A bad answer from Chaka Fattah, some bad polls for Tom Corbett and bad news for Philly’s DNC hopes. See who made this week’s list.

Chaka Fattah. “I’m not a lawyer,” that was Rep. Chaka Fattah’s initial response to questions about whether he knew about a $1 million illegal campaign loan handled by his Chief of Staff. While the Congressman later denied any wrong-doing, it’s never a good sign when the answer to a question about knowing of an illegal activity isn’t a simple, “No.” It’s unclear how long this saga will last, but it is becoming increasingly clear it won’t end well for the Rep. Fattah.

Tom Wolf. Another week, another pair of polls showing Wolf in the lead. While the margins differed widely (from 11 to 30 points) nevertheless both showed the Democrat with over 50% of the vote. All the while, Wolf is touring businesses around the state with an enthusiasm that indicates he’s ready for more challenging work.

Tom Corbett. A “near-automatic pickup” for Democrats. That’s how the National Journal described the Governor’s race this week and it’s not hard to see why given the recent polls. We also learned this week that Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate PAC is moving on from Pennsylvania because they feel like they don’t need to attack Gov. Corbett anymore. We’d like to give the Governor an up arrow for the show of support from the RGA, but the truth is it’s September and mixed results aren’t going to cut it anymore. At this point, any week that isn’t a win for the Corbett campaign is a loss.

State Senate Dem Candidates. In what must have been a carefully coordinated effort, four different Democratic candidates for State Senate seats premiered their first TV ads this week. John Kane (SD-26), Deb Kula (SD-32), Kim Rose (SD-6) and Mark Aurand (PA-40) all attacked their Republican opponents by linking them to Gov. Corbett. The first three talked about the Governor’s education spending while Aurand took on Corbett over the gas tax. Suffice to say, it’s clear what the Democratic strategy to take back the State Senate will be.

Philly’s 2016 DNC Bid. Ed Rendell is probably the biggest booster of the City of Brotherly Love since Ben Franklin. That’s why it was so concerning to hear he feels that Brooklyn is the favorite to land the 2016 Democratic National Convention. According to the ex-Gov, New York’s financial advantage is insurmountable but he feels Philadelphia has the logistical edge. We still have several months to wait until we know whether Philly will win a valued place in the 2016 presidential election.

Bill Peduto. Not only does the Mayor of Pittsburgh get to appear on Chuck Todd’s debut episode as host of “Meet the Press” but he’ll be following the President of the United States. Tough to top that.

For tweet of the week there really is no other choice but the conversation that got the whole state talking. After the release of the latest F&M poll, Corbett-Cawley Campaign Manager Mike Barley launched a John Lennon-esque salvo against undisputed top PA politico Terry Madonna. Click the tweet to view the whole timeline.

@mjbarley @Eagle63, @ChrisPackPA –the D+12 sample edge in the F&M poll represents registration not turnout, read Table 1 in the report.

— Terry Madonna (@terrymadonna) August 28, 2014