I am willing to bet that Rick Snowden will have this free publicity framed up on his wall:

(The pic got sloppy because it digitized all weird.)

The Buffalo News has its profile of alleged Democrat Jack Davis up today, and boy, oh, boy - is it ever a doozy. Let’s summarize.

1. Farmers should bus black inner city youth out to the country to pick the fruit and veg and tend the animals.

“We have a huge unemployment problem with black youth in our cities,” Davis told the Tonawanda News recently. “Put them on buses, take them out there [to the farms] and pay them a decent wage; they will work.”

That elicited this response:

Henry L. Taylor, head of the Center for Urban Studies at the University at Buffalo, said: “I’m not so much offended by it as I recognize it as a very dangerous kind of suggestion that seeks to turn back the clock by creating a neo-peonage system.”

2. Illegal aliens are to the US what Quebecers are to Canada.

Reducing the number of illegal immigrants is key to protecting American culture from the divisiveness that has beset Canada, Davis said.

“Canada’s had a problem with its French-speaking people. That country’s almost split up,” Davis said. “Something like that could occur here.”

Not really. Quebec is among the last vestiges of New France (Louisiana, parts of the Maritimes, and St Pierre & Miquelon) being the other major non-Caribbean remains of that empire). Quebec’s francophones are natives of that area, and have retained their distinct culture for centuries, even when shunted to second-class citizen status; a status that is partly to blame for francophone talk of secession - something which hasn’t ever happened. In any event, it’s a facile and disingenuous comparison.

3. Davis wants to return to what he calls the pre-1930 funding of the federal government - no income tax, and an almost complete dependence on import tariffs. Gee, what happened in late 1929, again? Can someone help me out?

4. Davis wants to make Bush’s tax cuts permanent - the ones that disproportionately go to the wealthiest Americans, don’t do very much at all for the middle classes - the ones really smarting from higher costs of just about everything.

5. This is among my favorite quotes. With about 40+ million people not insured for health care, and even more with bad or inadequate coverage for catastrophic ailments, Jack Davis says:

Davis dismissed health care as among the “side issues” that he hasn’t focused on in the campaign

When asked whether he prefers Obama’s or McCain’s health plan, Davis replied, “I don’t know. We’ll see what works out in Congress.”

6. Davis things solar and wind energy are too expensive and unreliable, and instead calls for more drilling for oil, especially in Alaska, and for more nuclear power.

7. Humans have not contributed to global warming.

8. On the issue of the bribes to the wives of the chairmen of the Monroe and Erie County Independence Parties, Davis does what Davis always does for his political failures - he blames his campaign staff.

In Davis’ view, the hiring of the two politically wired wives was “an investment like I’ve invested in other things, to get elected,” Davis said.

But he also concedes it was a mistake. Asked if it was a staff decision or if he knew about it beforehand, Davis said: “It was a staff decision. I knew it. Sometimes you should know to not listen to your staff. Sometimes you live to regret not saying no.”

Trying to pay off a cop to get out of an infraction is also an “investment” in no jail time, I guess. Paying off a politician for a political favor is just another “investment”.

All in all, Davis shows just how out-of-touch he is with the problems facing America, and particularly its middle class. This profile underscores why he won’t debate his opponents. It has nothing to do with phony “pledges”; it has to do with the fact that Jack Davis is a Bush Republican who, whenever he opens his mouth, says very, very stupid and silly things.

Kryzan is funny.

First, she put up a negative TV ad that used humor to mask the fact that it was, in fact, a negative TV ad.

Her latest ad recounts Powers’ charges against Davis and Davis’ charges against Powers - namely, War Kids.

During Hardwick’s debate, Kryzan was asked whether she was going to further attack Powers on War Kids. She said no “mailers” would go out. I guess Professor Hardwick forgot to ask her if any TV ads would come out, because it sure did. Her answer, although accurate, was disingenuous to the nth degree.

Note that Kryzan hasn’t put out so much as a single positive, introductory piece. And she hasn’t posted her new ad to YouTube.

