Top Wednesday stories

(Blogger plans to go down at 4, so I'll do what I can before and after...)

• Perhaps noting that his claps on the back for Santorum had ruffled some feathers, Rendell included Casey in an event yesterday, making sure to reiterate his approval of the Democratic challenger and noting his environmental creds (the theme of the gathering).

  "Make no mistake, my endorsement of Bob Casey is not just because I think Rick Santorum has failed in many areas, but it is because I think Bob Casey is an exceptional young man and he will do exactly what he says," Rendell said.

  Make no mistake, Ed, abetting the opposition is not being well received this year...
  
  
• Last night saw one of the city's big political events, a charity comedy line-up featuring many of the top players from the region and the state. Will Bunch gives a few highlights for the Daily News (which sponsors the event, with columnist Stu Bykofsky as host). I happened to be there, and it was quite a scene (or be-seen), with Big Dogs like Fattah and Santorum mixing with Little Mutts like Raj Bhakta (primarily of reality TV fame, but running against Allyson Schwartz) and Michael Gessner (who's biggest laugh line came when he explained "the Republicans were looking for somebody to run against Chaka Fattah...") and various minions and kissers-up. The confident and the terrified offered up everything from guy-walks-into-a-bar jokes to real political zingers (Santorum and Tom Ferrick got the lion's share of abuse) and occasional self-deprecating humor. An interesting way to get a very superficial impression of a lot of players at once (and all for a good cause).
  
  
• As expected, the Democratic Party is challenging signatures collected by the Greens, for all three top statewide offices.
  
  
• With Rick Mariano a few days into his 6-year sentence, the man who bribed him just got sentenced to 2.5 years.
  
  
• The upset victory of Ned Lamont over Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut primary has many speculating about what trends it might auger. Ray Murphy asks what it might mean for the Philadelphia region, and Ben asks for confirmation of a rumor that Fattah sent people to work for Lieberman's campaign.