The candidates are back and Pennsylvania is once again a battleground state in the fight for the presidency - one that presumptive Republican nominee John McCain doesn't plan to concede anytime soon.
McCain held a town hall meeting at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia yesterday, marking the beginning of his effort to win Pennsylvania in the general election this fall.
He made a point of welcoming supporters of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to the event. Many people who voted for Clinton in the primary are undecided about who they will vote for in the fall, and McCain is making an effort to win this demographic.
Despite his assurances of respect for presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama and his campaign, he took a swing at his opponent, referencing the "Bitter-gate" fiasco over Obama's comments at a San Francisco fundraiser in April.
"We're going to go to the small towns in Pennsylvania, and I'm going to tell them that I don't agree with Sen. Obama that they cling to religion and the Constitution because they are bitter," he said.
McCain went on to stress the major differences between the two candidates.
He likened Obama's policies to those of Jimmy Carter, saying that Obama as president would be like a second Carter term.
"From national security to taxation to increasing the role of government it would seem that Sen. Obama's dusting off the old policies of the '60s and '70s that have failed," he added.
McCain talked about the major challenges facing America - "reform, prosperity and peace" -- and emphasized the need for bipartisanship in overcoming these challenges.
He also spoke at length about the Iraq war, the issue he claimed was the source of "the strongest disagreement between me and Sen. Obama."
While he conceded that the war was "badly mishandled" at its outset, he stressed the effectiveness of the surge today. Obama, he said, "still believes it is not succeeding, despite the facts on the ground."
And in spite of recent attempts to distance himself from the increasingly-unpopular President George W. Bush, McCain gave a nod to Bush and his wife, Laura, for their "dedication" to fighting AIDS.
Town-hall meetings like yesterday's event could be a regular occurrence this fall. McCain has proposed holding 10 joint town hall meetings with Obama in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 election.
He said he had not received an answer from Obama regarding the proposal, though the Obama campaign has said it is open to the possibility of holding town-hall-style events.
Yesterday was just the first act of the Pennsylvania political circus yet to come, as both Obama and McCain view the state as a must-win piece of the electoral map.
"I want to assure you," McCain said, "I will compete and win in the state of Pennsylvania."
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