Yesterday, “Upset Clarence Parent” left the following comment:

Today I witnessed the true Jack Davis. I was volunteering for Kristen Koslowski in the Clarence Center Labor Day Parade. As we were loading a trolly - which included children - I heard a large commotion and turned to see Jack Davis screaming at someone - later found out it was Jon Powers, the guy running for the same seat. The guy (Mr. Powers) had his hand extended trying to shake Jack Davis’s hand and Mr. Davis exploded, yelling and screaming for Powers to leave, at one point cursing so load it echoed in the neighborhood.

I am sorry Mr. Davis, but that is NOT how you should portray yourself in a campaign. Especially when the parade was lining up with children and women near by!

Another gentleman on our trolly witnessed the other guy (Mr. Powers) shake the hand of Alice Kryzan a few minutes before and they had friendly exchange, in a professional manner. I know they debated yesterday, but they were both at least professional.

Mr. Davis has proven himself to be completely unprofessional, and a very angry unstable person.

Happily, Davis’ complete breakdown in sanity was also captured by the Buffalo News:

Sitting behind the wheel of his gleaming black Excalibur at Monday’s Labor Day Parade in Clarence Center, Davis saw one of his opponents in the race for the Democratic nomination for Congress, Jon Powers, approaching.

Powers, who has been engaged in an exceptionally bitter battle with Davis, went up to his opponent and extended his hand — and Davis refused to shake it.

Instead, growing flustered, he simply shouted: “Get out of here!”

Powers, after persisting for a moment, simply sulked away, muttering under his breath.

“I just wanted to say hello, and he wasn’t interested in saying hello,” said Powers, who also noted that he asked Davis — who has avoided debates so far — if he was going to debate.

As for Davis, he said: “He wanted to shake hands with me — and I called him a lying politician.”

The funniest thing to me is that the guy who is running for Congress for the third time; the guy who created his own political party not once, but twice; the guy who admitted paying off the wives of the chairs of the Erie and Monroe County Independence Parties is accusing a first-timer of being a “lying politician”.

Davis need only look in the mirror to find that.

Some of you may be familiar with Joanne Capone, the woman who lists herself as “Vice President Democrats for Life of New York” and “Executive Director Capone-DeSimone Institute for Peace and Social Justice”. She is a die-hard pro-life Democrat, and notably had given money to Jon Powers only to later discover that he’s pro-choice, and Powers returned to her the money she donated. She absolutely hates Jon Powers and will tell anyone who’ll listen that she’s supporting Jack Davis (who is also, incidentally, pro-choice).

So, surfing around this morning, I noticed that the ads for Jack Davis’ phony Jon Powers attack site are now just plain old lying:

Really? Ms. Capone, would you care to comment on that? Is Jack Davis telling the truth? Have pro-lifers endorsed Jon Powers?

Coming from a guy who switched to the Democratic Party after decades of giving monetary support to Republicans, who switched because Dick Cheney snubbed him, that’s pure political chutzpah.

And this one is my favorite:

“I don’t use the term withdrawal because I don’t think we can just pick up and leave,” Powers said. “What I mean by that is we’ve gotta stay engaged economically. We’ve gotta stay engaged diplomatically with the neighbors and with the Iraqi friends we have but we also have to look at just the simple humanitarian side of this.

How on earth is that a bad position? To remain engaged economically and diplomatically after invading a country?

Jack Davis: you’re a lying asshole. But at least your lies are funny.

Hey, Alice, thanks for the shout-out today!

I listened to the show today and here are my quick impressions:

1. Kudos to Dr. Hardwick for hosting what I thought was a good, fair, and substantive debate. I also have to praise his unrelenting criticism of Jack Davis’ absence, but also bringing up how uncouth he was to not bother to call Hardwick to let him know he’d skip the debate, but making insane demands through the press.

