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Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen to rally for Sen. Barack Obama in Philly on Saturday -- for a last minute push to register rockers, young and old to vote. The concert takes place this Saturday and voter registration deadline is the following Monday.

Polling this week in Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia shows that Barack Obama has gained a net 3 to 5 percentage points in each state compared to the previous Fox News/ Rasmussen Reports poll. In Pennsylvania, Obama now leads by eight percentage points, 50% to 42%. In Virginia, it’s Obama 50% and McCain 47%. The candidates are within a single point of each other in Colorado (Obama 49%, McCain 48%), Florida (Obama 47%, McCain 47%), and Ohio (McCain 48% Obama 47%).

STEUBENVILLE -EMPTY ENVELOPE — Brian D’Amico, vice president of the College Republicans at Franciscan University of Steubenville, holds the torn and empty envelope that was received Friday at the Jefferson County Board of Elections. D’Amico said he had mailed the envelope containing 115-130 voter registration forms a week ago but it was stamped at the Youngstown postal center as “received unsealed.” Some voter registration forms originally thought to be missing were delivered today to the Jefferson County Board of Elections. Diane Gribble, director of the board of elections, said 56 voter registration cards were delivered today from the Pittsburgh post...

<p>PHILADELPHIA—Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin met with a group of military mothers at a downtown eatery Sunday, the third day of a swing through this Democratic stronghold.</p> <p>The Alaska governor, along with her 14-year-old daughter, Willow, spent about 45 minutes sipping a skinny white chocolate mocha and talking privately with four women who have children serving in the military overseas. Palin's son, Track, is deploying for service in Iraq.</p>

Until last fall, 74-year-old Kathleen Prescod of Bensalem never had missed voting in a general election. That streak ended after the retired hospital worker's polling place was moved from her apartment complex to a building a mile away. "I felt very bad," Prescod said, "because I felt it was my civic duty to vote." She blames her absence on a mixture of physical infirmities and political connivance. Bad knee, bad back and bad faith, she says, on the part of Bucks County officials. Prescod, who is black, is the lead plaintiff in a federal voting-rights lawsuit scheduled to be heard...

PHILADELPHIA—Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin takes her cheesesteak with Cheese Whiz and onions. The Republican vice presidential candidate made a brief campaign stop at Tony Luke's steak shop in South Philadelphia on Saturday evening. Wearing jeans and a beige raincoat, Palin greeted curious onlookers, signed autographs and posed for pictures before ordering two steaks to go. "Sarah, your steak is ready," a cashier said over the loudspeaker a few minutes after she ordered. As dozens of onlookers crowded around her, Palin headed back to the window to pick up the order. The cashier told her the order was on the house,...

To a critical sliver of voters gathered at Muhlenberg College, Friday's debate provided a slight boost for Republican John McCain but left him and Democrat Barack Obama with much to do to sway fence-sitters in the next five weeks. More than a dozen undecided voters gathered in a lecture hall, where they recorded their immediate reactions to the presidential candidates' responses using number keypads. Six of the 14 voters said they were more likely to vote for McCain after the 90-minute session, with four saying the same of Obama. Four said they remained unswayed. Bruce Glazier, a registered Republican from...

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) – With the eyes of the political world focused on the legislative drama unfolding in Washington, D.C. and tonight’s presidential debate in Mississippi, Sarah Palin is keeping a low profile in Philadelphia, where she will spend the coming days preparing for her own debate against Sen. Joseph Biden. After a marathon series of meetings with international heads of state in New York, Palin is holed up in her Philadelphia hotel with a cadre of domestic and foreign policy advisers, studying for next Thursday's vice presidential debate in St. Louis. Her campaign plane, a JetBlue charter, left Palin and...

Barack Obama now leads John McCain by four percentage points in Pennsylvania. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Obama attracting 49% of the vote while McCain earns 45%. A few days ago, the Democrat was up by three. A week-and-a-half ago, the two candidates were tied in the Keystone State. Pennsylvania, with 21 Electoral College votes, is one of the few traditionally Democratic states where McCain is thought to have a chance at scoring an upset.

