Philadelphia's two major dailies, the prestigous Inquirer and the "People's Paper" Daily News, were purchased today by a group of investors headed by two local Republican bigwigs:

McClatchy Co. is selling The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News for $562 million to a group of local investors who hope to reverse circulation declines by emphasizing local news and doing more with the Internet.

The two Philadelphia papers are being bought by a group led by advertising executive Brian Tierney and Bruce Toll, co-founder of luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc.

[snip]

Tierney has been active in local Republican circles and co-chaired the GOP candidate's campaign in the last mayoral election.

Both he and Toll have said they won't influence editorial coverage.

Right, that sounds convincing.  So when the Inky endorses a whole slate of Dems this fall in PA elections they won't start feeling the heat from the guys who just fronted a group paying $562 million?  Sure, that sounds entirely and completely reasonable.

Just how tied is Tierney to the GOP?  Well, I did some searching on OpenSecrets.org, and I threw Toll in for good measure -- who it turns out, is even more generous than his partner (see below the fold):