2. Jon Powers did very well deflecting the War Kids criticism and explaining what the money was spent on and what the purpose of the group was. On substantive issues, there was a bit of fumfering at times and he began answering some questions with talking points, which doesn’t fly in that studio. Time is very tight on that show, and if you’re asked a direct question, a direct answer is necessary. Powers wanted to give explanations or get into more detail with some questions, but that just doesn’t work. I liked the fact that he didn’t return fire when Kryzan was critical of him, and his grasp of the big issues affecting the district was excellent. He was detailed and informative on the state of the wars in the middle east; he made a great point with respect to 9/11 - that the Bush administration had squandered an opportunity to call people to service rather than go out and shop. On energy and trade/immigration, he set forth an overview of the plans he’s already released calling for renewable sources of energy, breaking our addiction to foreign oil, and leveling the playing field for American workers and products.

3. Alice Kryzan also did very well deflecting criticism of her dealings with respect to Love Canal and her referring to the surrounding “hysteria”. She took some shots at Powers, which he was able to respond to, but I thought that her overall tone when talking about or addressing Powers was condescending and arrogant. She came across like a scold, and Powers didn’t take the bait. She was better at answering the short-answer questions than Powers was, being direct and then launching into whatever explanations she wanted to bring up afterwards. There were some puzzling comments of hers, for instance she mentioned how she had signed on to the “Responsible Plan” to end the war in Iraq, and no one else had. That implies that Powers’ plan is somehow off the mark, but she never said that or explained why it might be. When Powers gave a response to a question may have been long-winded, but was responsive nonetheless, she said she didn’t know what Powers was talking about. I did, so either she was trying to be cute or she wasn’t listening.

4. Davis’ absence really underscores the fact that he doesn’t care what people think, and doesn’t think he needs to answer anyone’s questions. His failure to pick up the phone and tell Hardwick that he wouldn’t show up reveals that he’s a rude, petty little man and it calls into question how responsive he might be, if elected, to constituent concerns.

I thought Kryzan and Powers comported themselves quite well, and I’d call it a draw between them.

One thing, though - Powers made it quite clear in many of his answers that they were crafted after soliciting, receiving, and considering input from people throughout the district. When asked about trade policy, he talked about his discussions with Delphi workers. When asked about immigration, he talked about his discussions with farmers. When asked about education, he drew upon his own experience, but also talked about what he had been hearing throughout the district. He isn’t imposing his views on anyone; instead, he’s listening to real concerns and coming up with solutions to them that he pledges to go to Washington to work for. Kryzan, on the other hand, seemed to me to have a need to be the smartest person in the room, an expert on everything. The only time a discussion with a voter was brought up arose during a question about soldiers being redeployed repeatedly to Iraq.

As usual, the big loser today was Jack Davis.

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.

This Sunday from 10 - 10:30 on WBEN 930-AM, Dr. Hardwick will speak with the Hamburg Sun’s Dan Meyer, and then at 10:30, the fireworks begin as the Democratic candidates for Congress from NY-26 debate.

Well, two of them will.

Kryzan and Powers are on board.

Jack Davis? His Highness the Duke of Losingham shan’t be bothered to discuss politics with the proles. He isn’t coming, and doesn’t care what you think. He doesn’t need to be bothered with pesky questions from Canisius professors, and can’t be bothered to “compete” in a “political campaign” because he has people to do that, and can pay for lit and ads.

UPDATE: And another thing. Illuzzi runs no ads for NY-26, yet he is running a cartoon that smacks Powers and Davis. Now, Illuzzi does just about nothing for free, and I strongly doubt he runs those shittily drawn cartoons for free. Illuzzi made a big deal about refusing Jack Davis’ money to smack Powers. I don’t suspect Kryzan is paying Illuzzi, either. There’s only one logical explanation.

Domagalski.

The Republicans must be paying Illuzzi to injure the Democrat they’re most afraid of running Chris Lee against, and that’s Jon Powers. Domagalski and Wojtaszek actually held a press conference a week or two ago to say very, very stupid things a couple of weeks ago, demanding that Jon Powers do exactly what he planned to do, and ultimately did.

Republicans sticking their nose in a Democratic primary race? It’s astonishing in its sheer transparent idiocy. But since they have absolutely nothing, evidently, to say or do to promote their own weak candidate, at least it kept them busy.

UPDATE: Professor Hardwick tells me that Davis’ camp isn’t even returning his phone calls, at this point.

