Stay tuned.

Ed.

It’s been 18 months since pa2010.com went online. Ten days later, a man named Arlen Specter switched parties, turning Pennsylvania’s political landscape on its head. In the weeks and months since, we’ve done our best here to turn this site into the state’s go-to destination for insiders and political junkies.

Because of you, and thanks to the hard work of our many contributors, I can proudly say we accomplished that. It’s because of your support and your passion for Pennsylvania politics that we built the state’s most influential audience. Along the way, we broke news, hosted hard-hitting commentary and provided a vehicle for readers to engage one another.

And even though we’re just weeks away from the finish line, I’m sorry to say that yours truly has to move on. I am moving to Washington to take a job as an assistant editor at POLITICO. This new endeavor starts now, meaning I can no longer devote my time and attention to being reporter, editor and publisher of pa2010.com.

I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t hurt a bit to walk away from this thing so close to the end. I’ve put my blood, sweat and tears into it. There are many things left unfinished, and I’ve never had the kind of relationship with an audience like the one I’ve enjoyed with all of you, a two-way conversation that was always enriching and never dull.

But when opportunity knocks, we must answer. And this is, quite simply, the best opportunity of my life. I am excited and privileged to be part of the POLITICO team.

And I am pleased to announce that pa2010.com will continue under the new ownership of Media Bureau, the digital media firm that has long handled our digital strategy. I’m excited to see what they can do with this fledgling business, which has a potent editorial model and huge business upside. The guys at Media Bureau understand the modern media landscape, and I’m confident they’ll do great things going into this Election Day and the next.

I want to thank all of you for helping make pa2010.com what it has become. Thanks to the readers who log on every day. Thanks to the people who comment on our stories and contribute to the rich conversation. Thanks to the sources who bring news to us first. Thanks to the campaigns and candidates who treat us like the news-leader we are. Thanks to the bloggers and op-ed contributors who share part of themselves with the world. Thanks to the hard-working intern and freelance reporters who keep the site fresh and full of breaking news. Thanks to the journalists who take our content to a larger audience—especially Harrisburg reporting-genius John Micek and aggregation-master Chris Lilik, who have been the site’s greatest friends.

Regardless of what happens on Election Day, I look forward to covering the results from my new home.

So long. Farewell. And thank you.

In a Monmouth University poll released Thursday, Meehan garners 49 percent of likely voters, compared to 45 percent for Lentz. Just seven percent of voters are undecided or prefer another candidate. The survey was the first public poll taken of the open-seat race in suburban Philadelphia, where Meehan, a former U.S. Attorney, and Lentz, a two-term state lawmaker, have been battling fiercely. Both campaigns have long expected a close race.

Despite Meehan’s lead, the results have to be heartening for Lentz and his supporters. He is outperforming the generic congressional ballot in the district, and is nipping at Meehan’s heels despite facing an opponent who was better-known from the start thanks to years as Delaware County District Attorney. Meehan’s lead is just outside the margin of error, and the poll did not include independent candidate Jim Schneller, a conservative who can presumably pull votes from Meehan. If internal Democratic polling echoes the public survey, it’s likely that the party’s congressional campaign committee will invest heavily in the race.

But there’s downside for Lentz, too. Meehan is expected to carry a significant financial advantage into the closing weeks of the race. And while Lentz has already been on TV with relatively modest ad buys for weeks, Meehan has saved his campaign war chest for a media blitz that could eventually swamp Lentz off the airwaves.

Fifty percent of likely voters disapprove of President Obama’s job performance, and both parties are viewed unfavorably by a majority of respondents.

“This district mirrors the national mood,” Monmouth University polling director Patrick Murray said. “Voters are disappointed with the way the country has gone over the past two years and blame both political parties, but they have to choose someone.”

In another finding that could foreshadow some trouble for Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak, he is leading Republican rival Pat Toomey by only three points in the 7th, within the margin of error—despite the fact that the survey was taken in the district he represents.

Meehan remains better known, but that gap is not what internal polling demonstrated months ago. Thirty percent of likely voters don’t have an opinion, compared to 37 percent who say the same of Lentz. Meehan enjoys higher favorability ratings, and echoing findings in battleground districts across the country, he has significantly more strength among independent voters. Meehan leads among male voters, while Lentz holds a smaller edge with women.

The survey of 670 likely voters, conducted Oct. 4-6, had a margin of error of 3.8 percent.

