As dangerous as he suspects a potential training center for State Department security personnel could be to the surrounding neighborhood in Conyngham Twp., Mr. Barletta is taking just as big a risk politically by publicly opposing it.

In the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression, with unemployment rates at their highest levels in a long time, with jobs a big issue in his contest with incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, the Hazleton mayor just went on record as opposed to a proposal that could bring 1,000 jobs to the region.

There is no way this project will be built by Election Day and maybe it won't even be far enough along for the State Department to decide on a site.

Its merits or demerits will be debated over the coming months. The truth of the matter might not be known for a long time, but for the next two months Mr. Barletta will have to explain why he's questioning jobs that Mr. Kanjorski has worked to bring here for more than a year.

"He's saying, 'There are jobs and then there are jobs. These are not the jobs we want here,'" Thomas J. Baldino, Ph.D., a professor of political science at Wilkes University. "Before you make a statement like that, you need to investigate. Better for him to have remained silent and say, 'Maybe I should have studied this more.'"

Mr. Barletta has hedged. He has said he is willing to be convinced otherwise about a project that could also bring hundreds of annual bomb blasts and machine-gun fire.

For now, it looks like he just wrote a campaign commercial for Mr. Kanjorski.

"Absolutely," Dr. Baldino said.

Let's start in Conyngham Twp., a southern Luzerne County neighbor of Hazleton. If there is going to be opposition to the project, most of the outrage will be there.

You won't see it in Lackawanna or Monroe counties.

In the eyes of Lackawanna and Monroe voters, Mr. Barletta's opposition might not be that of a neighborhood protector. They could see him as an obstructionist trying to stop people from finding a job.

Certainly, Mr. Kanjorski's campaign commercial will portray it that way. You won't see or hear anything in that ad about the project risks. You'll just see and hear that Mr. Barletta is against new jobs.

Ed Mitchell, Mr. Kanjorski's media consultant, will connect that with Hazleton's high unemployment rate.

Mr. Mitchell got a quick start Friday.

"Isn't that incredible? Mr. No. He'll fit right in with the Republicans in Washington," Mr. Mitchell said. "A bomb range. He makes it sound like it's Hiroshima ... The State Department wants to get it going. The last thing we need is a public (fight) over it to block it or stop it ... It's no wonder Hazleton has the highest unemployment rate in the state if he has that attitude. He's against any kind of progress."

You can see where this is going.

In interviews, Mr. Barletta prides himself on doing what he thinks is right. Maybe he is right. Maybe it's a dangerous project that shouldn't fly, at least not where Mr. Kanjorski proposed it. Maybe Mr. Barletta can suggest a better location. He wondered Friday why the State Department has not decided to build the center at one of the dozens of closed military bases. By the way, none of them are in the region. Mr. Barletta suggested this whole announcement might be nothing more than a political ploy on Mr. Kanjorksi's part.

"I'm not coming out against jobs. I want to weigh the impact of the project," Mr. Barletta said. "As far as political risk, I've never put the politics over the importance of doing my job. I've taken political risks before."

So far, in his third bid to knock off Mr. Kanjorski, the narrative has favored Mr. Barletta. He's done most of the attacking, benefitted from the publicity of his attacks and Republican polls that show him way ahead and avoided mistakes.

Maybe this is a Republican year, as the Washington congressional-race trackers believe, and Mr. Barletta is wearing a suit of Teflon so that no matter what he says or what anyone else says about him just slides off.

There is one more maybe.

Maybe Mr. Barletta just handed Mr. Kanjorski a bomb and a machine gun.

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK, The Times-Tribune politics reporter, writes Random Notes.

It's almost axiomatic.

In Lackawanna County, if a county commissioner election is approaching, something goes wrong at the prison.

In 2003, the mother of all local prison scandals unfolded three months before the election as Democratic county Commissioner Joe Corcoran sought a sixth term with his first-term running mate, Commissioner Randy Castellani. Unquestionably, the scandal contributed to their undoing and handed the commissioners' office to Republicans Bob Cordaro and A.J. Munchak.

The Democrats might have survived. Internal polling by both sides had them up 10 percentage points in the last two weeks. Mr. Cordaro often said all the prison-related publicity The Times-Tribune showered on the Democrats had created sympathy for the incumbents among voters. One Republican adviser looked at the poll and told Mr. Cordaro to save his money because he was going to lose.

A stubborn Mr. Cordaro threw more money at the race and got a break. A week before the election, it came out that Mr. Corcoran had withheld, for two months, a new state report critical of prison operations. Some loyal Democrats think that's what really did in their hero, who lost to Mr. Munchak by only a couple of hundred votes.

Mr. Castellani survived that election, but resigned in the middle of his term in 2005, making way for Commissioner Mike Washo's appointment.

In July 2007 a 22-year-old woman facing federal drug-related charges gave birth to a baby girl in a prison cell, despite pleading desperately for hours to go to the hospital because she was in labor. Shakira Staten is out of jail now and still seeking justice because her lawyer appears to have bungled what should have been a slam-dunk federal lawsuit.

