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From the ELITIST!@!@# New Yorker via John Cole’s Balloon Juice:

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

The candidates for President in the United States have been running since early 2007. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars, debated countless times, traveled thousands of miles, and it all comes down to October.

The candidates for the Canadian Parliament have been running in a general election since September 7, 2008. The general election will be held on October 14, 2008. That’s about 5 weeks’ worth of campaigning for a nationwide election. If Canadians want to know what their prospective members of Parliament will work towards, all they have to do is read the various parties’ platforms, Conservative, Liberal, Bloc Quebecois, and NDP.

Canada has held two debates; one in English and one in French.

All in 5 weeks.

What are we doing wrong?

This Thursday, join WNYMedia.net at W.J. Morrissey’s Pub at 30 Mississippi Street in Buffalo’s Cobblestone District, to watch the Vice Presidential debate between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Delaware Senator Joe Biden, live from Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

The festivities begin at 8pm.

Democrat Kathy Konst will debate Republican Dale Volker at SUNY Geneseo on October 1st at 7pm.

Republican Mike Ranzenhofer replied to Joe Mesi’s challenge for three debates by suggesting three media events, including Sunday, October 19th at 10:30 am with Hardwick. He has also committed to a live debate on R News in Rochester on October 21st as well as the Financial Guys with Glenn Wiggle and Mike Lomas on WBEN. I would much prefer to see these in person, and hope that the Clarence LWV has its traditional candidates’ night at Clarence Town Hall this season both for that race, as well as NY-26.

In 2004, John Kerry ran an issue-based campaign based on solid Democratic principles, calling out the first Bush term as feeble and ridden with failure. At the time, the Iraq war had already proven not to be the promised cakewalk, and Bush was pulling economic shenanigans that had short-term positive gain with long-term negative consequences, many of which are coming home to roost as we speak.

Bush won, in part, because his campaign took Kerry’s strengths and used them against him. The Swift Boat Veterans for “Truth” not only helped to torpedo Kerry’s chances, but became themselves a metaphor for a particularly dirty and scummy way of campaigning. Tell the same lie often enough, and it’s bound to stick. If the lie isn’t exposed and debunked; if it isn’t called out as a lie from day one, it’s going to be the targeted candidate’s ruin.

In 2008, we have much of the same thing going on. Many people have learned Bush’s and Rove’s tricks from 2004 and, to some degree, 2000, and have applied them with great success. The difference now is, some get it, and others don’t.

For instance, when Jack Davis smeared Jon Powers’ noble work with War Kids Relief, and accused Powers of unjustly enriching himself to the tune of $77,000, that smear was a blatant lie. The problem was that Powers’ campaign did not immediately rebut the lie. They waited too long to go on defense, and then mangled the offense with rehashed 2 year-old Tom Reynolds ads.

Powers’ camp should have been more forceful with the Buffalo News in combating the smear’s false premise. They should have reacted swiftly and strongly that very morning to the smear, but they didn’t. That was a game-changer, and the first time that doubt crossed my mind about Powers’ likelihood of winning. When your opponent lies and attacks you on your perceived strength, you don’t remain silent. You take it as a declaration of war and meet their simplistic scuds with sophisticated MIRVs.

At least one supposed journalist has written that Powers entered the congressional race after Reynolds had announced his retirement. While a simple Google search can elucidate even the least computer literate on that timeline, it’s dumb statements like that which, when unchallenged, become part of the vernacular. Powers announced in July 2007. Reynolds announced his retirement in March 2008. Davis announced his candidacy in April 2008, perhaps to win, but more importantly to spoil it for Powers, who was threatening to take away something that Davis saw as his already-bought-and-paid-for seat.

So, let’s turn our attention now to Sarah Palin, John McCain, and Barack Obama.

In the past 2 or 3 weeks, John McCain’s campaign has thoroughly flushed his reputation for high-mindedness and honor down the toilet. The Straight Talk Express is now the Bullshit Express, and it takes the women on the View to call him out on it. I don’t post McCain’s smears on this site, because I’m an Obama partisan and proud of it.

But McCain has, I think, performed the Kavanaugh Flip, which is my new name for the point when a campaign becomes so relentlessly and ferociously negative that it backfires, occurred when McCain aired the ad Rachel Maddow discusses here:

A great many pundits and journalists have been digging into the assertions made by McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin on the campaign trail, and it’s staggering the number of outright falsehoods pass their lips on a daily basis. If I wanted to write about them all, it would be a full-time job. So instead, I urge you to visit TPM or Andrew Sullivan.

When I do cherry-pick something that I find to be particularly objectionable, laughable, or offensive, I will indeed post it, and suddenly throngs of concern trolls come on expressing their worry that Obama isn’t being nice, or that we Obama supporters are hateful and that we’re busy “crucifying” Sarah Palin.

So, let me get this straight. Because Obama wants to elevate the discourse in this country, he is supposed to shut up and somehow rise above it when his opponent just straight-up makes shit up. Sorry, that’s not the way it’s going to work. Not here, not anywhere. It’s not the way campaigns are won. So, concern trolls, do you go on pro-McCain sites and accuse their authors of crucifying Obama? Of course not. This isn’t canasta. It’s politics that the McCain campaign decided ought to be dirty. He said he was going to run an honorable campaign. He lied. He isn’t.