The Obama campaign has written radio stations in Pennsylvania and Ohio, pressing them to refuse to air an ad from the National Rifle Association."This advertisement knowingly misleads your viewing audience about Senator Obama's position on the Second Amendment," says the letter from Obama general counsel Bob Bauer. "For the sake of both FCC licensing requirements and the public interest, your station should refuse to continue to air this advertisement." The ad, "Hunter," conflates Obama's anti-gun stances of the 1990s with his current, more pro-gun, stand, and was chided for inaccuracy in The Washington Post, an item to which Bauer's letter refers.NRA spokesman...

Sen. Joe Biden hit Western Pennsylvania today -- Greensburg specifically -- with his first visit to the area since the Democratic National Convention. Before he began his morning speech, Biden had to compose himself while recalling a gift of two footballs (signed by former Steeler Rocky Bleier) given by late Steelers founder Art Rooney to Biden's two boys in 1972, when they were recuperating from a traffic accident that killed his wife and daughter. Biden recalled the story after he was introduced by Rooney's son, Dan.

This is a purely unscientific observation based on many years of following local and national races in the "red T" of the Pennsylvania mid-state. Through several decades of election cycles it has seemed that any candidate who can flood the area with yard signs--especially those displayed on private property, as opposed to major intersections in public right of ways--has gone on to prevail in the election. The candidate who strikes first wins big. In my battleground district of a battleground County in the battleground State of Pennsylvania, I am delighted to observe a SURGE in McCain and McCain-Palin signs. Even...

Obama: 50% McCain: 46% BUT................. Democrats (53%) Republicans (39%) Independents (8%) In effect, PA is a dead heat - as in the other recent polls!!!!!!!

Paul Teutul, founder of Orange County Choppers rides a motocycle on stage followed by sons Paulie and Mikey, right, at a rally for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and vice presidential running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in Media, Pa., Monday, Sept. 22, 2008. McCain picked up a surprise gift, an Orange County Chopper motorcycle, courtesy of the 'American Chopper' TV stars who roared in to present it to McCain in person. (AP

MEDIA, Pa.—On a cigarette break outside the Seven Stones coffee house yesterday, Ashleigh Piazza, 23, did not hesitate when asked how Democratic nominee Barack Obama's race could affect his success here in southeastern Pennsylvania. "It's kind of sad to say, but I think it's a major issue," said Piazza, a file clerk at the nearby Delaware County Courthouse, where in a few hours GOP nominee John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, would hold a rally. "There's lots of talk about his race around town," says Piazza. An Obama supporter even offered Piazza's mom $40 at a local bar...

MEDIA, Pa. -- With Sarah Palin in a red leather jacket and American Chopper dude Paul Teutul on stage, the McCain campaign took on a born-to-be-wild vibe a rally at the courthouse square here. Palin introduced Teutul -- founder of the Orange County Choppers and the host, with his sons, of American Chopper on the TLC channel -- as he rode onstage on a white chopper, a type of motorcycle, dedicated to POW-MIAs. Teutul noted McCain's years in a Vietnamese prison.

While most McCain town hall attendees traditionally direct their questions or commentary towards the GOP nominee during the campaign events as the press take notes, one audience member decided to take her message directly to the media today. After praising his choice of Sarah Palin as a runningmate, one female audience member turned around towards the press seated in the back of the room and went on a diatribe about what she feels is biased coverage. “I also want to take the opportunity to ask the media, where is your 30 investigators over in Chicago looking at (Tony Rezko and...

How tough is it for Democrats to sell Barack Obama in Northeast Philadelphia? Here's one measure: One of their own ward leaders isn't convinced yet. Lorraine Bednarek, Democratic leader of the 64th Ward, in Northeast Philadelphia, may not vote for her party's candidate. "To be honest, I'm not sure," Bednarek said in a phone interview when asked if she would vote for Obama. "I've always voted Democrat. That's why this election is very difficult for me."

County GOP leaders predict about 15,000 people will attend - making it the largest for a political event since President Ronald Reagan visited Media in 1984 on his way to a landslide re-election victory over Democratic former Vice President Walter Mondale. McCain and Palin are due to arrive between 5 and 5:30 p.m. As of early Sunday afternoon, only about 50 tickets were left for party faithful or otherwise, said Upper Darby GOP Chairman John McNichol. The tickets were distributed to GOP leaders in the five-county Philadelphia region, with Delaware County receiving more than the others. For the second day...

