Joe Sestak

Republican Congressional candidate Craig Williams is out with his first ad of the campaign.

The 30-second biographical spot, airing on local cable, highlights his time in military service and his experience as a local prosecutor.

"In Congress, I'll help drain the Washington swamp," he says.

Williams is running against U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Edgmont) in the 7th Congressioal District. 

See the full video of the ad below: 

With Republican nominee for president John McCain announcing Wednesday that he would temporarily suspend his campaign and some members of Congress facing pressure to do the same, Republican candidate Craig Williams will continue on the campaign trail.

"If Mr. Williams were a sitting member of Congress, which he hopes to be follwing the November election, he woudl be focusing all of his energy on resolving this crisis," Williams campaign spokesman Pete Peterson said. "In the meantime, he is going to continue to meet with local residents to discuss their concerns about the economy, taxes, and energy and offer his vision for our nation."

Williams is running against U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak in the 7th Congressional District.

PolitickerPA.com will continue coverage of how Congressional candidates throughout the state are responding to McCain's decision.

Democratic freshman congressman Joe Sestak (PA-7) is using a visit today from John McCain and Sarah Palin to raise campaign funds.  Sestak says the Republican team expects 15,000 republicans and 3,100 independents to attend the event so he is hoping to raise $18,100 today.  Sestak says the McCain and Palin team are holding the rally close to his office because of the close relationship between his opponent, Craig Williams, and Palin.  

William Titelman, who is caught going a little crazy in a Kentucky US Senate web ad has doled out thousand in contributions over the three years including spreading the love to some Pennsylvania politicians.  Along with his maxing out to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Titelman has also made contribution in the last three years of $500 to Jason Altmire (PA-4) in January of 2007, then $500 each to Altmire, Joe Sestak (PA-7), Chris Carney (PA-10) and Lois Murphy (PA-6) in June of 2006.  Titelman had also contributed $2,100 to Bob Casey in both March and June of 2005 and another $1,000 contribution to Allyson Schwartz (PA-13) in May of 2005. 

Titelman also spread the love to some state candidates.  In 2008 he donated $500 to John Dougherty for Senate.  In 2006 he donated $1,000 to Dwight Evans, and $250 to Senator Chip Brightbill and a $25,000 gift for Ed Rendell.  In 2005 he donated another $5,478.39 to Rendell.    

Republicans nationally and in Pennsylvania tout the energy vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has injected in the GOP base.

On Tuesday, it caused state party Chairman Bob Gleason to make a bold prediction: Republicans will win back "four or five" congressional seats in the Keystone State.

Generic ballots between Republicans and Democrats show a dead heat, Gleason said, "and that's caused Democrats to be very nervous about their congressional seats."

The chairman, joined by congressional candidate Craig Williams for the state's 7th Congressional District, spoke to reporters on a conference call hours before Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden campaigned in the Philadelphia suburbs.

DENVER--Democrats in Pennsylvania are hoping that U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) could be vulnerable when he comes up for reelection in two years. But state Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney this morning cautioned that unseating the longtime moderate Republican in 2010 will be very difficult.

"Arlen Specter is a very, very formidable opponent," Rooney told PolitickerPa.com during the state delegation's breakfast here.

Rooney gave Specter credit for "staying grounded" as other elements of his party have moved further to the right.

Beating Specter, Rooney said, will take "a candidate with a compelling story and a hell of a lot of money."

DENVER-Joe Hoeffel knows a thing or two about taking on U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.). Hoeffel, the Montgomery County Commissioner and former Congressman, tried to unseat Specter in 2004, but came up short by about 10 points.

In an interview with PolitickerPa.com this morning, Hoeffel served up some words of wisdom for whatever Democrat eventually takes on the formidable task of challenging Specter in 2010.

He said it was critical for any candidate to "stress the traditional family values and economic values that Pennsylvanians care about," calling an emphasis on so-called pocket-book issues critical to any campaign. But national security acumen, he said, is almost as important.

"The Senator's weakness is he's been too loyal to George Bush," Hoeffel said.

This article is by Dan Hirschhorn in Philadelphia and Alex Roarty in Harrisburg.

Even while they insist their energies are fully focused on electing their prospective party's nominees for president, members of the state's political establishment are quietly eyeing the next big elections in Pennsylvania: the race for governor and the race for senator in 2010.

With a bevy of political insiders set to convene over the next two weeks for their annual political conventions-Democrats in Denver next week and Republicans in St. Paul the following week-it's certain that prospective candidates for the two offices will be putting out feelers for support, though they'll be doing so quietly.

Prospective candidates for both offices will be present at both conventions, and though they assured PolitickerPa.com they were more focused on November's presidential election, most acknowledged it would be nice to have a who's who of state politicians in one room.

"I would say that next week in Denver I'll spend a lot of time talking to other ... Democrats from across the state about intentions and gauging their reaction and support," said Don Cunningham, the Lehigh County Executive who is considering a run for the Democratic nomination to succeed Gov. Ed Rendell.

"I'm not hosting any formal receptions or anything like that," Cunningham was quick to add. "I'm just going to be an active, regular part of the delegation. I know a lot of folks already, and I'm hoping to get to know more."

PHILADELPHIA -- It might be hard to tell from this grainy recording, but 7th Congressional District Republican candidate Craig Williams gave by far one of the funniest performances at Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky's Candidates Comedy Night.

Bringing the old "good news, bad news" routine to the stage, apparently for the first time in the event's 18 years, Williams made light of his low name recognition, Eliot Spitzer, and of course, John McCain's age.

Williams is running against U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Edgmont).

Below is a video of Williams' performance: 

During a brief appearance Monday in Montgomery County, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Congress should return from its summer recess to deal with the country's energy crisis, The Inquirer reports.

"Congress should come back in session, and I'm willing to come off the campaign trail," he said.

McCain's short campaign stop in the Philadelphia area was closed to only a small group of pool reporters. His only stop was at National Label, a company that makes labels for pharmaceuticals and other products.

His call for Congress to return is being echoed by other candidates in the state, especially Republicans. Craig Williams, who is running against U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Edgmont) in the 7th Congressional District, criticized Congress himself Monday morning to taking the recess without passing energy legislation.

McCain's tight control of press access could reflect growing frustration with a  press corps the campaign sees as favoring U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)