Jason Altmire

Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-04) held a telephone town hall meeting with constituents to discuss the energy crisis in America.  According Altmire, more than 10,700 constituents joined him on the call. 

The conservative group Freedom's Watch has unleashed yet another round of robocalls, this one attacking Democrats in Congress for "standing between us and billions of barrels of American oil."

The robocall campaigns are being run in New Hampshire, Arizona, California, Kentucky, New York, Illinois, Florida and Ohio, as well as in Pennsylvania.

With similar scripts, the Pennsylvania calls are targeting U.S. Reps. Jason Altmire (D-McCandless) in the 4th Congressional District, Chris Carney (D-Dimock) in the 10th Congressional District and Paul Kanjorski (D-Nanticoke City) in the 11th Congressional District.

The voice on the call reminds listeners that President Bush recently lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling, and blames its Democratic targets for stopping increases in domestic oil production. It gives listeners a number of times that each target has "sided with Nancy Pelosi and liberals in Congress instead of us" and urges listeners to call the target.

"Tell him to stop standing between the American people and American oil," the call closes.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel: Getty Images PhotoEight Pennsylvania Democrats running for Congress are being criticized by the National Republican Congressional Committee for accepting donations from U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who is embroiled in scandal after being accused of using his high-profile status to secure rent-stabilized apartments.

The NRCC sent two sets of e-mails, one Saturday to incumbents and another Wednesday to challengers, saying Democrats should return donations from the politically powerful Rangel.

U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire: Campaign photoU.S. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-McCandless) continues to maintain a cash advantage over challenger Melissa Hart in a matchup of two of the state's fundraising heavyweights.

Altmire raised about $456,000 in the second quarter, bringing his total fundraising take to $1.57 million.

His totals overshadow a strong quarter from Hart, who raised almost $300,000 in the second quarter. She now has roughly $624,000 in cash on hand.

Coal is any western Pennsylvania lawmaker's best friend.

But congressional candidate Melissa Hart says her opponent, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-McCandless), doesn't vote like it.

"I see him as not a friend of coal," Hart told PolitickerPA.com in an interview last week.

She particularly harped on his decision not to include coal as an alternative energy, and the former congresswoman suggested his reluctance to do so might stem from intra-party pressure.

Freshman Congressman Jason Altmire had another successful fundraising quarter as he brought in nearly $460k and ended the second quarter with more than $1.5 million in the bank.  Altmire’s opponent Melissa Hart raised $300k and finished with $625k in the bank.

MONACA -- U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-McCandless) told PolitickerPA.com in an interview after Wednesday night's town hall meeting he thinks his voting record, which he said is about 50 percent Democratic, proves his political philosophy matches the mostly centrist 4th Congressional District, which covers an area from the northern Pittsburgh suburbs to Mercer County.

Those votes, he said, will be the biggest difference this fall when he faces a rematch against Republican Melissa Hart, who had represented the district three terms until defeated by Altmire in 2006.

During that race, people voted against Hart more than they voted for him, he said.

"I have a record to run on now," he said.

MONACA -- Wednesday night at Penn State Beaver was one of the few times to see a Republican and Democratic congressman tout the other.

U.S. reps. Tim Murphy (R-Upper St. Clair) and Jason Altmire (D-McCandless) want voters to know it wasn't a one-time event.

The two congressmen Wednesday held the second of two joint town halls, this time in Beaver County, to highlight how they have worked together to help western Pennsylvania, even if that meant crossing party lines. It's an effort from both campaigns to position themselves as centrists ahead of November's election, where being viewed as ideologically extreme isn't beneficial in either district.

The second quarter is over and now we wait for the FEC numbers to be released.  But what should we expect?

In the 3rd district Phil English is facing off against challenger Kathy Dahlkemper.  In April English was showing $690k cash on had after raising $282k in the first quarter.   Dalhkemper raised $58k during the same period and had $71k on hand.  This is the make or break quarter for Dahlkemper.  She has been named as a candidate to watch on the DCCC Red-to-Blue program, but another $58k quarter will not get the job done.  For Dahlkemper to be taken seriously by the DCCC she will need to post a number that puts her with at least $250k cash on hand.

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Upper St. Clair) can run, but he can't hide from his GOP past.

That's the message from opponent Steve O'Donnell's campaign Thursday a day after Murphy announced he will hold joint town halls with U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-McCandless). The town halls will tout the representatives' shared commitment, despite party lines, to western Pennsylvania.

But Murphy started preaching bipartisanship only after his party suffered heavy losses in 2006, said Mike Dineen, O'Donnell's campaign manager. Now's he simply "pandering to the middle" in an unfavorable climate for Republicans, he said.

"The voters aren't going to buy that," Dineen told PolitickerPa.com.