Campaign Calendar Upcoming Events Use this calendar to find the latest events for John McCain 2008! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09/21/2008 September 21st- Road to Victory Rally with Governor Sarah Palin in The Villages, FL Please join Governor Sarah Palin for a Road to Victory Rally in The Villages, FL Sunday September 21st. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09/22/2008 Town Hall Meeting: Monday September 22nd in Scranton, PA Please join John McCain for a Town Hall Meeting on Monday September 22nd in Scranton, PA. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09/22/2008 Victory Rally: September 22 in Media PA Please join Senator John McCain & Governor Sarah Palin for a Victory Rally in...

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., speaks at a campaign rally in Media, Pa.

Victory Rally: September 22 in Media PA What: Victory Rally: September 22 in Media PA When: September 22, 2008 3:00 p.m. Where: Steps of the Delaware County Courthouse 201 West Front Street Media, PA Doors open at 3:00 p.m. Parking Shuttle buses will be running from the Springfield Park Mall to the event 1250 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, PA 19064

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Lt. Col. Bill Russell was in the Pentagon when it was attacked on September 11th. "The office I was in was actually one floor up and about 150 feet from where the cockpit ended," says Russell. That experience and his military service in Iraq shaped Russell's strong support for the Iraq war and his political challenge to long-time Democratic Congressman John Murtha. "People can disagree about whether we should be there, but the fact of the matter is that we are there -- and we have no choice but to win and achieve victory," says the Republican...

Republican congressional candidate Lou Barletta has opened a substantial lead over U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski in their battle to represent Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and other local municipalities in Congress, according to a Franklin & Marshall College/Times-Shamrock Newspapers poll. In a survey of 547 registered voters, Mr. Barletta had the support of 44 percent to 35 percent for Mr. Kanjorski, a Democrat, in their 11th Congressional District race. Another 21 percent were undecided. The poll is the clearest independent confirmation that Mr. Kanjorski’s re-election is seriously at risk in a year most political experts expect Democrats to do most of...

Just a bit earlier; one Ohio paper included this little paragraph about Biden's next campaign stop in Ohio on Tuesday, Sept 16. --- U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, will hold a rally Thursday evening in downtown Youngstown as part of his “Change We Need” tour. The campaign hadn’t finalized the time and location of Biden’s appearance. But those with knowledge of the event say it will be on West Federal Street, near Phelps Street, about 6:45 or 7 p.m. The campaign decided on West Federal Street, selecting it over Stambaugh Auditorium. The campaign is...

The race for Pennsylvania’s 21 Electoral College votes is tied. The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Barack Obama and John McCain each attracting 47% of the vote (demographic crosstabs available for Premium Members). Eighty-three percent (83%) of Obama voters are certain they will vote for him and not change their mind before Election Day. An identical percentage of McCain voters say the same thing. A week ago, Obama was up by two points after holding five percentage-point leads in August and July. The latest poll finds the Republican candidate is viewed more a bit more...

On a swing through Pennsylvania last month, John McCain visited a Manheim Central High School football practice — not to ingratiate himself with the players, who weren't even old enough to vote, but to identify himself with the gritty, down-home lunch bucket values of small-town football. "This is a blue-collar town," Manheim's coach said in his introduction of McCain. "We don't have a lot of flashy athletes. We don't come out with a lot of flash." But the coach explained that his team works hard, plays with discipline, and comes through in the end. "A lot like John McCain," he...

Retired U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Bill Russell of Johnstown will challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, in the upcoming general election. The Republican candidate retired July 31 from the U.S. military. He and his family moved to Johnstown earlier in the year. "It is a beautiful area; the people are friendly and my wife and I thought it would be a good place to raise our kids," he said, adding that region had caught his interest while serving as a Reservist. The son of a military career officer, Russell attended West Point and then earned his undergraduate degree...

The intelligent question thrown out among strategists for both campaigns is, can John McCain really win Pennsylvania? Really win it, not pretend to go for it, as Republicans did in 2004, all the while closing the deal in Ohio when no one was looking. The last Republican presidential candidate to win Pennsylvania was George H.W. Bush, in 1988 -- a win preceded by two Reagans but followed by two Clintons, a Gore and a Kerry. The Kerry win was narrower than the others, however. Since this year's Pennsylvania primaries, many people have been schooled on the mechanics of how Democrats...

