No Western Pa congressional districts are on the "Red to Blue" list the DCCC released today, of districts targeted for flipping from Republican hands. Neither of the two WVa districts held by the GOP in the Democratic state are listed either.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting PA8 and PA6 outside Philadelphia.

As Keegan Gibson writes over at PoliticsPa, congressman Tim Holden today withdrew his sponsorship of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the face of massive public outcry over the proposed bill. (Wikipedia, Google and others in the tech world worry it will have unintended consequences and put a chill on tech intervention. )

Is Bob Casey next?

Casey is one of 40 co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill (the Protect IP Act, aka PIPA), which has also taken heat from conservative circles for allegedly "allowing Eric Holder to take control of the internet and shut down websites he does not like."

UPDATE 1/19/2012: Casey said in an interview that he remains in favor of efforts to protect intellectual property and trademark rights, but would support provisions protecting free speech concerns.

"We've got to figure out ways to get tough, but also be consistent on free speech and making sure people have access to all kinds of information," he said during a visit to Pittsburgh Thursday. "I think there's a way to get there and I think folks on both sides -- at least on the Judiciary committee -- can accelerate those discussions."

He said his Senate office received a high number of calls on the legislation, but staffers had not totaled them up.

UPDATE: According to ProPublica data, Casey received six times as much in campaign donations from the pro-legislation TV/movie/music industry ($75K) as he did from the tech industry ($12K).

UPDATE 1/19/12: U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey has announced his opposition to the bill. His statement:

“Piracy of intellectual property is a legitimate concern that should be addressed. However, the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Internet Piracy Act are flawed, and I cannot support them in their current form. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues on this issue and finding a better legislative approach for tackling online piracy,” Sen. Toomey said.

GOP US Senate candidate Steve Welch, a Chester County entrepreneur, was the first of those trying to unseat Casey to take him to task for the bill:

"As someone who has been intimately involved in the startup of multiple web-based companies, this SOPA/PIPA legislation is the perfect example of how out–of-touch Washington is with the real world.  Protecting Intellectual Property Rights is something we need discuss.  However, SOPA/PIPA goes beyond that and is just another regulation being shoved down the throats of Americans that will empower the regulators and power brokers in Washington, and infringe on every citizen’s First Amendment rights.  Giving bureaucrats in Washington the power to shut down and censor websites based on very loosely-defined terms in this legislation is completely unacceptable.”

“Senator Casey has no clue how damaging this type of legislation could be and how it would affect people in the real world.  This is just another example of how Senator Casey sees the federal government as the solution.  He only knows how to grow government, since he has spent his life in government.”

There's still a bit of suspense on the South Carolina Republican primary, but you wouldn't know it if you were hanging around the DNC folks. Here as in the earlier venues of the nomination fight, they've been stalking Mitt Romney non-stop.

On Wednesday, under the rotunda of the historic Capitol building in Columbia, former Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges joined several Democratic legislators in demanding that the former Massachusetts governor release his tax returns. Noting that Mr. Romney had said that he would release at least one year's tax data in April, Mr. hodges said, "That's far too late."

Echoing an argument made by Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry the previous day, he insisted that South Carolina voters needed to know more about the front runner before they vote on Saturday.

Spotlighting Mr. Romney's record at Bain Capitol, Mr. Hodges contended that said that the personal tax records are particularly relevant since Bain frequently took advantage of tax breaks in reorganizing the companies it took over.

"He's taken advantage of the system," the former governor said. "His record as a corporate raider had had devastating consequences. "

As we wait to see if Rick Santorum actually won the Iowa caucuses (it looks unofficially like he did), it's back to South Carolina . . .

Newt Gingrich has been knocking Santorum on his electability for the White  for his 17-point loss to Bob Casey, saying the 2006 loss was "by the largest margin in Pennsylvania history." It was a really bad result for an incumbent for sure, but Gingrich is wrong on the facts: there have been three worse Senate losses in the state going back to the 1980s.

In 1988, Democrat Joe Vignola lost to incumbent Republican John Heinz by 1.48 million votes or 34 percentage points. In 1998, Democrat Bill Lloyd lost to incumbent Arlen Specter by 785,341 million votes, or 26 percentage points. In 1982, Democrat Cyril H. Wecht lost to Mr. Heinz by 723,453 votes, or 20 points.

But whatever Gingrich is up to in South Carolina it's working to Santorum's detriment. He's stuck at 4th in the polls, complaining about ads and getting hammered for his record in Congress. And the Romney campaign is obviously taking the former Speaker seriously, releasing the web ad above (called "Unreliable Leader") above.

The three days left before Saturday's polling may be the most critical ones of his presidential campaign, and he has to show voters his conservative credientials are better than those of Gingrich and Romney, argues Jennifer Rubin in the WashPost:

It’s hard to fight a two-front war, but in essence that is what Santorum must do. He’s got to convince voters he can take it to Romney if it becomes a one-on-one face-off, and he’s got to knock Gingrich down to third place. If not, it will be hard to maintain the argument that he is the most viable alternative to the front-runnner.

Interesting how Rick Perry kept calling Santorum "a good Catholic" during an appearance in S.C. yesterday, a state that is mostly Southern Baptist (as is Perry), notes Tom Fitzgerald at the Inky:

South Carolina is one of the most religious states in the nation, measured by attendance at worship services, according to various surveys. Yet only 10 percent of South Carolinians identify themselves as Roman Catholics – one of the lowest percentages in the nation, according to a massive 2010 Gallup Poll analysis of religious beliefs across the nation.

Now, there’s nothing especially nasty about mentioning Santorum’s religion, and it is factually true that he's Catholic. But the polls show that both Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, also a Catholic, are leading Perry overall and among Christian conservative voters.