)

Meehan policy picks, the lightning round

Here’s one more fun item from our story Tuesday about

June 22, 2010 at 6:15 pm | Comments (5)

Touring businesses, Meehan heeds angel investors

PHILADELPHIA—Republican Pat Meehan met Tuesday with some of the region’s best and brightest entrepreneurs Tuesday, using a roundtable discussion to soak up some advice about how the federal government can best foster an atmosphere that will lead to business development and job creation.

Meehan’s appearance at the University City Science Center here was one of several business tours the 7th District hopeful has undertaken in recent weeks. The campaign has mixed forum-style discussions with more…

June 22, 2010 at 5:13 pm | Comments (10)