It's game over for the Blue team. To Pittsburghers -- who grow up worshipping sports stars, dress in black and gold on Sundays and think tailgating is the eighth sacrament -- Obama, despite his smooth b-ball skills, has become the nerdy guy who bowls like a girl and calls Penn State the "Nittaly Lions." Meanwhile, Sarah of Alaska and Western Pennsylvanians are in love. The moose-shooting hockey mom and former basketball starlet -- whose favorite team is the Steelers and whose hubby is a he-man snowmobile racer who belongs to the Steelworkers union -- already has stolen the hearts of...

As if the Barack Obama needed any more bad news, the St. Petersburg Times and Zogby both deliver cause for pessimism at Team O. Florida polling shows that despite spending millions in advertising in the Sunshine State and a delay in advertising for McCain, Obama is in worse position that John Kerry at the same time in 2004. Zogby has new polling that shows Obama now trails in Pennsylvania, a must-hold state for the Democrats. First, the Florida breakdown: Barack Obama could be on the verge of falling out of contention in Florida. Despite spending an estimated $8-million on campaign...

State: Pennsylvania Updated: 9/13/2008 Summary: McCain - 49.1% Obama - 44.3% Not Sure/Other - 6.6% "This is a classic case of polling as a snapshot in time. We're turning Pennsylvania purple today, as McCain takes a small edge. But as in Ohio, we are watching this closely and things could change in this classically blue state."

WI: http://www.strategicvision.biz/political/wisconsin_poll_091008.htm PA: http://www.strategicvision.biz/political/pa_poll_091108.htm MI: http://www.strategicvision.biz/political/michigan_poll_091008.htm

Republican Sen. John McCain has closed within three points of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama in the presidential race among likely voters in Pennsylvania, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Mr. Obama leads Mr. McCain 48-45 percent in the state, but Mr. McCain has received significant support among white women and independents, the poll shows. "While GOP vice president candidate Sarah Palin undoubtedly helped McCain among white women, Obama got some help among Catholics in Pennsylvania from his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, a Catholic from Scranton," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University...

LANCASTER, Pa. — Pennsylvania has voted for Democrats for president since 1992. But no one ever said winning it would be as easy for Senator Barack Obama as, say, ladling some Cheez Whiz onto one of Pat’s steaks. In April he managed to insult the state’s rural voters, saying they cling to their guns and religion because they are bitter about their economic plight. And he lost the state’s primary to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Since winning the Democratic nomination, his campaign has labored to secure his standing here. It has conducted a ferocious voter registration drive, flooded the airwaves...

Strategic Vision will be releasing a survey of Pennsylvania tomorrow (Sept. 5-7, MoE +/-3.0%) showing Obama leading McCain by two points, 47-45, with 3% supporting other candidates and 5% undecided. That's a 7 point drop for Obama from SV's last poll taken in late July showing Obama ahead 49-40.

I have made no bones about the fact that the addition of Governor Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket this November has transformed me from a reluctant voter into an enthusiastic campaign volunteer. My son, Dan, and I attended the McCain-Palin rally which was held this afternoon at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. Being very familiar with Franklin and Marshall, and knowing full well that it takes no more than a half hour to drive there from our home, we left home at 1:00 PM. The doors were scheduled to open at 1:30, and the rally was scheduled...

RUSH: Kurt in Pittsburgh, hello, sir. Nice to have you on the EIB Network, and how about the Steelers defense? CALLER: How about those Steelers, huh? RUSH: How about that? CALLER: Hey, listen, Rush, long-time listener, first-time caller, one of those Bible, family, gun clingers from western Pennsylvania. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: And I wanted to share a story with you. A week ago last Saturday we went to the Palin-McCain rally in Washington, Pennsylvania, was the day after he announced her, and we have a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and we made a sign that said: "We Love...

merry10 has two extra tix to the McCain Palin rally in Lancaster and she promised the McCain staffer if she could not use both tix, that she would give them to somebody that he could trust. So she wants to give them to a Freeper. freepmail merry10

I have two tickets for tomorrow's rally in Lancaster, PA at Franklin and Marshall. I don't want them to go to waste.

Rasmussen Reports conducted five state telephone surveys in partnership with Fox News Channel on September 7, 2008. The surveys were conducted in Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. A total of 500 Likely Voters were interviewed in each state using the Rasmussen Reports automated telephone survey methodology (see www.RasmussenReports.com for details). The margin of sampling error for the full sample in each state poll is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Caution should be used in interpreting subsets of the data as such results will have an even larger margin of sampling error. It is anticipated...

