US Senate

U.S. Sen. John McCain: Getty Images PhotoU.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) sure wants to push his presidential opponent to the limit in Pennsylvania. He rolled through the state this week with dual stops in Harrisburg and the Philadelphia suburbs, determined to compete in a state that many are forecasting will go to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Now he's planning on appearing in Wilkes-Barre on July 23, The Times Leader reports.

Details are still being finalized, but it looks like he'll depart from the requisite town hall meeting in favor of a luncheon, though a second event in this town 100 miles north of Philadelphia could also be in the works.

The luncheon is being coordinated by Dan Meuser, who lost a close primary race this year to Chris Hackett to be the GOP nominee for the 10th Congressional District.

The presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was able to bring in $1.5 million during a cocktail reception and fundraiser in suburban Philadelphia on Monday night, The Inquirer reports.

The fundraiser took place in the wealthy Philadelphia suburb of Bryn Mawr, which is in the battleground of Montgomery County. As McCain looks to boost his campaign coffers and catch up with opponent U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) record fundraising, many analysts have identified winning the Philadelphia suburbs as key to winning the state.

Monday's fundraiser was attended by U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), as well as Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett.

PIPERSVILLE -- At U.S. Sen. John McCain's town hall meeting here Monday, the presumptive Republican nominee was challenged by a questioner who said his appraoch to development of new energy techonologies required a greater push by the federal government.

McCain respectfully disagreed, saying the approach was rooted in encouraging free-market style innovation.

"The way to solve this issue is the let a thousand flowers bloom," he said.

Here is the full video of his response. 

Anti-war protestor outside a John McCain town hall event Monday in Bucks County. Several dozen were on hand in Pipersville: Politicker PhotoPIPERSVILLE -- Anytime U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Airz.) campaigns in southeastern Pennsylvania, the Iraq war protestors are there. They were there in Philadelphia. And they were there in larger numbers today in Bucks County, where McCain appeared at a town hall event here.

This time, several dozen convened outside the contracting company warehouse where McCain spoke. A couple stood by the street corner leading to the company complex holding signs against the war.

Inside, as he usually does in campaign appearance, McCain said America was now winning the war.

PIPERSVILLE -- As his town-hall style meeting here today came to a close, U.S. Sen. John McCain made it plainly clear where he considers himself in the battle for president.

"I’m the underdog," he said. "Have no doubt about it."

McCain and other Republicans have previously spoken of the large fundraising advantage his opponent, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, is likely to have leading up to November's general election. But McCain has been increasingly blunt about his chances, with most polls showing him trailing.

Still, he sought to dispel any notion that Pennsylvania is out of the Republicans' hands, and said he would be the underdog until the polls closed and he was elected president

"Have no doubt that Pennsylvania will be a battleground state," he said.

PIPERSVILLE -- The presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) rolled into this quiet, rural village in the Philadelphia suburbs today, as McCain addressed voters in packed company warehouse a month after cancelling the event because of a head cold.

McCain arrived at Worth & Company Inc., in Bucks County after rolling through the state from Harrisburg. As more than 1,000 people looked on in the crowded warehouse on a hot day, he gave only brief remarks before taking questions. But he did take time to give a nod of approval to both Worth & Company, calling it a "great American story," as well as the state's residents serving in the military.

"No one has served more heroically than the Pennsylvania Guard and reserve, and I know you're very proud," he said.

On a day when his opponent was campaigning in the state, the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama released its second ad of the general election. The advertisement, titled "Dignity," will air in Pennsylvania, among 18 other states, the campaign said today.

The brief spot reflects the campaign's continued efforts to introduce Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and his life story to voters.  It opens by telling voters that after working his way through Harvard Law School, he "turned down big money offers, and helped lift neighborhoods stung by job loss."

Seeking to win over voters right of center, it emphasizes his accomplishments in moving people off welfare and into work, and his tax cuts for workers.

As president, the ad's narrator says, Obama will "never forget the dignity that comes with work."

When Bob Casey Jr. was running for a U.S. Senate office in Pennsylvania in 2006, retired businessman Bob Roggio pitched in to help out the campaign, and later even worked for the victorious Democrat's staff.

Now that Roggio, still very much a political newcomer, is making his own run for Congress, Casey is returning the favor.

In an e-mail to Roggio's supporters Saturday, Casey said he was "enthusiastically supporting Bob's candidacy and committing myself to helping Bob win in November."

Gov. Ed Rendell said today that while he has no intention of cutting his second term short, he would be interested in a cabinet post later if U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) were president.

Speaking on a TV talk-show on Harrisburg's public access station Thursday night, Rendell spotlighted Secretary of Energy and Secretary of Transportation as two posts he would be particularly interested in filling, The Associated Press reports.

Those positions, he said, would "absolutely" be his first choices if Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, wins the White House in November.

Rendell's name has frequently been floated as a possible running mate for Obama, speculation Rendell has always dismissed. He has always maintained that he wants to finish out his term in Harrisburg, which expires in 2011.

"Would I love to go down to Washington in January of 2011 and serve President Obama in some capacity -- secretary of energy, secretary of transportation? Sure," he said on WITF-TV's "Smart Talk" program.

"But I'm not leaving" the governor's office early, he said. "I know that probably disappoints some people over in the Capitol."

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has an early lead against his opponent in the race for president, holding a six-point edge over U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), according to a poll release this morning by Franklin & Marshall College.

The national poll surveyed 1,501 voters from June 16-June 22, and found that 15 percent of voters remain undecided, while seven percent said they would vote for a different candidate.

It is the latest in a series of polls that have shown Obama holding an early edge among numerous demographic groups.