Click here to see the poll.

Correction: This article originally misstated President Obama’s approval ratings as reported by the poll. Fifty percent of respondents disapproved of his job performance, and 44 percent approved, not the other way around.

One more has been added to the schedule, and this one is set to go down Oct. 18. It’ll be aired on the local ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, giving Republican Tom Corbett and Democrat Dan Onorato what could potentially be their biggest debate audience of the campaign.

That debate will come just two days after the candidates have their second debate, a televised one in Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, there’s been a flurry of outside ad buys in the Senate race recently.

First, there was this latest TV spot from conservative group Crossroads GPS, those guys who just love to hit Democrat Joe Sestak on spending.

Then, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chimed in with its latest ad, which tries to frame Republican Pat Toomey as China-friendly outsourcer of jobs.

And to top it all off, Toomey’s buddies at the Club for Growth have yet another ad of their own taking Sestak to task for stimulus spending.

There’s also a new ad in the 15th Congressional District, where Democratic challenger John Callahan is pushing back against criticism from incumbent republican Charlie Dent that he’s not the budget-balancer he claims to be.

Check it out below.

And last but not least, it appears that Republican Mike Fitzpatrick has snagged an endorsement from a local police union. We haven’t yet seen a release from the Fitzpatrick campaign, but The Inquirer reported that FOP Lodge 5 had made its decision.

As The Inky notes, that’s something of a blow for Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8), who’s the son of a retired cop and has boasted police support before.

Rendell this week joined the Obama administration in telling liberals to buck up before the midterm elections, and leave their malaise at the door.

“This isn’t about President Obama,” Rendell said late Monday on MSNBC. “It’s about whether the Democratic Party, not perfect, but certainly bent on trying to preserve theories in government and progressive practices, is going to be in charge of the Congress or the Republican Party. And it’s not the Republican Party of old. This is a scary Republican Party.”

To liberals dissatisfied with the president, Rendell had a simple message: “We ought to get over it.”

“If we’ve got some issues with President Obama,” he said, “save them for another day.”

Meanwhile, Republicans are making hay of the fact that Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) isn’t exactly engaging reporters and the larger public with gusto. Like many incumbents, he didn’t do much of the way in town hall meetings over the summer. Now, he’s got the press at arm’s length.

The first indication of this came from The Times-Tribune, which reported the other day that “efforts to interview the congressman this week about the [health care] law were unsuccessful because his re-election campaign declined to make him available. Campaign spokesman Ed Mitchell said allowing one reporter to interview Mr. Kanjorski weekly on issues would require the congressman to take time out of his busy schedule to grant other reporters’ requests to discuss issues.”

In other words, “if we talk to one of you, we’ve got to talk to all of you.”

It’s not exactly an attitude that will endear reporters to any elected official. Then we saw this article in Politico about the “year of the missing candidate.” In it, Kanjorski found enough time to talk with a reporter to say he’s avoiding town halls because he doesn’t want “nuts to hit me with a camera.”

“I’m not going to arm my opponent with a baseball bat,” he said.

And Republican Pat Meehan is playing up his anti-corruption credentials in a new Web video. The 7th District hopeful and former U.S. Attorney has made his days as a crime-fighter a cornerstone of his campaign against Democrat Democrat Bryan Lentz.

With that in mind, the three-and-a-half-minute video serves as something of a mini-documentary of Meehan’s past as a prosecutor, both as U.S. Attorney and Delaware County District Attorney.

The highlight of this, of course, is the corruption case Meehan’s office spearheaded against former state Senator Vince Fumo, now in prison. Meehan resigned as U.S. Attorney before the case went to trial because he was exploring a run for governor. But he got props for moving the case forward at the early stages.

Check out the video below.

Check it out.

Meehan’s campaign decided to skip the Oct. 14 debate hosted by the League of Women Voters after the group said it would allow independent Jim Schneller to participate. Schneller has not been involved in previous debates between Meehan and Democrat Bryan Lentz. He got on the ballot thanks to help from Lentz’s supporters—a fact Meehan’s campaign has used to try and paint him as an illegitimate candidate.

“It is well documented that Jim Schneller got on the ballot thanks to a coordinated effort between Bryan Lentz and his supporters,” Meehan spokeswoman Virginia Davis said. “We’re not going to debate two people who got on the ballot thanks to Democrats.”