09.09   McCain Street USA Rally in Lebanon, OH on September 9th 09.09   Road to Victory Rally: Lancaster, PA - September 9th 09.10   Road to Victory Rally: Fairfax, VA on September 10th  

prosecutors say freewheeling Philadelphia Democrat Vincent Fumo used little of his own money as he took yachting vacations with friends, spent lavishly on a 33-room city brownstone and hired operatives to spy on ex-wives and political foes. Fumo faces trial Monday in federal court on charges alleging he used $3.5 million in what he called "OPM" — other people's money — to keep his political machine well oiled and fund a lifestyle that included three vacation homes and heated sidewalks outside his mansion. The trial is expected to last a full three months, after a week of jury selection.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll, completed the day before the Democratic convention, showed McCain winning blue-collar voters by 46 to 43 percent......McCain has made 20 campaign stops across the state since the April 22 primary, including one in Wilkes-Barre. One visit included Palin......“Our phones haven’t stopped ringing,” said Luke Bernstein, executive director of the state Republican Party, who thinks McCain’s crossover makes him the “perfect candidate” here. “I think he’s going to win.”....one group McCain and Obama are fighting over are the blue-collar, working-class Democrats who backed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton over Obama in the Democratic primary...... Democrats outnumber...

Some folks are befuddled by who Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is. I know exactly who she is. She's a "Pittsburgh girl." Maybe I better explain. Palin embodies everything feminists have been asking for for years--she really does "have it all."She's a wife, a working mom and the most powerful woman in her state--yet she's got feminine poise (as reflected in a popular Alaskan bumper sticker: "Coldest State. Hottest Governor.") Palin's husband is also what feminists have been asking for for years. He works part-time to support her career and nurture the kids--yet he's masculine, confident and supportive (Alaskans call...

"Barack Obama’s suggestion that the McCain campaign is somehow trying to paint him with ‘Muslim connections’ is false, and a cynical attempt to play the victim," Rick Davis, Sen. John McCain's campaign manager, said today. "We’ve seen Barack Obama use these tactics before -- and they’re just as offensive and wrong as they were the last time." Davis was referring to comments Obama made Friday in Duryea, Pa., in which the Democrat said that Republicans, "when they say, 'This isn’t about issues, it’s about personalities,' what they’re really saying is, 'We’re going to try to scare people about Barack. So...

What: Road to Victory Rally: Lancaster, PA - September 9th When: September 9, 2008 1:30PM Where: Franklin & Marshall University, Alumni Sports & Fitness Center 929 Harrisburg Pike Lancaster, PA Join John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin at a Road to Victory Rally in Lancaster, PA on Tuesday, September 9th. Doors open at 1:30pm. If you have any questions please email Pennsylvania@johnmccain.com or call (717) 412-1538. Click here for more information on the event and how to reserve a ticket to attend.

ST. PAUL -- Barack Obama has put the Pennsylvania Republican delegates here in stitches over getting the name of the Penn State University mascot wrong today. Not what you want to be doing in a state where the GOP is hammering you hard for being out of touch. To most sports fans, they're the Nittany Lions. Obama, during a stop in Pennsylvania today, called them the "Nitally lions" as he called on someone during a question-and-answer session. "It's a gift that keeps on giving," said one GOP official.

Posted on Sat, Sep. 6, 2008 Biden gets mixed welcome in Northeast Local Dem leaders say race is issue for many voters By DAVE DAVIES Philadelphia Daily News daviesd@phillynews.com 215-854-2595 DEMOCRATIC vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden went stumping for votes yesterday in Northeast Philadelphia, where Democrats need to earn the love of Democrats who voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in the April primary. He worked a diner, gave a rousing speech on bread-and-butter issues at a union hall, and reeled off a memorable line tying the Republican candidate to the unpopular team in the White House. "My friend...

CLAIRTON, Pa. - Five days a week, Linda Graham trolls tattered neighborhoods of this once thriving steel city outside Pittsburgh for unregistered voters she can sign up as Democrats — one of thousands of unknown volunteers whose work outside the limelight has already altered the basic arithmetic of the November election. The epic nomination battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton helped put millions more Democrats on the voter rolls while Republican registration declined. Now Graham, 45, has taken three months of unpaid leave from her job at Pittsburgh's Central Blood Bank in the hope of adding to those...