Michael Macagnone | pa2010
An occasional series of articles exploring how political campaigns  are playing out in the media–in print, on the air, online and behind the  scenes.
Less than three months before Election Day, most competitive House races are by now garnering the typical smattering of local press coverage: campaign appearances, the back-and-forth of attacks and where the candidates stand on issues of the day.
But in central Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District, such coverage has been sparse. Of course, with newspapers cutting back across the country, few campaigns are covered like they used to be in local media. But the race between Democratic incumbent Tim Holden and Republican challenger Dave Argall has earned particularly little attention.
“There are a lot of districts, frankly, that just don’t get a lot of coverage,” said Brock McCleary, a political director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “There has been much more coverage of the governor and senate races.”
Most recent campaign coverage has been limited to Holden’s significant financial advantage. A robo-call by the NRCC got some ink. But most stories in local media have dealt with the candidates in their day jobs; both are elected officials, with Argall being a state Senator from Schuylkill County. A recent story in the Republican Herald broke down the strategic battle lines in the race.
How this will impact the race remains to be seen. But it could ultimately help neutralize some of the advantages Argall would otherwise enjoy in an anti-Democratic environment. Both candidates are being covered by local reporters as incumbents, at a time when voters hardly have patience for those in office. And while Holden voted against his party’s often unpopular health care reform and cap-and-trade measures. Argall, meanwhile, might have to take flak for unpopular policies coming out of Harrisburg–and the state Captiol might be the only place held in lower esteem than Washington.
“There will be a lot about the legislative records of both candidates,” said G. Terry Madonna, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College. “Argall still has an uphill battle.”
McClearly disagreed, saying the lack of down-ballot coverage meant that local candidates would benefit from successful candidates up the ballot. “Without a high-profile race,” he said, “voters follow the larger trend on the ballot.”
The race is currently No. 9 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings.
Neither campaign seems particular concerned with the lack of coverage, which they expect will pick up as Election Day nears.
“The fact is, it’s still early,” Holden campaign manager Eric Nagy said. “We’re going to get Congressman Holden’s message out any way that we can. … We’re not taking the race for granted. While we may  have a [financial] advantage, it’s a bad year to be a Democrat and we’re  in a district with a conservative advantage.”
Argall campaign manager Jon Hopcraft echoed that sentiment.
“Argall has had plenty of legislative coverage,” he said. “We’re not worried.”
The original version of the story appears here: http://www.pa2010.com/2010/08/the-press-room-little-ink-spilled-over-the-17th/
pa2010.com is a non-partisan, political news Web site, providing insider reporting and commentary on Pennsylvania’s big 2010 elections.