No. 3 Republican Stumps for Altmire’s Challenger,

U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire is distancing himself from the president and House speaker in his campaign ads, but a leading Republican campaigning Tuesday in Pittsburgh for Altmire’s challenger says that’s not enough for voters disenchanted with the Democrats.

“You cannot fire Nancy Pelosi without hiring Keith Rothfus,” Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana said during an appearance at Station Square.

The third-ranking Republican in House leadership, Pence said he wanted to kick off the two-month sprint to Election Day by helping Rothfus, 48, of Edgeworth raise money to campaign against Altmire, 42, a McCandless Democrat seeking his third term.

Altmire’s campaign yesterday countered by releasing an internal poll showing him with an impressive lead among likely voters in the 4th District — 51 percent to 24 percent, according to Anzalone Liszt Research, a Democratic polling firm that surveyed 400 voters in Allegheny, Butler, Beaver and Lawrence counties between Aug. 30 and Thursday. The poll had a margin of error of plus- or minus-4.9 percent.

Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, earlier campaigned for Rothfus, ensuring that he’s “off to a good start” at fundraising, said Isaac Wood, who tracks House races at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

“But as the polling shows, he has a long way to go,” Wood said, noting that Rothfus apparently hasn’t yet made a memorable impression in voters’ minds. Still, he said, “even against a not-well-known opponent, Altmire is vulnerable.”

Altmire frames himself as independent of the leadership of Pelosi and President Obama. His most recent ad highlights his breaks with the Democratic Party on cornerstone issues including the health care bill. He argues that’s the reason he leads in polls in a district that voted for Republican Sen. John McCain over Obama in 2008.

“I spent the summer in my district holding town halls, attending festivals and Rotary club events, and everywhere I went, people told me they were happy that I took a stance against Pelosi and Obama’s policies,” Altmire said.

Despite a comfortable lead and a registration advantage of more than 54,000 voters, Altmire said he isn’t taking the campaign for granted. “I am going to do what I have been doing: listen to my constituents and vote my district’s best interest.”

Altmire said he wouldn’t support Obama’s plan for a $50 billion spending bill for infrastructure projects to stimulate jobs “if the stimulus money is on the taxpayers’ dime.” Obama announced the plan at a Labor Day union gathering in Milwaukee after months of stagnant job growth and high unemployment. Republicans have hammered Democrats across the country that the president’s first $814 billion stimulus bill was wasteful.

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