Repost: Should Pennsylvania Democrats be happy -- or despondent

                             -- that Jay Paterno is running for Lt. Gov.?

Jay Paterno certainly made waves in Pa. political circles on Feb. 20 when he announced that he was going to run for Lt. Gov. on the Democratic ticket. Paterno joined a group of relative unknowns who have announced for the second position in Pa., including Mark Critz, former Congressman for the 12th Congressional District in Pa. 

Is Paterno's move a positive event for Democrats? 

Hardly. 

In fact, it could be the worst thing that could happen to them. 

Why? The Democrats want an up-and-down vote on Tom Corbett, the current governor who in Jan. was so disliked that just 23 percent of Pa. voters in a Franklin and Marshall poll believe that he deserved re-election <http://www.fandm.edu/fandmpoll>. 

Apparently some people think that JayPa's entry into the Lt. Gov. race is a godsend for Democrats. Robert Vickers, the political writer for the Harrisburg Patriot News, wrote this about Paterno's possibilities: "Should Paterno emerge from the crowded lieutenant governor field of six candidates … the cult-like popularity of his family name would be a massive boost to Democrats’ hopes of defeating GOP Gov. Tom Corbett in November."

A massive boost? Not sure where he is coming from with that analysis. 

How is Paterno a big boost to the party? 

First, the Lt. Gov. job is simply a worthless position in which the person simply takes over in case of a problem with the governor. For instance, when Tom Ridge resigned as governor to take the job as Secretary of Homeland Security in 2001, Mark Schweiker took over and did a good job. 

In general, the Lt. Gov. job amounts to little or no work. 

Is that why Jay is interested in it?

Well, the Paterno family is suing the NCAA -- and Penn State -- for many reasons. One of them is that Jay has been able to find work as either a coach or as a football personality on networks, which he attributes to the Freeh Report ruining his and his family's reputation. He has applied for head coaching jobs at major schools like Boston college and has even applied for spots with ESPN, Fox, CBS -- for football gigs. 

Everyone has turned him down, but that may have more to do with his lack of skills than the Freeh Report.

In short, JayPa brings absolutely nothing to the Democratic race for Lt. Gov. and could be a real impediment to the Gov. race.

Many Dems believe that Corbett is a dead man walking, but they have to put someone out front who the voters will like enough to vote against Corbett. Compare this case to the re-election of Republican Rick Santorum for U.S. Senator in 2006. 

Santorum was so despised by people in Pa. that the Democrats just needed someone somewhat palatable to win the spot. They found Bob Casey, who was probably the most boring, charisma-challenged, and vocally-deficient candidate in history. 

In addition, talk about nepotism with JayPa. Bob Casey has ridden the wave of his father's name to his second term in the U.S. Senate, where he has produced nothing of significance. 

Still, since Santorum was down by 18 to 25 points in polls to a hypothetical candidate back in 2006, Casey was acceptable to voters. 

While Corbett is generally thought of as a clueless governor, he is not as despised as Santorum was in '06. Santorum lived in Va. while having his children educated on the Pa. cyber school network -- at taxpayer expense.

In the governor's race for the Democratic nomination, no one has pulled to the forefront of the race. Allyson Schwartz appeared to be racing toward a win last year, but with seven other candidates, Democratic voters are looking closely at the other choices.

The one who has emerged from the shadows by virtue or a $10 million media blitz is businessman  Tom Wolf. The TV pieces about Wolf are carefully presented, using his two telegenic and beautiful daughters to tell the story in a way that is self-deprecating to the candidate. He uses his lack of charisma in a charming way while presenting his employees in the largest kitchen-supplier in the U.S. business as very happy about profit-sharing. 

In this, he makes a very subtle difference with Corbett by pointing to the fact that those Marcellus Shale companies that are creating a tremendous amount of dirt in communities are paying no taxes -- thanks for Corbett and the Rep. legislators. 

Can Wolf beat the other seven candidates? The next poll will be interesting since it is after the state-wide media blitz that has appeared to be working favorably. 

Whoever wins the nomination, none of them want a Paterno on the ticket because it will be distraction. Many voters in the state, justifiably or not, still blame Joe Paterno not taking action to prevent the abuse by Sandusky. 

Perhaps columnist Vickers is right in that many people will gravitate to JayPa because of his name recognition. However, many of the people outside Vickers' "cult-like" followers of JoePa are going to vote against Corbett anyway, without a Paterno name on the ballot. 

This is not a good deal for Democrats. It creates more headaches than positives in the governor's race -- and nobody cares about the Lt. Gov. candidate.