News of other politicians and wannabees

• There seems to be a lot going on in the US Congressional 8th District (Bucks County and parts of Montgomery County), where Republican Michael Fitzpatrick is up for re-election next year. Last time, his opponent in the general election was Ginny Schrader (then a darling of the liberal blogosphere), and she announced this summer her intent to run again. However, Schrader has now withdrawn from the race, citing the unpleasant demands of running. That leaves Paul Lang, a Coast Guard veteran (see Above Average Jane's note about him here), Andrew Warren (former head of PennDOT and recently a Republican), and Patrick Murphy, an Iraq War veteran. Murphy appears to be the favorite of the local progressive blogosphere, also collecting an endorsement from Philly for Change.
  
  
• Today's installment of speculations about the 2007 Philadelphia mayoral race includes an examination of the PR antics of the local favorites. They all claim to be going about their usual business, but there seem to be a lot of press events along the way.

  "Rank-and-file voters won't pay much attention to this," said Terry Madonna, a pollster and political analyst at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster. "They're jockeying to gain visibility and support among Philadelphia's political, civic and community leaders.

  Amusing.