17th Congessional District... Holden vs Son of JoePa

Can Tim Holden hold his own against newbie Scott Paterno? I know the guy has no political experience, but being the son of a coaching demi-god and having registration edge might just do in Mr. Holden. Any thoughts on the matter?

Two years ago his district was merged with the district of Republican George Gekas. The new district had much more Republicans than Democrats. Gekas hadn't had a competative race in years, while Holden was used to strong challenges in his district. Holden worked his tail off, and won by a norrow margin.

Not only is Holden a hard worker, he is a good ideological fit for his district. He is pro-life and anti-gun control, as are many of the voters in this rural district.

Paterno has shown that he is willing run an agressive campaign, so this will likely be a close one again. But Holden will have the advantage of incumbency throughout the entire district this time, so he should be able to pull out another victory.

Please see my post below - but I have spoken with plenty of family and friends I know in that district and they all think that Scott Paterno is a joke. It's a well known fact that Scott Paterno has barely worked a day in his life except for selling bootleg tee-shirts and working 90 days for some local politician.

Nancy Eshelman wrote a scathing editorial about him. He'll be portrayed as a slacker doofus whereas Tim Holden can talk about the work he has done for Unions residing in the district.

I think Tim Holden will become safe in this district.

they scoffed at the thought of Scott Paterno as their state representative. My mothered, who isn't that political, told me she voted for Hostetler because she knew that Scott never worked for more that 3 months in his life, originally lived outside of the 17th until right before the election and managed to buy a $300,000 home despite an income return with a salary of $10k a year.

Plus my family is union and they appreciate the work that Tim Holden has done to help support unions in their area, especially with the large number of Bethlehem Steel retirees that lost both their pensions and health care. My family will all be voting for Tim in November and I'm hoping that's the attitude of many other folks in the 17th district.

Scott Paterno won with less than 33% of the vote in that district. It's a shame that there were 2 other candidates because they split the remaining republican votes. If Paterno was that wildly popular wouldn't he have won that race overwhelmingly?

But just in case - I hope to join other folks from the 17th for a day of campaigning. Tim Holden has been good to many folks in his congressional district including my family. The least I could do is return the favor!!!

PS: My mother sent me an editorial that was published in the Patriot News that pretty much lamblasted Paterno as a failure in life who relies on his family connection (geez, where have I heard that before). I'm thinking that a vast majority of the district will see the same thing!

According to the Almanac of American Politics, Bush beat Gore in this district 56%-41%. There are many more Republicans than there are Democrats in this district, and many of those Republicans will vote for the Republican candidate no matter how unqualified he is. But I think that Kolden will still pull out a win, but it will not be a landslide.

and with all of my family and friends in that area - that's a pretty big batch. I know the steel workers are behind Holden, which tend to be republican.

Yes, on paper - these folks are registered republicans and that alone should have them voting for Paterno. However, I'm not finding Paterno to be very popular - most folks think of him as a doofus who has never held a real job and has lived off the highlife thanks to Daddy's name & money. Maybe if one of the other Repukes had won that race I would think otherwise.

Holden & the democrats will portray Paterno as the doofus he is. He'll lose and easily too!

But Holden only beat him by 2%.