What we learned in 2004 is, if your opponents accuses you of wanting to sexualize kindergarteners, you hit back hard and you hit back fast. If your opponent claims to be the only agent for change, you rebut that with facts. If your opponent claims to have said, “thanks, but no thanks” to something, but she really said, “thanks” before she said, “thanks for the cash”, you bring attention to it. There are positive issues to run on in this campaign, and Obama spent no fewer than 15 months running on them. Now, the Republican smear machine is up to bat and they’re not only going to accuse Obama of promoting pedophilia, but they’ll accuse him of being a closeted Black Panther, just waiting to blow something up.

So, Democrats. If you want to lose, then come here and criticize me for having the unmitigated gall and audacity for pointing out lies and damned lies that the Republicans are spewing. Because clearly, I am the biggest threat to not just the Democratic Party, but the republic itself.

If you want to win, start making phone calls, writing letters to the editor, blogging, doing whatever you can to make sure that lies spread by the Republicans don’t become the conventional wisdom, as they did in 2004. Obama’s campaign will do the heavy lifting, promoting the ticket, its platform, and ideals. I realize that there is more to winning this election, and more to Obama, than just hitting the opposition. They’re doing it every single day. You’re just not paying attention. Obama is out there every day talking about his plan for the economy, for his vision of America, of hope and change. Nothing is different. Except that McCain is lying about him.

If you’re that concerned about Sarah Palin’s precious sensibilities, then query why she’s politically involved in the first place. She’s a strong, smart woman and she can undoubtedly defend herself. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - the only criticisms I’ve ever made about her have to do with her policies and her public pronouncements. I haven’t touched her family or her church or any of the other stuff other people are writing about in their thousands.

If you think there’s no room in politics for criticism and vetting or fisking, then I think past history - recent and remote - proves you to be very wrong, indeed.

You asked for it.

I am writing this with the pre-supposition that Sarah Palin is the most popular governor in the world, a woman who is, at once, the most macho and the most feminine ever, and the best wife and mother ever. So, any criticism is directed towards the policy, and her answer - not at her as a person.

In the interview, when asked whether she was experienced enough to be President, she answered that she was.

GIBSON: And you didn’t say to yourself, “Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I — will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?”

PALIN: I didn’t hesitate, no.

GIBSON: Didn’t that take some hubris?

PALIN: I — I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink.

So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

That’s a nice talking point about having actual knowledge about foreign affairs doesn’t really matter, being confident and resolute does. It is, to me, an extension of the anti-intellectualism and lack of curiosity and inquisitiveness that has been de rigeur during Bush’s two terms, and seems to have become what Republicans not only want, but actually helps them win.

When pressed on whether she has met a foreign leader in the past,

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you. But, Charlie, again, we’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.

Jeez, Gov. Palin, it was a simple yes or no question.

Gibson: Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?

Palin: In what respect, Charlie?

Gibson: What do you interpret it to be?

Palin: His worldview.

Gibson: No, No, the Bush Doctrine. He enunciated it in September 2002, before the Iraq War.

PALIN: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership, and that’s the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.

GIBSON: The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?

PALIN: I agree that a president’s job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America.

Ouch. I would say that the top priority when you swear an oath to uphold the Constitution is to uphold the Constitution, and anyone who has paid even casual attention to foreign affairs can tell you what the Bush Doctrine is.

After pledging not to re-start the Cold War, Palin gives these answers:

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.

Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but…

I disagree with the arbitrary extension of NATO membership to any country just because they underwent democratic change. Both Georgia and Ukraine maintain a great degree of political, social, and economic instability. The criteria for entry into the European Union are very strict and always maintained. Entry to NATO, wherein an attack on any member nation is deemed to be an attack on them all, should be stricter still. Setting Ukraine aside for a moment, Georgia and Azerbaijan and the other Caucasus nations are within Russia’s historical sphere of influence, and Putin - who is no shrinking violet - has already indicated that he would perceive NATO incursion into that region to be unacceptable. Why so blatantly provoke a belligerent, proto-fascist state that’s raring for a fight? Don’t we have enough battles already?

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn’t we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to — especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

The McCain campaign set up this Barbra Walters-style interview with ABC as its willing accomplice, and it serves no one’s interest. I know that McCain has set the media up to be the big bad guy, but the last two weeks have been all Palin, all the time, and they’ve very handily manipulated the bad media to serve their purposes. It’s all super-clever. Whether it be making two days’ worth of hay over the most important issue of the day - whether “lipstick on a pig” was a mean insult - or whether it be the fact that press traveling with Palin is informed ahead of time, in a blanket way, that all conversations with her are off-the-record.

The Obama campaign, meanwhile, is perceived as being the runaway truck coming downhill looking for the emergency ramp. They’ve lost their mojo and they seem to have forgotten what their original appeal was. They should not be doing pushback on idiot stories like lipstick on a pig. They should be talking about hope and change and a vision of America that is better than the last 8 years.