The decision by Meehan’s campaign marks the latest Schneller-related flare up in the bitter, suburban Philadelphia race. It is also the second time this cycle that a Republican House candidate in Pennsylvania has voiced trepidation about joining debates with a third-party conservative candidate.

Lentz’s campaign quickly pounced, saying Meehan was avoiding the spotlight after a recent Havertown debate in which Meehan struggled with his public performance.

“Pat Meehan has demonstrated once again that he believes he is entitled to be a Congressman and doesn’t actually have to explain why,” Lentz campaign manager Kevin McTigue said. “Pat Meehan will meet behind closed doors with the extreme Tea Party but he won’t take public questions from groups like the League of Women Voters. It was clear from the Havertown debate that Pat Meehan lacked a basic grasp of his talking points, let alone the issues.”

Meehan’s campaign said it’s “ridiculous” to attribute its decision to his recent debate performances.

“That’s Bryan Lentz trying to make this a charade,” Davis said, “a debate over debates.”

Regardless of the reason, what had initially promised to be a packed debate schedule now will end with a whimper. Meehan’s campaign unilaterally scheduled its own series of debates earlier this year, touting that it had put together an “unprecedented” slate of 10 such events. But several have not materialized, and notwithstanding a possible Chamber of Commerce forum still in the works, it appears that only four debates will have taken place before Election Day in the state’s most competitive House race.

The Lycoming College survey released Monday echoed other public and private polls in showing a close race. Carney is facing a perilous political climate, but has benefited form a massive financial advantage and a seemingly endless series of public relations missteps by Marino. In the poll, Marino garners 43 percent of the vote, compared to 40 percent for Marino. Sixteen percent are still undecided.

Both candidates fare equally well with independent voters. But Carney has actually locked down a larger proportion of Democratic support than Marino has Republican support in the conservative, northeast Pennsylvania district. But in spite of his votes in favor of the Democratic agenda that can be politically toxic here, more than 50 percent of voters still view Carney favorably, and Marino’s negative ratings remain considerable.

“Even though this is a favorable year for the Republicans, many people in the district still don’t know Marino,” Lycoming pollster Jonathan Williamson said. “When they do, it appears that Democrats have had success defining who he is.”

The poll of 370 likely voters, conducted Sept. 26-30, had a margin of error of 5.1 percent.

Meehan, who has been the GOP’s fundraising star in Pennsylvania this cycle, said he finished September with more than $1.5 million in the bank. Assuming he begins airing TV ads soon, that number will likely be considerably lower by the time he formally reports the figure later this month. Meehan’s campaign says it has raised more than $2.3 million since he entered the race last fall.

Democrat Bryan Lentz, Meehan’s opponent in the competitive 7th District House race, had not yet released any fundraising tallies early Monday afternoon, and campaign finance reports are not due until Oct. 15. Meehan has enjoyed a steady but not overwhelming financial advantage throughout the campaign. Lentz has already been airing TV ads for a few weeks.

“I am deeply grateful for the tremendous support our campaign has received,” Meehan said in a statement. “This support will help us deliver a strong message of lower taxes, smaller government and our commitment to creating jobs going into Election Day.”

Yes, there’s yet another set of numbers we missed, this one from McClatchy Newspapers and Marist. Like every other pollster under the sun, these folks found Republicans Pat Toomey and Tom Corbett leading in the races for senate and governor, respectively.

Toomey leads Democrat Joe Sestak by nine points, 51 percent to 42 percent. And Corbett leads Democrat Dan Onorato by 12 points, 53 percent to 41 percent.

Those results are largely consistent with where the polls were a couple weeks ago, though there have been other indications that both races are getting tighter.

Meanwhile, Congressman Patrick Murphy’s (D-8) chief of staff has a new gig: running Rahm Emanuel’s campaign to be mayor of Chicago. Politico broke the news Sunday morning of Scott Fairchild’s new job. The influential and connected operative has been with Murphy since his first run for Congress in 2006. He’s going to stay with Murphy until after his Nov. 2 rematch against Republican Mike Fitzpatrick.

And Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) has a new TV ad. It takes advantage of what appears to be a moment of wonkish confusion by Democratic challenger John Callahan during a recent debate.

Check out the ad below.

Correction: This blog post originally misstated the timing of Scott Fairchild’s departure as Patrick Murphy’s chief of staff. He is leaving after the Nov. 2 election, not before.