John Murtha

DENVER – In selecting U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as his running mate, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has undercut any gains Republican rival John McCain could make in Pennsylvania by picking former Keystone State governor Tom Ridge, U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) suggested today.

“There’s no question …he’s a good governor and he’s well thought of,” Murtha said in a short interview with PolitickerPA.com, referring to Ridge. “But with Biden on the ticket, he almost offsets that.”

Murtha said that Biden, a six term senator, would especially help bring in votes in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, the part of the state closest to Biden’s Delaware. He also said that Biden’s Wednesday evening speech at the Democratic National Convention would be a key moment for the newly-minted vice presidential nominee.

A new ad from Congressional candidate Bill Russell's campaign drives right at one of his candidacy's main themes: Democrat John Murtha's accusations, since proven false, that U.S. marines killed Iraqi civilians in cold blood.

The ad shows clips of Murtha telling multiple reporters that "there is question in my mind what happened here," referring to the deaths of Iraqi civilians in Haditha. 

"They killed innocent civilians in cold blood," he said in one clip.

The ad ends with a message saying seven of the eight marines accused have been acquitted.

U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Westmont) said Tuesday that MSNBC newscaster Chris Matthews would be a worthy candidate for U.S. Senate because of his extensive experience in the political world, The Post-Gazette reports.

Murtha was speaking on Matthews' behalf at a Pittsburgh-area YMCA where the Hardball host had been scheduled to talk before a pneumonia diagnosis led him to cancel his appearance.

Speculation has been rampant for months that Matthews might run against U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) in 2010, and a recent poll indicated that Matthews just might be able to give the incumbent a run for his money.

While saying he hadn't talked to Matthews about a potential Senate run, Murphy implied that Matthews' media experience could apply well in politics, according to The Post-Gazette.

"Chris has a real talent for public-media type service," Murtha said.

UNIONTOWN -- Republican congressional candidate Bill Russell's campaign is reporting it raised $400,000 in July alone as it continues its unexpected fundraising success in the 12th Congressional District.

The campaign has now raised $1.3 million in total, in large part from small, individual contributions, according to Campaign Manager Peg Luksik. She said three-fourths of Russell's money comes from donations totalling less than $50.

The totals have stunned even Russell.

"The big thing has been watching the explosion of money coming into the campaign," he said.

UNIONTOWN -- Bill Russell knows how to make an entrance.

Now can he do the seemingly impossible?

Just past midnight Friday, the Republican congressional candidate literally roared into his first campaign event in three months, driving his motorcycle into the center of Uniontown with the help of the military veterans biker group "Rolling Thunder."

After shaking hands with many of the 40 supporters gathered to greet him, Russell wasted little time taking aim at his opponent, U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown). In a prepared 15-minute speech, the candidate said Murtha's 30-year tenure in Washington had warped his values and put him "out of touch" with the 12th Congressional District.

Bill Russell's campaign has spent the summer buying media, packing the schedule with county fairs and raising money -- everything expected of a congressional candidate laying a foundation for fall.

Now it just needs Bill Russell.

The Republican challenger to political giant U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) has been absent from his own campaign the past 90 days while serving in the U.S. Army. On-duty members of the armed services are forbidden from any politicking, including even brief phone calls between themselves and their campaigns.

It's his campaign, but for the past three months, he's had nothing to do with it -- even as important decisions were made.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) won Pennsylvania by 9 percentage points over U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on April 22 in part because she leaned heavily on the state's Democratic leaders, nearly all of whom were supporters.

If Barack Obama, who last week secured enough delegate support for the Democratic presidential nomination, wants to have the same kind of success against U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this fall, he might need to do the same.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will try in the coming months to merge his largely grassroots operation in Pennsylvania with the party's existing Democratic machine, led by Gov. Ed Rendell.

$332,534,975: That’s total value of the 550 pork barrel projects secured from the federal government by Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation, according to the 2008 Pig Book.

It's a small number compared to the $17.2 billion national total that Citizens Against Government Waste found in FY 2008’s 12 appropriation bills.

With $26.75 of pork per capita, Pennsylvania ranks 35th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.