Governor Palin has gotten a free pass from everyone, and that’s fine. But she has yet to show that she has the grasp of issues that affect the United States on a federal or global scale that one would expect from a President. As I explained a few weeks ago, she is beloved by the conservatives right now not just because they perceive her to be a plucky, strong woman, but also because she is in many ways reminiscent of George W. Bush ca. 2000 - before he spent like a drunken sailor and screwed up Iraq and squandered a unique time in America to call on us to service in support of something bigger than our own self-interest.

People say that Democrats are scared of Palin.

We are.

Not because she’ll help McCain win.

But because she reminds us of someone who, we think, did more to damage America and her constitution than any enemy.

And for the record, Obama is still leading in the only pre-election poll that matters - the one that counts electoral college votes. But only just.

NY-26:

When Jon Powers announced last year, his primary focus was the Iraq War. As that issue faded from people’s consciousness due to an improved security scenario in that quagmire of ours, he had to change his strategy. All the numbers pointed to a Davis win if for nothing else, on his sheer name recognition. One way to counteract name recognition is to make that name seem unelectable. Powers started gently going negative on Jack with the Exxon Jack crack. Davis retaliated with a vengeance, and did everything within his power and checkbook to destroy Powers. War Kids, the ticket, PAC money, that’s all well and good, but the Powers Platoon hit site was a killer. It became a battle royal. Kryzan had been counted out for most of the campaign, but she came out from behind the fray with a clever but negative ad, which created its own buzz. She followed that up with a straight negative ad that was neither clever nor truthful, but it was enough.

Because Powers and Davis spent so much time bashing each other, 2/3 of Kryzan’s job was done for her without her having to spend a dime. She needed one thing to stand out, and the “boys, take it somewhere else” ad was just the ticket. She comes out of this relatively unscathed, so Republican Chris Lee doesn’t have a lot of negative ammunition to use against her. Hopefully Kryzan is able to capitalize on the desire for change in Washington and take the seat away from the Republicans.

I am disappointed in Powers’ loss, but take great, great pleasure in the fact that Jack Davis’ political career is now extinct. I’ll be he’s “relieved” he lost. Again. To top it off, a Davis “Brand New Man” just ran on WBEN. At 9:30. On Wednesday. Fail.

SD-61

I hand it to Michele Iannello for running on issues. Her 40 ideas in 40 days was a great idea, and gave voters something to think about. She was outspent and outcampaigned by Joe Mesi and his Responsible New York benefactors. Mesi faces Mike Ranzenhofer, and he’s got a great opportunity to defeat the Republican. Mesi’s got the money, and Ranzenhofer has a negligble record given his 20 years in office.

SD-59

Volker out-spent and out-hacked David DiPietro. Volker likes to play himself as being upstate’s champion, but he’s just as cozy with downstate interests as anyone else in Albany. He faces Kathy Konst, who is a ferocious campaigner, has money, and hasn’t been in elected office since this 40 year old was 3.

A-142 / 144

Why did Hoyt win with his intern problem and Cole lost with his more benign one?

1. Sam Hoyt has a dense urban district that is very politically active, and he has a veritable army of die-hard supporters who did the hard work to keep him around. They worked their asses off, and succeeded.

2. Mike Cole has a suburban/rural district and is a relative newcomer, except in Alden. He doesn’t have a supporter base like Sam’s.

3. Kavanaugh’s surrogates in the Pigeon/Casey/Brown camp took negative politicking to new lows this season. The depths of their gutter-dwelling may have helped Kavanaugh up to a point, but their zeal was so strong that they crossed a line - a line that I haven’t yet defined - that ultimately swung it right back in their butts.

4. Hoyt was up their with his wife, sister, and kids last night at Ellicott Square. You can tell that they all love and support each other very, very much. You can tell that he and his wife went through a very tough time in their marriage, but to their credit, they stayed together and worked through it. When you see Sam and his family, it hits you just how monstrously damaging it was to dredge up what was probably among their most difficult period as a family. Think what you want of Sam, but his wife didn’t deserve this. His kids didn’t deserve this. Yes, it was Sam’s fault. But bringing this stuff up in the way that they did merely victimized them all over again. Shame on them.

5. Hoyt’s hands are not clean on this. Everyone in the media has been receiving emails for weeks from some cryptic organization calling itself “WNY First”. The emails accuse a prominent local politician of being involved in what, if true, would be a blockbuster scandal. So far, no proof has been forthcoming and what WNY First has sent out purporting to be proof has been so transparently false as to be laughable. It’s been funny to watch local media - especially Channel 7 - trip over themselves to get the scoop. Hey, we’re just as curious as everyone else to see what kind of “proof” they have, but it’s most likely all a bunch of BS.

6. Cole is a Republican. He ran partly on his family values in 2006. When you tout that, don’t fall asleep on an intern’s apartment floor. Period.

7. Cole is a one-termer. Unlike Sam, he doesn’t have much of a legislative record to run on. No big thinking, no real initiative. When worse came to worse, he had no record to fall back on. Hoyt did.

Finally, the races hardly anyone really pays attention to were among the most important yesterday.

