Different delegates play different roles at different times. Sometimes they're serious officials doing the important work of the Republic, or at least, of their party. Sometimes they're revelers, at the seemingly endless line of events and receptions surrounding the convention. And sometimes, they're more like rowdy kids at summer camp.

James Burn, the Pennsylvania Democratic chairman, felt called upon to play the role of stern camp counselor near the end of Tuesday's delegate breakfast, as he admonished the group -- and you know who you are -- not to harass the party's young staffers charged with meting out the delegate credentials that grant access to the arena where the big speeches will take place tonight and tomorrow.

He told the crowd that he would have "zero tolerance'' for harassment of the delegation staff.

"Come see me if we have a problem,'' he said. "Do not take it out on those young men and women ... back off.''

Explaining his remarks later, Mr. Burn wasn't ready to name names, but said, "We had some people at the credential [table] acting in a very childish and unprofessional manner,'' he said. "Some people were trying to get extra credentials for friends and families.''

"It wasn't just one person,'' Mr. Burn said. there were several folks rushing the table.. when it came to getting their credentials. ... We have some staffers who have been to a few rodeos, at the same time we have some young people just starting out.''

"I thought it was best just to make an unequivocal statement,'' he said, adding that he would investigate whether he could revoke credentials is such behavior recurred.

Consider yourselves warned.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose story goes back to Pittsburgh by way of Terrace Hill, the Iowa governor's mansion, tried to fire up Pennsylvania Democrats, a predominantly urban party, with a pitch for the rural vote.

At the first of the state delegation's speakers-over-easy breakfasts, Mr. Vilsack reminded the crowd of his roots as he told them that his grandfather was the founder of the original Iron City Brewery. Moving on to his current gig, Mr. Vilsack made the case that the Obama administration is the best friend farmer ever had.

"I'm here not to talk about Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, as important as they are, but to talk about the middle of the state,'' he said. "This president has invested more in rural America and rural Pennsylvania than any previous president,'' he added, citing federal aid for programs such as rural housing, and agricultural export assistance. The result, he said, had been record farm incomes even in the face of the drought that has battered much of the Midwest.

"They can try to suppress the vote in Pennsylvania; they can try,'' he said. "[But] we have an opportunity to do very vey well in rural areas.''

He recited the history of the comprehensive farm bill that failed to clear the last session of Congress. He blamed Republicans, saying that key figures including Hose Speaker John Boehner and House Budget Chairman and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan want to strip more money from key areas including nutrition assistance.
By making that case in rural communities, he said, Democrats have an unusual opportunity to made inroads in the proverbial "T,'' the counties through the state's midsection and across its northern tier.

"I'm going to be watching those results in the central part of a Pennsylvania,'' he said of the November election. "I think we can take the central part of Pennsylvania and you know, if we do, we take Pennsylvania.''
The agriculture secretary may have a good story to tell, but If Mr. Vilsack meant that prediction literally, he may have been drinking too much of his grandfather's product. Even while winning a Pennsylvania landslide in 2008, President Obama was consistently trailing Sen. John McCain throughout the state's midsection.

Still, in the new era of voter ID, which Democrats perceive as a thinly disguised voter suppression scheme, they're worried about their vote totals in the urban strongholds. It's tougher to argue with the logic, if not the likelihood, of Mr. Vilsack's observation that rural votes have at least the potential to take the pressure off Pittsburgh and Philadelphia for the Democrats.

It's eight weeks until election day, and five weeks before Pa's voter registration deadline. Here's the latest news on voter ID, one of the biggest stories of the fall.

The president and CEO of the NAACP, Benjamin Jealous, called the new ID laws nationwide "the biggest legislative season for voter suppression in a century" in a visit to Pittsburgh Sunday. Maria Sciullo covered for the PG.

Karen Langley and I wrote a couple weeks back about big fights that could be looming over provisional ballots cast in Pa and other swing states. The AP does the same thing in regard to Virginia, calling the ballots a "recipe for a lingering election nightmare."

The process for getting Pa's new voting-only IDs is rather difficult, the Inquirer writes:

In the first two days the card was available (Tuesday and Wednesday), 87 were issued in Philadelphia and 57 elsewhere in the state, according to the state. Since March, the state has issued 6,119 nondriver IDs to voters.

But for the thousands of registered voters who still need ID, the only option is a trek to PennDot - and all the headaches that often entails: long lines; multiple trips; frustrating bureaucracy; and, since by definition the people who need these IDs don't drive, just getting to a PennDot office.

The Christian Science Monitor wraps up voter ID battles around the country, including in Pa.

The Committee of Seventy produced a voter ID guide for college students statewide. A study this spring showed 91 of 110 colleges in the state issued IDs that won't be accepted for voting.

Speaking of the 12th District congressional race, Republican Keith Rothfus is now running his second ad and like the first one it's quirky and (mostly) upbeat. "Keith's a concerned dad, a regular guy, and he's running for Congress" the spot says, over shots of him playing miniature golf with his kids.

The style of both spots is intriguing in a time when almost every ad, in every race, is very negative. (Especially in the SuperPAC era. See the percentages here at the WashPost's ad tracker.) The new Rothfus ad nudges more in the negative direction by hitting Barack Obama for playing golf and saying Democratic opponent Mark Critz is "out of touch with the middle class," but it does so over shots of rolling golf balls, the Rothfus family, and other sunny visuals.

Most political experts say only negative ads are moving undecided voters in this year's environment, so it will be interesting to watch how this works for the GOP challenger.

UPDATE 12:35PM. The Critz campaign responds:

Congressional candidate Keith Rothfus' today launched a deceptive negative television commercial in an effort to hide the fact that he is a strong proponent of unfair trade deals that ship American jobs overseas. In two ads, voters have learned that Keith Rothfus mows his lawn and plays miniature golf, yet he refuses to explain why he supports unfair trade deals similar to NAFTA that have already cost Pennsylvanians tens of thousands of jobs.

"Millionaire Keith Rothfus supports unfair trade deals that ship Pennsylvania jobs to countries like China and India and that shows that he is anything but a regular guy," Critz for Congress spokesman Mike Mikus said. "No matter how many lawns he may mow or how many rounds of miniature golf he plays, nothing will change the fact that Keith Rothfus supports policies that kill Western Pennsylvania jobs."

"Mark Critz knows that we need to reduce the deficit which is why he voted to reduce our national debt by $2 trillion while opposing every trade deal that ships our jobs overseas," Mikus added.