Bob Casey

U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach: Campaign photoWASHINGTON - In 2004, U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Upper Uwchlan Township) campaigned with George W. Bush in a difficult re-election race for his 6th Congressional District seat.

In the end, Bush lost the district to John Kerry (D-Mass.) by almost 11,000 votes. But Gerlach would go on to defeat his Democratic opponent, attorney Lois Murphy, by a more-than 6,000 vote margin. By the time the dust settled, Murphy had spent almost $2 million, accusing Gerlach of misleading of fiscal issues and tying the incumbent to then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Two years later, Murphy was back for a rematch. In a favorable Democratic environment, Murphy doubled her expenditures and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and liberal-aligned women’s group EMILY’s List engaged. Democrats would go on to win 31 seats and the House majority in 2006, but Gerlach proved hard to beat. The Republican dispatched of Murphy by a margin of more than 3,000 votes.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey: Getty Photo ImagesU.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Scranton) held a Wednesday morning fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol), who is fresh off a strong second fundraising quarter.

Matt Binns, a Murphy spokesman, confirmed this morning’s event at the National Democratic Club in Washington. The campaign did not provide any further details on the event.

Murphy is quickly emerging as something of a fundraising behemoth in his freshman class. As PolitickerPA.com’s Dan Hirschhorn reported Tuesday, the Democrat raised $750,000 between the beginning of April and the end of June, bringing his cash-on-hand total to over $2 million.

Murphy’s Republican opponent, pharmaceutical executive Tom Manion, reported raising $241,000 during the second quarter and having about $500,000 in the bank.

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."

As U.S. senators representing the same constituents, Arlen Specter and Bob Casey are usually on the same side, even if they come from different parties.

But for one afternoon, Casey, a Democrat, and Specter, a Republican, squared off for the fiercest kind of political battle there is: a softball game.

That's right, it was the annual game between their two staffs. The winner: Casey's staff, 12-7, Pennsyltucky Politics reports.

Specter spent most of the game on the sidelines, save for half an inning behind the plate as catcher and an infield fly-out. Casey had the bigger moment, with a home run to boast.

Last week Tom Ridge lost to Condoleezza Rice in MSNBC’s Veepstakes competition.  Now attention turns to the Democratic side.  In the first round Governor Ed Rendell is a number 5 seed and is paired off against 4th seeded Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel from Nebraska.

Interestingly, Rendell makes the list while Bob Casey, who actually supported Barack Obama and was talked about early as a possible running mate, did not even make the list of 32. 

A week ago it was reported the Clintons had developed an enemy list, not a list any democrat would want to find themselves on we are sure.  After the report we decided to plan a secret bug in some prominent Pennsylvania politicians offices and send a mole in there to ask who is on top of their enemy list.  Here is what we found.

Gov. Ed RendellSen. Bob CaseyWhile Gov. Ed Rendell stumped frenetically for Clinton in Pennsylvania, helping to deliver the almost 10-point margin of victory she enjoyed, Sen. Bob Casey campaigned for Obama.

The head of a public opinion research firm, though, says that while both would have weaknesses as a running mate, both would likely deliver the critical swing state of Pennsylvania.

Governor Ed Rendell and US Senator Bob Casey, who supported Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for President are using their difference to call for unity within the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

US Senators Bob Casey and Arlen SpecterDon't expect Pennsylvania's U.S. senators to be a presidential runningmate. In a survey of the U.S. Senate's membership not already running for president on whether they'd accept an offer to be vice president, The Hill newspaper found a variety of responses to the veepstakes question. Some were accompanied by laughs, others took the question seriously.

So, how did Democrat Bob Casey Jr. and Republican Arlen Specter respond?