The latest Pennsylvania Keystone Poll shows New Yorkers Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton leading the races for their respective party nominations in Pennsylvania.

The poll shows Giuliani leading the race for the Republican nomination over John McCain, 32 percent to 19 percent. Mitt Romney was third at 12 percent, while Fred Thompson — who officially declared for the presidency on the day the poll was released — stood at 11 percent.

Among Democrats, Clinton led her nearest rival, Barack Obama, 38 percent to 21 percent.

The September poll was produced at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. Past polls and other analyses can be found at http:// politics.fandm.edu.

Of course, unless there’s a drastic turn of events in Harrisburg, it won’t matter much who’s leading the poll by the time Pennsylvanians get around to nominating a Democrat and Republican in the primary. As I’ve complained about before, the other states will have done the nominating for us as they leap-frog each other to be first.

Pennsylvania’s presidential primary is scheduled for April 22.

An excuse often cited for leaving the primary alone is that the weather could be nasty in February or March, thus running the risk that too many people would stay home.

Apparently, it doesn’t snow or rain in early 2008 primary states such as New Hampshire, Iowa, Wyoming, Maine, New Jersey, New York and Alaska.

— John Guerriero

In their Politically Uncorrected column, Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young make the case that two-term Gov. Ed Rendell shouldn’t be ruled out as a vice presidential nominee.

Madonna, a frequent political source of mine, is professor of public affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. Young is managing partner of Michael Young Strategic Research.

They list the pros and cons of a Rendell vice presidency. But they say that Rendell brings something more important than his political assets — he would put Pennsylvania firmly in the Democratic column.

“With Rendell on the ticket, the Keystone State is a slam dunk for Democrats — without Rendell on the ballot it could be dicey,’’ they write.

While Rendell has said he wouldn’t run for public office again, he has made no secret of his desire to serve in the White House as energy secretary.

Read the full column at http:// politics.fandm.edu.

— John Guerriero

You might know Erie native John Brabender as the spokesman for Presque Isle Downs & Casino. That’s certainly the case.

But you might not know that most of Brabender’s time is spent on politics.

Brabender, the chief creative officer for Pittsburgh-based media firm BrabenderCox, is spending a lot of time these days in New York City, where Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani’s campaign is headquartered.

Giuliani has hired Brabender’s firm to be part of a team of media consultants with a record of electing Republicans. The team is putting together the advertising for Giuliani’s presidential campaign, Brabender said.

BrabenderCox’ first political race was Tom Ridge’s successful 1982 run for Congress. Since then, the firm has worked for more than 300 candidates in about 46 states, along with candidates in a few other countries, Brabender said.

“It’s a significant part of our business, and it’s where I personally spend the majority of my time,’’ he said.

Brabender’s firm works almost exclusively on GOP candidates’ campaigns.

Rick Santorum hired Brabender’s firm to work on Santorum’s two successful races for U.S. House, his election and re-election to the U.S. Senate and his unsuccessful re-election bid in 2006.

“It was just an absolutely horrendous year for Republicans (nationwide),’’ Brabender said.

— John Guerriero

In West Virginia, a familiar name is expected to be on the ballot for a seat in that state’s House of Delegates in 2008.

Ted Arneault Jr., the 24-year-old son of racetrack and casino executive Ted Arneault, is seeking an open seat in the district covering Hancock and Brooke counties in West Virginia, the Charleston Daily Mail reports.

The Arneault name, of course, is well known in Erie, too.

The elder Arneault is the chief executive of MTR Gaming Group Inc., which owns Mountaineer Race Track & Gaming Resort in Chester, W.Va., and Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie.

The younger Arneault told the Daily Mail that his interests are separate from Mountaineer’s. He told the newspaper that he’s interested in reversing the area’s declining population.

Unlike the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the House of Delegates in West Virginia is a part-time gig.

The House is in session from mid-January to mid-March, and for two- to- three-day meetings during each of the other months of the year, said Tamara Pettit, a spokeswoman for Mountaineer who knows something about state politics. She is a former delegate and the current chairwoman of the Hancock County Democratic Party.

Mountaineer is in Hancock County.

No one is getting rich by serving in the House of Delegates. Members get a $15,000 annual salary, plus daily expenses while in the state’s capital city, Pettit said.

— John Guerriero