The Pigeon/Casey/Brown forces have been running candidates in committee races in the city in an effort to unseat county party chairman Len Lenihan. Their candidate to do so was Cheektowaga’s Frank Max. Every single one of Byron’s committee candidates lost last night, and so did Frank Max. One of the winning committeepeople didn’t even know he was running until that morning. With the exception of the Mesi race, City Hall’s effort to take over the county party was dealt a crushing defeat last night.

Although I realize that this is about as worthless and useless as just about anything, I still do it every year. Why? Because I feel like it! So, coming up Tuesday the 9th, I recommend voting for the following candidates:

1. NY-26 Democratic Primary: Jon Powers

This ought to come as no surprise. I have been in Powers‘ corner since I first met him and heard him speak in July 2007. This young, energetic, and smart man came back from service in Iraq to find a government that wasn’t working for average people - people he grew up with. When he returned, he set up War Kids Relief with the assistance of the Vietnam Veterans of America. The group was, at the time, the only organization that sought to raise awareness of, and assist Iraqi youth to work towards a future that seemed quite dim at the time. While sectarian violence worsened and the security situation in Iraq eroded, Powers realized that these kids were susceptible to becoming tomorrow’s terror threat. There was no palpable future for them in that environment, and he decided that through outreach and education, those kids could find hope again, and that the US could not only battle the terrorists on the military front, but prevent future terrorists from being created.

Many have questioned the motives and results of War Kids, but the fact remains that Jon Powers brought attention to an issue to which no one was paying any attention at the time. It was representative of the generous and open nature of America and her people, and it was a forward-thinking effort. It was also indicative of a young man who didn’t wait around for other people to do something.

Powers’ plan also includes a plank for national service. There is more to citizenship than just bitching and moaning about stuff. People need to get involved, and there are few things more noble than working for a cause greater than one’s own self-interest. AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, teaching, volunteerism, military service, nursing, mentoring, etc.; they’re all covered in Powers’ plan to encourage people to get more involved in civic affairs and their communities.

Powers says on the stump that there are officers who lead by rank, and there are officers who lead by example. For far too long, the 26th has been represented by a career politician who loved the pomp and circumstance that went along with his position, but had very little time for anything or anyone outside the Beltway. Powers is dramatically different than that. He’s not an arrogant anachronism of a CEO who is used to telling people what’s what without listening to them, and he’s not a longtime bigshot attorney who lies in debates and comes off as dismissive. I have no confidence that either of his opponents would listen. And ultimately, that’s what we want our representatives to do. He listens, he learns, he gets things done.

On the issues, Powers has adopted common-sense solutions to the energy crisis, education, health care, foreign policy, and a whole host of other problems that Western New Yorkers deal with on a daily basis. I have seen Powers travel throughout the district for over a year, not content to just impose his opinions on others, but to engage in a conversation and listening to people’s concerns and working together to come up with solutions that might improve their lot. This is what we want and expect from a representative in Congress. Jon Powers is no patsy to special interests. He’s a regular guy who’s running against self-funded millionaires on every side, and he without a doubt can stand up against outsiders, and in support of his prospective constituents.

It is with pride and honor that I endorse Jon Powers’ candidacy for the 26th Congressional district.

SD-61 Democratic Primary: Michele Iannello

In a crowded, heated primary race on the Democratic side, I heartily endorse my friend, Michele Iannello.

Michele is no career politician. She’s been in the Erie County Legislature for about 3 years, but in that short time she’s made a big impact. Quite simply, she had to come in and help to fix a catastrophic fiscal crisis, and she excelled at it. She joined with Kathy Konst and Cindy Locklear to propose a “Chinese menu” of reforms that, if implemented, would result in a more streamlined, cheaper, more transparent county government. Some of those reforms made their way to the revised County Charter, which Michele helped to formulate, and for which she voted. The people of Erie County approved that new Charter by a huge margin.

The winner of the Democratic primary will take on 20-year Erie County legislator, Republican Mike Ranzenhofer - a guy whose record with which I’m ridiculously familiar. If you put Iannello’s record of reform against Ranzenhofer’s record of not-a-lot, her selection as the Democratic nominee is a no-brainer. I am troubled by the 527 organization(s) spending insane amounts of money on behalf of her opponent, “Baby” Joe Mesi, and I have heard and met Dan Ward, and am not at this time willing to support a guy who has been on one of the more dysfunctional town boards for a long, long time, and has otherwise been something of a perennial candidate.

Iannello is the only candidate in this race who has blogged about 40 issues in 40 days that she’d like to go to Albany and implement. Issues. What a novel concept. Whether you agree or disagree with them, at least she’s putting them out there, which is a lot more than either of her opponents has done.

When asked what her biggest issue is:

Decreasing taxes and reducing spending in Albany so that businesses want to come here and create jobs. I will propose the same five steps for change I did with two colleagues in the Legislature: transparency, accountability, best practices, term limits in the legislature and ethics reform.

Iannello is the only candidate in this race with a record of pursuing and implementing real reform. She can do the same in Albany.