Mr. Cordaro is gone, ousted by voters for a whole lot of reasons, with the baby birth maybe - and we mean only maybe - being only one of them. It was hard to tell the birth's political effect on the election because Mr. Cordaro's brash, outspoken, in-your-face style turned off so many people.

The public was certainly furious, too, that Mr. Cordaro and Mr. Munchak promised a 25 percent property tax cut and delivered a 48 percent tax hike.

Given his indictment with Mr. Cordaro on federal charges, Mr. Munchak is likely on his way out, too. He'll probably either resign as part of a plea deal or voters will show him the door, regardless of whether he is acquitted or convicted.

Now, one inmate stomps another into a coma.

It is hard to talk about politics when the victim of the attack, Nicholas Pinto, is still struggling to survive.

County Commissioner Corey O'Brien declined to assess the political effect when asked this week, but the reality is the commissioners' response to what happened will be fair game next year.

The economy is a huge factor in politics at the moment and probably will be next year. So how the latest prison mess will play out politically is especially hard to gauge so far out.

One thing that's different already from 2007 is that no one is defending what happened. Remember, Mr. Munchak called a news conference days after Ms. Staten gave birth and acted as if everyone was diligent in their duties that night.

Our guess is that voters will forgive if the prison board - and all three commissioners are on it - take the steps necessary to finally prevent further public fiascoes there.

Little-known fact

President Warren G. Harding's ancestors used to live in the Wyoming Valley before moving to Ohio, which is where he was born and grew up. Of course, his administration was infamous for its corruption (the Teapot Dome scandal), something else local residents can relate to.

"His father, Dr. George T. (Tryon) Harding, a village physician, came of Scotch ancestors who settled in Connecticut and then moved to the Wyoming Valley, Pa., before going to Ohio," Mr. Harding's New York Times obituary says. You can look up the obituary by searching the president's name and Wyoming Valley.

Amos Harding III was the president's great-great grandfather, according to "The Rise of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1865-1920" by Randolph C. Downes. Amos was actually one of the founders of the village of Clifford in Susquehanna County. Amos' son was George Tryon Harding I, the president's great-grandfather, who had a son named Charles A. Harding, the president's grandfather, whose son was George T. Harding, the doctor and the president's father.

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK, The Times-Tribune politics reporter, writes Random Notes. The column has appeared since 1895.

Except maybe a story about politicians' money.

Finally had a chance to take a serious look at the latest personal financial disclosure forms of Democratic U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski of Nanticoke and Republican Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta. They're for 2009.

In assets, Mr. Kanjorski and his wife, Nancy, stood exactly where they did in 2007. Their assets are valued at between $1,897,011 and $6,881,000. The Kanjorskis had annual income of between $180,608 and $189,900. Most of that was his $174,000 annual congressional salary; the rest is in interest, rent and dividends.

The stability of their assets is probably because between $1,500,002 and $6 million is the value of land Mr. Kanjorski co-owns with other family members in Dallas and Wright townships and Nanticoke.

Mr. Barletta and his wife, Mary Grace, had assets last year of between $777,078 and $2,583,000 with income of between $115,841 and $184,796. The income includes his $60,196 salary as mayor. The figures do not include Mrs. Barletta's income as a Hazleton School District employee.

In 2007, Mr. Barletta reported assets of between $1,315,073 and $3.7 million. That included assets in the names of their dependent children. Their assets were not included this time.

Miscellanea

n Here's an interesting perspective on the upcoming congressional elections: in the most recent two midterm elections in which the U.S. House majority changed hands, 1994 and 2006, the candidates in the majority party who raised more than 70 percent of the campaign money in a race rarely lost.

In 1994 only 3.3 percent of the Democratic candidates who raised more than 70 percent lost. In 2006, only 0.8 percent of Republican candidates who raised more than 70 percent lost.

At the moment, this bodes well for the two local incumbent Democrats, Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-11, Nanticoke, and Rep. Chris Carney, D-10, Dimock Twp.

In the current two-year election cycle, Mr. Kanjorski has netted $1,405,953.87 to Republican Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta's $520,993.55. By percentage, Mr. Kanjorski raised 73 percent, Mr. Barletta, 27 percent.

Mr. Carney did even better. He has raised $1,130,038.08, 83.3 percent, to Mr. Marino's $227,153.72, 16.7 percent.

n The lawyer representing Hazleton in its fight to defend its anti-illegal-immigration ordinances won the Republican nomination for Kansas secretary of state Aug. 3.

Kris Kobach, a former aide to Sen. John Ashcroft, will face incumbent Democrat Chris Biggs of Junction City.

n Didn't know this until recently, but former Republican Gov. William Scranton's son, Joseph, used to be chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party and a top aide to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, now President Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services.

n Never knew this either: Kansas has a city named Scranton, and it was named Scranton because the wife of a member of its founding family, the Sheldons, used to live in Scranton, Pa., according to a history of Scranton, Kansas. In its heyday, Scranton, Kansas, was - what else? - a coal-mining town.

