The dueling political party conventions over the past week have coincided with a significant build-up of intensity by the presidential campaigns in Pennsylvania.

Sen. John McCain landed in Philadelphia Monday as a toned-down GOP convention kicked off in Minnesota. He is set to make brief appearances in the Philadelphia area today — without any public events scheduled — and is due back in the state next week, with events tentatively planned in Lancaster and Delaware counties, GOP officials said.

Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign, meanwhile, dispatched running mate Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware to campaign in opposite ends of the state Monday. He spent the morning in Pittsburgh — although he canceled plans to walk in the Labor Day parade to monitor developments with Hurricane Gustav — and spent the afternoon in Scranton, where he visited his childhood home and was accompanied by Gov. Ed Rendell and Sen. Bob Casey Jr.

Pennsylvania Republicans on Monday here repeated a refrain heard loud and clear at the Democratic convention in Denver last week.

‘‘It is going to be a battleground every day,’‘ said state Republican Committee chairman Robert Gleason Jr. ‘‘It’s going to be hand-to-hand combat.’‘
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