A-142 Republican Primary: No Endorsement

This a solely Republican race, and I can’t vote in it and therefore haven’t paid much attention to it at all. I think Mike Cole was sent to Albany to reform it and work hard for his constituency, but he blew it with his intern issue. Jane Corwin had pledged not to bring up Cole’s intern problem, but she brought it with a vengeance this week, and I can’t fathom why. Run on your record as a businesswoman and Cole’s lack of any real achievement. Hell, even bring up the intern thing if you feel you need it, but her ad this week was so brutally negative that I thought it went beyond the pale. Former Democrat Jeff Bono? Who knows. Len Roberto? He’s a bit extreme for my taste. So, hold your nose and vote for whomever you want.

A-144 Democratic Primary: Sam Hoyt

Sam Hoyt is not my hero. There is much to disdain and dislike about a guy who was born into great privilege and really, really screwed things up in the last 8 or so years with respect to his ethics. He has been in Albany and doesn’t have a real palpable record of change, and I don’t at all think that he really, truly understands the problems that fundamentally ail the economy of Western New York; high taxes, onerous regulations, unfriendly business climate. On the other hand, Sam does have a record of listening and taking action on behalf of his constituents. He has been an advocate on housing issues, social issues, problems affecting the city, and has been vocal on development, waterfront, and casino issues. He doesn’t just go to Albany to fraternize, he goes to Albany to try and make WNY a better place. He’s extremely responsive to constituent concerns and is always a phone call or email away.

But there’s a lot more to Albany than handing out pork. Land banking proposal good - pork not always so good. Reduction of taxes and spending good. Let’s give Sam another shot to go to Albany and have him move forward with Governor Paterson’s proposal to make state government leaner and cheaper. Sam, it’s a change and reform election. Make it happen.

With that said, when someone is subjected to an unfairly brutally negative campaign, I can’t just sit back and say “vote for the new person”. Barbra Kavanaugh’s campaign has been completely consumed by the Pigeon camp. They have engaged in such base, gutter campaign tactics that Hoyt’s own shortcomings pale by comparison. I don’t want Pigeon or Golisano leaking tawdry emails to websites in an effort to smear a politician. I don’t want phony websites or phony special interest groups set up in an effort to embarrass an opponent. It is by far the dirtiest, ugliest campaign waged in recent memory in Western New York, and the people behind it should be ashamed. Kavanaugh claims not to have been involved with these tactics, but she never gave much more than a token gee-isn’t-that-lame, and claimed not to have any clue about what was being done on her behalf.

If I was running in a race and someone who endorsed me went around smearing the living daylights out of my opponent, I’d be screaming bloody murder about it. That’s the template, as far as I’m concerned, and she didn’t even come close.

Clarence Town Justice: David Donohue (the only endorsed Democrat).

SD-59 Republican Primary: David DiPietro

While Sam Hoyt is an imperfect state legislator, over the past couple of years State Senator Dale Volker has become little more than a punch line. Whether he’s getting an aide to scream at Scott Brown, referring to an immigrant RIT Professor by a racially insensitive name, or whether he’s being a camera hog at the opening up of the I-190 tolls and getting into an argument with Donn Esmonde, pretty much everywhere Dale Volker goes, craziness follows. It’s really quite simple. Dale Volker is an ineffective thug.

Topping all that off, when former East Aurora Mayor David DiPietro announced that he was running for Volker’s seat, the Republican establishment didn’t just try and persuade him to sit this one out, it threatened him. Political office is not an entitlement. Dale Volker does not get to maintain his office just because his party and his aides bully the challenger and his supporters. Frankly, this type of intimidation is more sickening to me than whether or not Cole slept on an intern’s floor or Hoyt had affairs with interns.

DiPietro has been endorsed by gadfly Carl Paladino. He’s a small business owner who is affected by Albany’s broken policies; high taxes and onerous regulation. While Dale Volker has been in the State Senate for 36 years, the state has only declined further and further. He’s had two generations to get things in order, but he hasn’t. Instead, he sends out what amount to campaign lit at state expense and puts out ads that really underscore that the guy is brusque and doesn’t listen. DiPietro is a breath of fresh air in a district that is in desperate need of one.

“Lefty” posted a comment to another post, stating that Obama’s “unity” thing is all a bunch of hooey, and that no one really appeals to the middle-of-the-road voter. This is what I posted in reply:

In my office I still keep a “McCain 2000″ cap and I have my “Raising McCain for Mass” pin from that time, too. I know you guys think I’m some screeching liberal, but I’m pretty middle-of-the-road.

I care about taxes being lowered, I care about public money being spent wisely and conservatively. I care that government be competent when spending that money and administering services.

I am aghast that the United States has sanctioned torture, appalled at the failures and poor planning and execution of the Iraq war, disgusted that it was premised on falsehoods, and shocked that we’ve dropped the ball in Afghanistan. I am worried that future action against Iran or Pakistan or North Korea or some other rogue state might be undertaken in a catastrophic, hasty way.

But on the other hand, I don’t like politicians who sermonize and try to impose their values on me. I am pro-choice, pro-gay-marriage, want there to be universal health care coverage for all people, want there to be a minimum wage that keeps pace with inflation, want schools to train kids to be able to compete in a global 21st century economy, and think that there are some things that are well worth a massive investment of public money for the greater good and big future payoff. I think people should be treated fairly and properly by government and by other people.

