President

U.S. Sen. John McCain: Getty Images PhotoRumors that swept through the Capitol this afternoon of a surprise Harrisburg visit from U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) today at 4:30 are being shot down by campaign and state GOP officials.

"(That is) not the case," said Mike Barley, state GOP spokesman.

McCain was in Wilkes-Barre earlier today and will stop through Allentown later, said campaign spokesman Paul Lindsay.

Columnist Brett Lieberman in The Patriot-News Wednesday said the state GOP is uninspired by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

With a potential Barack Obama presidency looming, they're still uniting behind the senator from Arizona, but whether he'll be able to win the Keystone State with an apathetic conservative base is a big question mark.

"The challenge that McCain faces in Pennsylvania is that, obviously, he has got to secure that conservative base in the 'T,' almost the Libertarian Republicans, that right now is not secure," Scott Migli, a former executive director of the state GOP, told Lieberman.

Montgomery County Republican Committee Chairman Robert Kerns invites recently-registered Democrats to come back to the GOP.NORRISTOWN - The Montgomery County Republican Committee on Tuesday announced a major voter registration drive, with party leaders saying they hoped longtime Republicans who had changed registration to participate in April's historic Democratic primary would return to the GOP.

Addressing reporters outside the county courthouse here, county GOP chairman Robert Kerns called on recently-registered Democrats to return to the party that, until April, had controlled the county for decades.

"We hope to bring the little elephants home," Kerns said. "It's time to come back to the Republican Party."

Adding to its growing operation in the crucial Philadelphia suburbs, the campaign of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) opened yet another office Tuesday, this one in Chester County.

The campaign placed its county headquarters in West Chester, with the grand opening Tuesday.

Democrats and Independents combined now outnumber Republicans in Chester County, making the area key to Obama's hopes for beating U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the state.

The opening in West Chester comes on the heels of multiple campaign offices opening in Montgomery and Delaware counties in recent days. 

Gov. Ed Rendell said this morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he is not being vetted for vice president.

"No, no, no, I'm not being vetted," Rendell said. "I haven't been contacted by anybody, showing that the Obama campaign has good sense."

The governor has been mentioned as a potential vice president for Obama after he played a critical role in U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) Pennsylvania primary campaign. Pennsylvania is universally considered a critical state to both presidential candidates this fall.

Former Gov. Tom Ridge (R) told PolitickerPA.com Monday that Rendell's presence in Pennsylvania is worth a few extra percentage points to Obama this November.

Former Gov. Tom Ridge (R) told PolitickerPA.com in an interview Monday that current Gov. Ed Rendell (D) is worth a few percentage points to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) this fall.

"I don't know if it's 2 or 3 points, but he's got Democrats controlling the cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia," Ridge said. "There's a certain home-field advantage."

Rendell's presence, the state's undeniable leftward shift, and the resulting surge in liberal elected officials are big advantages for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the former governor said.

"It's a steep climb" for the presumptive Repubican nominee John McCain, Ridge said. "Nobody is operating under any illusions or delusions."

A new ad from U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that will run in Pennsylvania hammers U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for opposing expanded domestic oil drilling.

The 30-second spot, which will also run on national cable and in other key states, links Obama's opposition to skyrocketing gas prices.

The ad counters that McCain's plan to expand oil drilling at home will "rescue our family budgets."

"Don't hope for more energy, vote for it," the ad says.

MORE on PolitickerOH.com:

• McCain TV ad hits Obama on gas in Ohio

The presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is starting to lay down infrastructure in the critical Philadelphia suburbs, opening campaign offices and coordinating with local party activists in an attempt to win what could be the most important regions in the state.

On Saturday, the campaign opened two offices in Delaware County, where Democrats and independents combined to outnumber Republicans this spring for the first time in decades. The campaign opened one field office in Chester and set up its county headquarters in Media. A July 30 fundraiser in Havertown is already planned to cull donations from local supporters.

Meanwhile, three offices have been opened in Montgomery County, and has sent out requests for volunteer time and supplies from local supporters. Offices are up and running in Jenkintown, Norristown and Ardmore.

Analysts have called the Pennsylvania suburbs essential to Obama's hopes of beating U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the state. With Obama expected to win most of the urban areas and McCain likely to be stronger in rural areas, the Philadelphia suburbs are a key prize. Obama fared worse than he had hoped in the suburbs against U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and will have to win over her supporters to overcome what remains a strong Republican base in the area.

What will they do next, a feature-length film?

The campaign for U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has released an eight-minute Web ad that says, with the help of video evidence, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has changed many of his positions on Iraq. 

It certainly will play a smaller audience than a TV ad, but then again, an eight-minute TV spot isn't very realistic. 

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) maintains a 9 percentage point advantage over U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the national poll released Tuesday by Quinnipiac University, good news for the Obama camp after other polls released earlier this week indicated its advantage over the presumptive Republican nominee was slipping.

The poll reports Obama continues to enjoy nearly unanimous support from blacks, earning 94 percent of their support. McCain has advantage with men, 47 percent to 44 percent, and whites, 49 percent to 42 percent.

Obama continue to do well with 18- to 34-year-olds, winning 63 to 31 percent, and has a slight advantage with voters 35 to 54 years old, 48 percent to 44 percent. Voters over 55 split 45 percent for McCain and 44 percent for Obama.

"Sen. Barack Obama's national lead is solid -- but it's not monolithic," Maurice Carroll, director of Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.