"Scranton miners went through all the troubles and the problems associated with any mining area. Many worked for the company, rented a house from the company, bought food and all supplies from a general store owned by the company. It is of small wonder that many felt as Tennessee Ernie Ford sang in 'Sixteen Tons,' that they spent their free time in the town's many saloons," the town history says.

n Saw this a while back on the Massachusetts Associated Press wire:

In front of hundreds of supporters at the Old Court last night, Democrat Chris Doherty made official what has been known for months.

The former Middlesex County assistant district attorney declared his candidacy for the 1st Middlesex District Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Steven Panagiotakos. ... Mr. Doherty said, "This must be a campaign of ideas, not just name recognition, slogans or bumper stickers."

"I do not believe that this is a time to elect more of the same to Beacon Hill," Mr. Doherty said. "We do not need another politician focused more on running for the next office than on fighting for the people they represent."

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK, The Times-Tribune politics reporter, writes Random Notes.

Knowing him, he'll probably mention the wedding while promoting Joe Sestak, the suburban Philadelphia congressman and Democratic Senate candidate locked in a tight battle with Republican Pat Toomey. (Green Party candidate Mel Packer and Libertarian Douglas Jamison are also running.)

Weddings are "awww"-inspiring events and politicians love embracing the warm and fuzzy.

Of course, Chelsea's wedding and one of her father's conversations with Mr. Sestak actually have a lot in common.

For a while, the circumstances of both were top secret. (Not secret enough to interest WikiLeaks, though.)

Recall that back in late May, after months of prodding by the media and others, the White House and Mr. Sestak revealed who offered him a "high-ranking" government post in the Obama administration in hopes of coaxing him out of the Democratic Senate race so Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter could run unopposed.

Yep, Hillary Clinton's husband.

This was all injected into the Senate race in February when Mr. Sestak appeared on a Comcast Network public affairs program, "Larry Kane: Voice of Reason," hosted by the Philadelphia television news anchor.

"Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?" Mr. Kane asked.

"Yes," Mr. Sestak answered. "Was it Navy secretary?" Mr. Kane asked, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Thomas J. Fitzgerald.

"No comment," Mr. Sestak replied.

He told Mr. Fitzgerald it was a "high-ranking" post, but for months he said little else.

After he did, you wondered why he held back.

Mr. Sestak should have just said what the offer really was. By the time they 'fessed up in late May, Mr. Sestak and the White House agreed the "high-ranking" post Mr. Clinton offered was a spot on an unspecified presidential advisory board while remaining a congressman.

An advisory board.

Wow, talk about an offer you can't refuse.

Shockingly, Mr. Sestak did refuse.

The White House actually had a lawyer look into the offer and, lo and behold, he found nothing wrong.

"Last summer, I received a phone call from President Clinton," Mr. Sestak said in a statement. "During the course of the conversation, he expressed concern over my prospects if I were to enter the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and the value of having me stay in the House of Representatives because of my military background. He said that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had spoken with him about my being on a presidential board while remaining in the House of Representatives. I said no. I told President Clinton that my only consideration in getting into the Senate race or not was whether it was the right thing to do for Pennsylvania working families and not any offer. The former president said he knew I'd say that, and the conversation moved on to other subjects."

So has the Senate race.

Before the disclosure, Mr. Toomey mostly said he wished Mr. Sestak would explain the job offer so they could concentrate on real issues. Afterward, his campaign issued one news release accusing Mr. Sestak of "involvement in covering up the White House's latest political scandal," and that quote wasn't by Mr. Toomey.

That was it. Jobsgate never mushroomed.

The main guy trying to keep it alive is Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, who, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, also happens to be the richest man in Congress.

Mr. Issa wants a full-blown investigation.

For now, Jobs-gate is ancient history, relegated to the pantheon of early-campaign skirmishes between campaign staffs with too much time on their hands and profiles and money to raise - skirmishes promoted by media enablers like us.

Mr. Toomey's campaign said he won't bring it up Tuesday.

"We're not putting anything out," spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said. "Not on Jobsgate."

We figure somebody will probably issue a statement rehashing the whole thing if just to tweak Mr. Clinton, a favorite Republican piñata.

So maybe Jobsgate shows up at least one more day.

"My guess is that it will fade away," said Daniel Shea, Ph.D., a political science professor at Allegheny College. "I think there are larger problems to focus on in Pennsylvania. I think one of them, first and foremost, will be economic development."

Jobsgate could re-emerge if Democratic ethics become an issue in congressional races, especially if Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California decide to publicly fight the ethics charges against them this fall. (Dr. Shea thinks it's all inside baseball that average voters don't care about.)

For now, just stop by and maybe welcome the ex-president, then start paying attention to where these candidates stand on the issues you do care about.

Bet Jobsgate isn't one of them.

Bet jobs are.

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK, The Times-Tribune politics reporter, writes Random Notes.