John McCain, GOP Court Pennsylvania Democrat Chris Carney

As Democrats stripped Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith of his committee assignments after he announced plans to switch parties, Republicans zeroed in on another congressman they hope will consider crossing the aisle: Chris Carney of Pennsylvania. Politico reports that Sen. John McCain called Carney on Wednesday, asking him to consider becoming a Republican.

"I am flattered by the overtures of Sen. McCain and other Republican Party officials and consider their outreach a sure sign that I have worked in a truly bipartisan manner," Carney said in a statement. He told Politico, however, that he has "no plans to change parties."

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen and aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi checked in with Carney and were assured that he will remain a Democrat.

GOP strategists said they hoped to capitalize on the momentum of the Griffith switch, and would be sending the Senate a list of potential aisle-hopping targets. They said they thought Carney might be moved by an entreaty from McCain, with whom he shares a history of Navy service. "I just said, 'Whatever you do, I know that you'll make the right decision for the country,' " McCain said of his conversation with the two-term Pennsylvania representative.