I am that swing voter, and I don’t have a problem voting across party lines if I like a candidate and what he/she stands for.

When I look at the political field, I see the guy I once volunteered for 8 long years ago, and he has succumbed to that fundamentalist Christian wing of the Republican Party that led me to quit. He stood up to Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell in 2000, and it was music to my ears to hear this maverick run against those idiots, rather than into their arms. I was first attracted to McCain when he said at a debate that his most influential political philosopher was Teddy Roosevelt. Everyone else on that stage said “Jesus Christ”.

But he’s not that guy anymore. In order to win in 2008, he had to embrace and run to that crazy wing of the party, and there’s no way I can support him for that. I can’t support teaching creationism in schools or shutting down sex ed or banning abortion or segregating gay people as degenerates.

On the other hand, Obama shares the ideals quite closely as I’ve set them forth above. He sees the America I see - one that is fair, inclusive, just, and strong.

So, I’m that middle-of-the-road guy, and I’m afraid that without big-time change, the petrification and further lazy bureacratization of Washington will continue apace. While I appreciate McCain’s appeal as an agent of earmark reform, he loses me on the social issues. Palin’s selection merely reinforced that for me, as she is even farther to the right than he is on the social issues.

Will Obama unite the nation? Maybe not, as you say. But at least he’s talking about it. McCain hasn’t bothered, and has instead further gone down the path of division and identity politics.

But thanks for reading, even though you think I’m a leftist with blinders on.

Check here to see Buffalo Geek’s comments that come from a similar place.

The aftermath:

Not only is Jack Davis refusing to debate his primary opponents Alice Kryzan and Jon Powers on Hardline with Hardwick on Sunday (tomorrow), but he’s also refusing to participate in a candidate’s forum in Geneseo. According to the Lockport Union Sun & Journal:

Now Davis says he won’t join them in joint campaign appearances unless they return the donations that they’ve received from those interest groups — as well as sign on with Davis’ self-created “pledge to protect Social Security,” and promise to run “clean” campaigns.

Interesting. Davis had no problems debating PAC-laden Tom Reynolds last season. Indeed, he had no problem accepting PAC money last season. It’s beyond unseemly for a self-funded millionaire candidate to set as a precondition to answering voter questions that his opponents return what he defines as “special interest” money. Naturally, as his own contributor, Jack Davis is his own special interest.

Kevin Hardwick, the WBEN show host who’ll moderate Sunday’s discussion, called Davis’ refusal to participate in candidate forums “disturbing.”

Hardwick, a political science instructor and past candidate for office himself, said the unwritten rule of campaigning is before you ask people for their votes, you’re supposed to make yourself available to answer their questions.

“If you’re too afraid to go into a debate for fear of saying something stupid, how can we expect you to stand up to the special interests in Washington?” Hardwick said. “If (Davis’) handlers don’t trust him … perhaps they ought not run him for office.”

In Geneseo…

The debate at Geneseo will begin at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday. Organizers said the National Public Radio affiliates in Buffalo and Rochester, wbfo-FM 88.7 and WXXI-AM 1330, will replay the session as regular programming.

According to debate co-organizer Ben DeGeorge, Independence Party nominee Anthony Fumerelle also will participate. Republican candidate Chris Lee declined the invitation.

Jack Davis has some incredible gall, using as an excuse for not debating that his opponents have campaigned negatively against him. Jack Davis created a phony website with a Powers-friendly URL that is not only negative, but meant to confuse and deceive. Advertising it all over the internet, including on Republican blogs, if Davis wants to learn about slimy campaign tactics, all he has to do is look in the mirror.

Jack Davis. Too afraid he’ll say something embarrassing (again) to debate his opponents.
Jack Davis. Hypocrite.
Jack Davis. Is intent on buying an election whether by hook or by crook.
Jack Davis. Unelectable.

Obama’s speech was a 9 on a scale of 1 - 10. He effectively laid out why he is the better choice - why Democrats are a better choice - than whoever the Republicans are putting up. There were, naturally, some choice soundbites such as “It’s not that McCain doesn’t care. It’s that he doesn’t get it”, and “Eight is enough”, but there was a lot more beyond the soundbites.

He laid out the case for himself. Why his comparative lack of experience isn’t important in this election. As Hillary Clinton realized a little too late for herself, this is a change election, and the only candidate offering it up is Barack Obama. He set forth the singular truth of his candidacy - that it’s not about him and never has been. It is instead about average people who have become energized and active in politics. When he says change doesn’t come from Washington, it comes to Washington, he’s talking about those people who have had it with the way it’s been done up until now.

Last night those people were there in their thousands. While the cretins of cable and the Republicans mocked the “Greek Temple” and accused Obama of setting up a latter-day Nuremburg Rally, we instead had thousands of average people and committed delegates in one stadium together, waving American flags and cheering for a man who promised to help them bring change to Washington. This wasn’t some revival meeting or fascist rally. This was America.

