Pat Meehan presents himself as if he were a character from a crime show — a tough, GOP establishment candidate who made his name as a Bush appointee in the position of U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. There he targeted terrorism, gangs and the cronyism culture of Philadelphia government, a plus in Pennsylvania's 7th District, which has had only three Democratic Congressmen since 1900. Decorated war veteran Bryan Lentz, the Democratic candidate, is a Pennsylvania Representative entering the race in an election cycle unfriendly to him. He faces Meehan, whose tough persona may outshine his own, and who — importantly in this political climate — has no fiscal-policy background to assail. The incumbent in this seat is popular Democrat Joe Sestak, who is leaving to mount a challenge for Arlen Specter's Senate seat. The district went for Obama by 13 percentage points in 2008, but Pennsylvania Democratic ambivalence could help Meehan. The question is whether District 7 will vote liberally, as it did the past two cycles, or conservatively, as it did for the previous two generations.

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