Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/pennsylvania-house-incumbents-face-close-elections-in-2006 Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript In the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, several House incumbents are facing unexpectedly tight races. A report on the congressional campaign action, the first in a special series of election year reports - Choices '06. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: The Philadelphia suburbs do not fit easy definition. They are urban and they are rural; they are middle-class suburban; and they are old-money affluent. They vote for Democrats for president and Republicans for Congress.But with President Bush's popularity sliding, all that may be about to change, because these suburbs contain three of the most endangered House incumbents in the nation.For the vast majority of members of the House, getting elected usually makes it easier to stay elected. Few are ever defeated. But, these days, Congress is even more unpopular than President Bush, and Democrats are angling for the 15 seats they need to regain the majority. POLITICIAN: We're going to work hard. And with your help, we're going to be fine. GWEN IFILL: Among the prime targets: Pennsylvania Republicans Mike Fitzpatrick, Curt Weldon, and Jim Gerlach. POLITICIAN: Way to go. GWEN IFILL: Each man faces a Democratic opponent working overtime to link him to the Republican president.Terry Madonna is a political scientist at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.How is 2006 shaping up to be different from 2004?G. TERRY MADONNA, Franklin and Marshall College: Well, I think in a word: Bush. President Bush's low approval rating in the Philadelphia suburbs and in the state of Pennsylvania as a whole is maybe the driving factor, as Republicans, I think, in the suburbs are scurrying around very much concerned that some of the problems the country faces and, in particular, the drop in approval rating of President Bush over the last year will cause serious problems with voter turnout among Republican core voters in the three major suburban congressional districts. GWEN IFILL: The endangered incumbents have taken care to distance themselves from their president. In a Capitol Hill interview, Curt Weldon spent more time mentioning the support he gets from Democrats than his support from Republicans. As for the president?REP. CURT WELDON (R), Pennsylvania: I have nothing against him. I think he's a nice man. I'm not running away from anybody, but the president isn't registered in my district; he doesn't vote in my district.I have to satisfy my constituents. I do that all the time. And, you know, I'm not going to run away from the president. I'm not going to embrace the president. He is the president, and I'm going to disagree with him repeatedly, which I've done.