The speech was aggressive, taking the fight to the Republicans, to McCain, to 8 years of failure, to 8 years of bellicosity, to 8 years of enrichment of the richest at the expense of the middle classes. He linked McCain effectively to Bush, reiterating that McCain votes with Bush 90% of the time, and 10% change isn’t enough.

It was substantive, explaining his platform in detail so as to silence critics who accused him of being all style. The McCain campaign’s idiotic accusations that Obama is some Hiltonesque ditz were rendered all the more ridiculous last night.

America the ideal, the example; the America we all grew up believing in, and which we always knew was just and right and free and true - that America has been systematically dismantled by the Bush Administration over the past 7 years. They can blame the use of torture, the unprecedented expansion of executive power, the invasion of sovereign states, the loss of domestic civil liberties, complete economic mismanagement, and fearmongering on 9/11 or whatever bogeyman they can select that day, but average people are not better off than they were 4 or 8 years ago.

You know it, and I know it. The question then becomes whether you go with the party that willingly went along and brought all of that about, or do you go with the guy who sees that things are broken and asks for your help to fix it. Do you go with the guy selling more fear, or with the guy selling hope.

I was with Obama when the snow was flying. Last night, he only further convinced me that I chose well. And so did the Democrats.

The Republicans? They’ve got a tough act to follow.

Also - we did the liveblog/chat thing last night, but it had a tendency to float off-topic and get bogged down in a lot of nonsense, so if I do it again during the Republican convention, I’m going to set some ground rules - not stronger ones, just any will do.

Jack Davis and the Republican Party, that’s who’s afraid.

Just one week out after peddling a story accusing Jon Powers of running War Kids Relief into the ground and enriching himself in the process, the Jack Davis campaign goes back to its bitter well of desperation and trots out a story that Jon Powers was arrested in Ohio for cursing out a cop. A flat-out lie.

But Powers spokeswoman Victoria Dillon saw the incident differently. She said Powers was with college friends and fellow veterans in the area, and denied at the time and denies now that he ever used obscene language in addressing the officer. She also offered to produce witnesses to back up Powers.

“At a time when he’s under investigation and running from revelations of election fraud and bribery, the Davis campaign is practicing the lowest form of politics by distorting simple facts,” Dillon said. “Jon was written a ticket for jaywalking, never arrested and never showed any disrespect to law enforcement.”

But a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Heights Municipal Court said Powers changed his plea of not guilty to the original Class 4 misdemeanor charge to “no contest” in connection with a minor misdemeanor on Jan. 11, 2005, and that there was no mention of jaywalking in the final disposition of the case.

Dillon disagrees.

“When you look at the full statute, jaywalking is part of that statute,” she said.

A review of the Ohio criminal code defines a number of offenses that would constitute disorderly conduct — but not jaywalking.

Dillon, however, countered that it would refer to a section outlining “hindering or preventing the movement of persons on a public street.”

Powers was fined $25 and assessed $65 in court costs.

Gosh, that’s a lot of paragraphs for a $25 ticket. Powers wasn’t arrested. And he didn’t plead, and wasn’t found, guilty. And he paid a ticket. If Davis wants to paint Powers as being a one-time, one-man jaywalking spree, then that’s fine. But it doesn’t change the fact that Davis has nothing whatsoever to run on as a candidate. Oh, and when the Powers campaign offered to put McCarthy in touch with other people who witnessed the event? McCarthy wasn’t interested. He was all about covering the politics of it - not the facts.

Davis has nothing else to do, really. The two-time loser ran in ‘04 and ‘06 in a fit of ongoing pique against the Republican Party, which couldn’t be bothered with his concerns about free trade and blew him off. Because his message against free trade was so palatable to people whose jobs are threatened with exportation, he had overwhelming support in both races from organized labor and the Democratic Party faithful.

Not so this time, Davis finds himself completely bereft of endorsements. No one is supporting him except the people he can pay off. Whether buying their votes with cheap gas, or by paying off the wives of Independence Party leadership in Monroe and Erie Counties in order to get a leg up, Jack Davis will do and say anything to get elected. The gas giveaway was tantamount to him standing on a street corner handing out lit with $50 bills attached, yet he bleats on about being a “patriot” who isn’t trying to buy an election. Monroe’s IP chair was fired for accepting what the party called Davis’ bribes. Erie’s chair is such damaged goods that even his friend Joe Illuzzi has called for his replacement.

So, Davis is left sitting at his corporate/campaign HQ, getting his spokesguy to release absolute and utter falsities. Memo to Jack: it won’t get you any more traction to tear down Powers, and no one - no one is going to change their minds and back you again. As Genesee County Democratic Chair Charlie Mallow put it,

As many other letter writers have shown, Jack Davis doesn’t know what issues matter to Democrats because….he doesn’t care to know them. During the last two elections, Jack didn’t go out and meet anyone because he wouldn’t campaign. Jack is above all that. Jack thinks that he can just buy an election with fancy two sided color mailers. I already received five of them in the mail. Rip off musical ads and buying people off with cheap gas are more of his most recent techniques. Those things don’t constitute reasons to vote for someone. Ideology and platform do.

And Davis isn’t the only one.

