does. and this district is being represented by nancy pelosi right now. i m not ashamed of any votes we ve taken. i ve kpind on reforming the health care system, on finding a national energy policy. at the end of the day the people voted for me to be their congressman not some congresswoman in california or the president. reporter: his republican challenger is a local businessman and former mayor. why do you think you would be a better congressman than john? 27 years experience in business. i ve been, created over 1500 jobs, employed over 3,000 people. this is a tough political environment to run in. there are still a lot of folks out there who are trying to find a job. reporter: you even feel that at this festive fair. economic pain and political peril for democrats. the fair is feeling it. we have to inflate our prices to meet with the prices of our products and people have a hard time spending money on a sandwich that costs $5. reporter: did you vote for president obam
targets in ohio. steve driehaus, mary jo kill roadway, john boccieri, up in the central part of the state. if republicans take the house, they have to make gains in the home state of the man who would be the next speaker, john boehner of ohio. i got into one of the best schools in the country!
going back to the policies that john boehner and others say they re going to go back to if they get the majority in the house. here is a phenomenon that s developing and i think it must be very worrisome to you as leader of the democratic party. we re finding, seeing democratic congressmen seeking re-election now running away from the president, the speaker, the majority leader. listen to this ad. jason altmire democratic congressman from pennsylvania who wants to be re-elected. watch and listen. too many people in congress just vote the party line. jason altmire is not like that. jason is independent. no doubt about. you saw when he voted against health care. when jason opposed the wall street bailout i like that jason is not afraid to stand up to the president. and nancy pelosi. wow. that s pretty amazing. a democratic congressman running a commercial saying he is not afraid to stand up to the president of the united states and the speaker of the house. do you rem
for patience. it is very clear that the economic solutions and the investments that we ve made are going to take time to recover. reporter: this ohio district was in republican hands for 60 years before this democrat won in 2008 and representing this conservative area makes him one of the most endangered democrats in the house. how are you sir? to follow the congressman around like we are, he is back there talking to voters and hearing some serious passion and frustration. getting tired of the namby pamby crap between the republicans and the democrats. it s our country. it s not democrat and republican. it s our country. and we re losing. amen. how you doing? i m running for congress. how you doing? reporter: that is the republican challenger and if you listen to his arguments there, the classic gop playbook this year. against the democratic leadership in washington. john votes lock step with nancy pelosi. it s an issue. he can say he doesn t but he
congressman john vociori in ohio s 16th district. it went for john mccain and not barack obama in that big election year. dana bash spent some time there. reporter: this shuttered plant really helps illustrate the mood here at eastern ohio and that is frustration and despair. hercules engines, this was a booming plant for generations but it shut down about a decade ago. that means that all of the jobs in this building are lost. well, a few years ago there was actually a plan to breathe new life here. $178 million project for shops in here, apartments, but the credit market dried up after the financial system collapsed and all of this stopped. when i see that shuttered factory i m reminded of our trade deals that allowed that to happen. that didn t happen in 20 months but over years and decades of lack of focus on the american worker and american businesses. reporter: at the stark county fair, first-term democratic congressman john boccieri pleads