Corrupt DC Democrats Rush In To Rescue Anti-Choice Blue Dog Tim Holden

Two consecutive polls seem to be proving what many political observers surmised-- corrupt, anti-Choice Blue Dog Tim Holden can't win in a Democratic district. And the newly redrawn 17th CD in northwest Pennsylvania is a Democratic district. The only Republican county, Schuylkill, his home base, is the only part that was in his old red-leaning district. His whole miserable political career has been predicated on winning over Republicans. His voting record is a complete mess. On crucial roll calls he's been with the GOP far more than with the Democrats. In fact, according to an exhaustive study by ProgressivePunch, since 2011 he's voted against progressives on 63.75% of the most important roll calls facing Congress. Cantor and Boehner have grown to count on him when they needed a handful of Democratic votes so they could called their radical right agenda "bipartisan."

And as far as the Republican War Against Women-- the one Debbie Wasserman Schultz can never stop talking about-- Holden is always there fighting in the trenches along side the Republicans-- against women. On the crucial votes that impacted women's health, Holden, in his entire career, has only voted with the Democrats 7.69% of the time. Two dozen Republicans have been more pro-women than Holden. And Cartwright's stand on Choice is exactly what all politicians should be saying: "I believe that any decision a woman makes about her body is her decision and her decision only." What makes this particularly ironic is that some of the Democrats who have screamed the loudest about the Republican War On Women, like Wasserman Schultz, have rushed to Holden's aid as pro-Choice progressive Matt Cartwright has overtaken him in the polls. She wrote Holden a $2,000 check. Wasserman Schultz's Mini-Me, Allyson Schwartz (PA), who also claims to be very upset about the Republican War Against Women, kicked in another $1,000. The very right-wing New Dem Coalition PAC transferred $5,000 to Holden and their chairman, who is under investigation on multiple corruption charges, Joe Crowley, gave Holden another $3,000 from his own PAC. Crowley is the most anti-Choice Democrat in the New York delegation.

Holden crony Steny Hoyer campaigned in the district with him, asked lobbyists to give him cash and gave him $2,000 on two separate occasions before transferring $10,000 from his political action committee for the entire cycle. Philadelphia Democratic Party boss, Robert Brady also chipped in $2,000 for Holden, as did anti-Choice zealots Jerry Costello (IL), Heath Shuler (NC), John Tanner (TN) and Colin Peterson (MN).

Shira Toeplitz at Roll Call seems to have stumbled onto the reason why Holden "has no time" to debate Cartwright-- aside from being afraid to face the music. She mentioned that although Holden claims that "dozens of Democratic House Members anted up more than $70,000" for him, he's still burning up the phone lines to his Congressional colleagues. Holden has also gotten big name anti-Choice Democrats, père et fils Casey, to make a big push for him. That must be very depressing for Cartwright who has worked hard for Bob Casey and has personally contributed almost $15,000 to his campaigns. [UPDATE on that: Anyone who worries that Cartwright doesn't have the requisite skills and connections to make it in the Beltway shark-tank could keep in mind that Holden's much-ballyhooed appearance yesterday with Senator Bob Casey went off fine... except for the Senator Bob Casey part. He pulled out, leaving Holden looking like a doofus. I'm sure he could have called Heath Shuler instead.]

Blue America is trying to help Cartwright defeat Holden. It's the only race in the country where a sitting Blue Dog steeped in corruption looks like he could be displaced by a progressive. It's worth the investment, if you have anything to spare. You can contribute by clocking on the thermometer or by going to this page.