The Republicans also hit Powers yesterday on the War Kids Vet non-scandal.

Erie County Republican Chairman James P. Domagalski [said] “We need leaders in Congress who believe in transparency and accountability.”

Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it? For the Republican Party to interject itself into a Democratic Primary? Fascinating indeed to trot out various and sundry Chairmen of the Republican Party to comment on - well, the frontrunner in the Democratic primary.

Domagalski wasn’t such a loud proponent of transparency and accountability when it came time for Tom Reynolds to answer questions about Mark Foley. Instead, the Republican version of “transparency” and “accountability” was to issue limp denials surrounded by innocent children.

And all of this short-term-attention-span-disorder points to only one thing - the Republicans are petrified of running Chris Lee against Jon Powers.

Career politician Tom Reynolds has been suckling on the public teat since 1974, and Lee is his hand-picked suckle-cessor. Are you better off now than you were in 1989? 2000? 2004? 2006?

Alice Kryzan? She supported Reynolds monetarily and defended Hooker Chemical, the polluter/murderer of Love Canal. Jack Davis? He’s a horrible campaigner and is, frankly, easy as hell to beat (see Tom Reynolds ca. 2006). Chris “Tabula Rasa” Lee would have no problem bloodying either of these two.

The Republican Party is scared of Powers because they know their brand is tainted, they know they are bereft of ideas, and they know that they are partly to blame for the decline of the 26th District. Who has represented this district in the past few decades? Tom Reynolds? Bill Paxon? Jack Kemp? And in that time, the population loss for New York has been so stark as a result of a failure of vision and leadership that Kemp went from representing the 39th district to the 36th district, and now we only have 29. We lost 30 and 31 in the 2000 census. We lost 32 - 35 in the 1990 census.

Chris Lee has nothing to run on. Apart from his stellar maxing out of local Republican donors, I haven’t seen one story - one fresh idea come out of that campaign. I haven’t seen one positive proposal put forth that would reverse years’ worth of benign-but-pork-laden-neglect from the likes of Tom Reynolds. And what could Lee possibly know of the problems facing the average voter in NY-26? I don’t know a lot of multimillionaires for whom the price of a gallon of gas dents the family budget to the point that “staycation” has entered the vernacular. I don’t know a lot of multimillionaire scions who can really relate to the notion that New York is in a recession, the federal government can’t even get cross-border stuff with Canada right, and whose only real solution is to drill s’more.

It’s no wonder that the Republicans are petrified of Powers. That’s why, when the Form 990 for War Kids Relief -

- War Kids Relief which, incidentally, Jon Powers started up after his tour of duty in the Iraq war, and saw that Iraqi kids were ripe for the picking by jihadists to be slaughtered through attacks on American troops, decided that if the US wasn’t going to pay any attention to trying to give them hope for a future, he would try to do something. And he did. And War Kids is an ongoing concern from which he did not pay himself $66,000, contrary to the lies put forth by the 26th’s own Montgomery Burns and his stenographer, Bob McCarthy, and continues to do outreach to Iraqi kids to underscore the fact that America isn’t their enemy, but wants to help them. The effort was not only a success, but it was a noble success, at that.

- that’s why, when the Form 990 for War Kids Relief is posted, I hope that Jon Powers marches down to Republican Headquarters at the Statler Building and delivers it in-hand. And I hope that he then challenges the Republican chairs to come close to matching what Powers has done to fight for his country, to honor his home, and to try to do something - anything - to ensure that Iraq’s next generation remembers America and Americans as being their friends, their friends who helped them and cared for them, and gave them an example of what life could be, without war and oppression.

Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan issued his own response:

“I wonder how many people at that press conference put their lives on the line in Iraq. How can they criticize someone who braved the horrors of that war and then willingly returned to help the many children from families that were killed or displaced by the war?

“The fact that Republicans are intervening in a Democratic primary indicates their desire to avoid facing Jon Powers in November,” he added. “Haven’t we had enough of this swift boat sleaze?”

Why, someone might almost suspect that Davis colluded with the Republicans to hit Powers from two fronts.

UPDATE: Buffalo Bean has an image of the citation itself. Note the right margin: where it says “Defendant’s signature (If minor misdemeanor)”, at the scene, Powers refused to sign the ticket because he adamantly stated he never cursed the cop out. When he was faced with the choice of being arrested or signing the ticket, he signed it with the words “I never said that.” I never said that.

For the uninitiated and dumb, a ticket is an allegation - it is the officer’s claim that Powers said these things in a crowd. Powers denied it then, denies it now. This is why we have trials. This is why Powers pleaded no contest. Since Buffalo Bean has the ticket, I trust he also has the documents showing its disposition.

UPDATE: Here are two guys in suits calling on Jon Powers to release the Form 990 that was due today and has been filed, and will answer all of their questions. Fucking cheap stunt from two guys who probably never gave two thoughts for kids in Iraq before yesterday when the cameras were rolling.

UPDATE: Robert Harding says Davis had three attacks against Powers - youth, disorderly conduct, and War Kids money. He’s out of ammo. All that stands between Jack Davis and obscurity now is a couple weeks’ time.

Cartoon by Adam Zyglis