Rep. Tim Holden (D-Schuylkill) is the longest-serving member of the Pa. congressional delegation, but 80 percent of voters in his new district have never seen his name on the ballot. Holden hopes to introduce himself with a basic 30-second bio spot.
The ad shows Holden talking with constituents against scenes of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, both cities that he seeks to represent for the first time.
“Democrat Tim Holden fights for us,” a male narrator says, the first of three times he refers to Holden thus.
“There’s a war being wages on the middle class. I’m Tim Holden, and I approve this message because I’ll fight for working people.”
Holden’s Democratic primary opponent, Lackawanna County attorney Matt Cartwright, will also begin airing TV ads tomorrow.
At $85,000, Holden’s buy is slightly larger than Cartwright’s. His ads will air on broadcast television in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market, which comprises about 85 percent of the district. The spot will show on cable in Easton and on WFMZ.
The spot was produced by veteran Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, who managed the campaign of Howard Dean and a litany of other presidential hopefuls.
Loading ...
9 Responses
I check and nafta was 1993. That’s almost 20 years ago! I know nothing about Tim Holden, but he should be able to come up with something he’s done recently.
Are the people commenting really calling Cartwright a good man with solid values?
Yeah, ambulance chasing trial lawyers have wonderful values. They practically slash and burn and then steal whatever they can get.
Cartwright sounds like George Badey in PA-07… maybe they can be friends as they’re both slimy trial lawyers.
While I’m a partisan Republican, Holden is a good guy who works hard and at least he’s semi-moderate… Cartwright would be 100x worse than Paul Kanjorski. Yuck.
I completely agree with BigC.
Holden’s ad didn’t seem to have any cohesive message, rather it was just a list of points. For what it’s worth, they are good points — note he doesn’t talk about voting against healthcare or ACES.
And I guarantee Trippi is charging him an arm and a leg. I was surprised to see Trippi’s name come up in a Congressional primary. Seems beneath him at this point.
Cartwright’s ad makes me feel uncomfortable. Do you really want an ad for a potential representative to be “cute?” No. Personally, I like to see serious leadership and service to constituents, both of which Holden has proven time and again.
Holden seems like the typical politician. I can’t believe he brought up nafta, because that was ages ago. Cartwright seems genuine. Let’s just see how he says he’ll be different, but good start for a no-name candidate.
Judging the spots on their own merits, I think Cartwright gets the win. Holden seems like an empty suit. And while the Cartwright gets a tad too cute, he appears to have the traits of an actual human.
Holden’s ad was simply rattling off the top testing points in their messaging poll. No cohesion, nothing special. It came off as a basic political ad. Knowing how much Holden’s probably paying Trippi, he’s getting ripped off if this is what he’s producing.
Cartwright is a slimy ambulance chaser. But people admire that in NEPA.
You know what I come away with having watched their first two spots?
1) Holden is a politician. Cartwright is not.
2) Cartwright is a family man. Holden is a politician.
I think both of those frames are favorable for Cartwright.