Governor Corbett.  A Quinnipiac survey brought the Governor a welcome bit of good news – his approval rating rose from 39 percent to 44 percent over the last two months or so.  Which might not sound great, but it’s better than the numbers for his peers from neighboring Ohio and New Jersey.

Mike Turzai.  A few weeks after a public rift among GOP leadership made the House Majority Leader’s liquor store privatization efforts all the more difficult, Turzai rebounded nicely with a joint press conference in which former PLCB chairman Jonathan Newman came out strongly in support of the effort.  Newman had a successful run in the Keystone State and has proven effective in the private sector as well – he’ll be a convincing ally in the fall.

President Obama.  We get it.  It’s early.  But the Commander-in-Chief’s political team can’t be thrilled by a disapproval rating above 50 percent and indications that Mitt Romney – not to mention former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum – are competitive in the Keystone State.

Bob Casey.  Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. Senator fared better in the Quinnipiac poll than his party’s standard-bearer, and continues to impose indecision on the Republicans mulling a run against him in 2012.  Approval ratings in the high-40’s aren’t stellar, but Casey’s unique combination of name recognition, fundraising prowess and relative likability (even among some Republicans) is going to be tough to beat.

Reps. Mike Kelly and Mike Doyle.  The Mike’s behavior in supposedly closed-door caucus huddles this week gave their political opponents fuel for the country’s ever-escalating ideological fire.  The former reportedly delivered a pep rally-esque political exhortation that included the phrase “knock the s*** out of them.”  And the latter allegedly likened Tea Party Republicans to “terrorists” – a point to which Vice President Joe Biden apparently assented.

Gregg Melinson.  Philly-guy Melinson, who is headed out West to join Hewlett Packard as vice president of global government affairs and deputy general counsel, has been in and around Keystone State politics his entire career.  A much-deserved opportunity for a hard-working, exceedingly knowledgeable friend to PoliticsPA.  Good luck, Gregg.

Rep. Chaka Fattah.  Though no charges have been filed, the Inquirer’s investigation into a non-profit with links to Rep. Fattah presents at the very least an instance of wrong case, wrong time for the veteran Philadelphia lawmaker.  Less than a week after the country witnessed a prolonged debate about the fiscal future of the country, the non-profit earned ink for reportedly spending federal dollars to take trips to a luxurious resort in the Virgin Islands.  Yes, the amount of money is relatively miniscule, but there’s just something politically iffy about the whole thing.