UPDATE: To the top for the weekend.

UPDATE: From the Buffalo News in 1998, Alice Kryzan spoke on the 20th anniversary of the Love Canal fiasco. (We just this year remembered its 30th anniversary):

Alice Kryzan, an attorney who represented Hooker and Occidental, said Hooker’s waste-disposal policies in 1978 “were entirely legal and well-ahead of the industry standards of the times.”

And, she said, scientific studies have yet to prove a link between chemical exposure of people living in the area and health effects.

In the case of toxic torts, causation of injury is notoriously difficult to prove, but if you’ve got an entire neighborhood that’s located on top of a toxic site contracting some form of cancer or auto-immune disease, you need to rely on that circumstantial evidence. And although she’s a lifelong Democrat, just eight years ago, she thought Tom Reynolds was doing a bang-up job to the tune of $250.

Oh, and the real victim of Love Canal was Hooker/Occidental. Not the families who lived there and contributed to the “hysteria”.

You know, just so we’re clear.

And here, starkly, is the primary reason why I find Jack Davis not only to be so unelectable, but a reprehensible and ignorant human being, to boot.

His utter and blatant hatred of immigrants.

Maybe down in the Southwest, he’d get loads of support for his anti-immigrant rantings, and he could join the minutemen on the barricades preventing Mexicans and Central Americans from coming here and busing your tables, vacuuming your offices, and picking your vegetables and fruit. But here? If there’s a border issue that affects Western New Yorkers, it’s the ham-handed efforts of the Bush Administration to handle security at the Canadian bridges.

That’s why, when asked a question about Canadian border policy at the debate in 2006 with Reynolds, Davis instantly went on an anti-Mexican, non-sequitur rant. The only thing missing was a pejorative.

Frankly, WNY only dreams of having immigrants move here.

It’s one thing to say you want to prevent illegal immigration and build a wall to keep Mexicans out. It’s another to say,

In the latter part of this century or the next, Mexicans will be a majority in many of the states and could therefore take control of the state government using the democratic process,” Davis said in the speech. “They could then secede from the United States, and then we might have another civil war.

Yeah, sheer idiocy.

I don’t know if Davis realizes this, but this is a nation of immigrants; some recent, some not. Some came legally, some didn’t. But immigration and immigrants are - and always have been - a net positive for the United States. Immigrants don’t come here to live off our welfare state and contribute nothing. They come to work hard and make a better life for the next generation. That’s something that’s been happening since 1620. To paint them as some sort of criminal drain on the economy is simply sad. Davis said,

They have an allegiance to Mexico, where they were taught the U. S. fought an unjust war with Mexico and took this territory,” Davis said. “They believe the territory of these states belongs to Mexico.”

Davis did not name specific states that might be prone to succession.

But he appeared to be referring to Texas — which seceded from Mexico, briefly became an independent republic and then joined the United States — and the territories Mexico lost as a result of the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and much of Colorado were all once Mexican territory, only to become U. S. states after the war.

Asked this week about his speech, Davis said he no longer believed Southern states would be prone to leaving the union in order to assert Mexican control over what is now U. S. territory.

“I think they’ll do it without a civil war,” he said. “They’ll take control of the state governments and start voting themselves anything they want.”

OMG - I think I see the black helicopters hovering right now! You know what’s interesting to me? There are very many illegal immigrants who come to the states from other places that don’t speak Spanish. There are loads of illegal Irish immigrants working as cooks and bartenders and construction workers in the Boston area. You never hear these immigration alarmists talk about that. Also, Davis is running to represent a New York district. New York has only 5% of all illegal immigrants in the US - about 540,000 people, which is a mere 2.84% out of New York’s population of 19 million.

Underscoring why he won’t debate on Hardwick’s show, Davis is trying to backtrack, which is hard when you clearly harbor animus towards the subject matter:

“My remarks at the Center were designed to bring urgency to the conversation,” he said in the statement. “I believe passionately in protecting our homeland and securing our borders. If my language was hyperbolic, the danger it described certainly is not.”

In the Thursday interview where he discussed the speech, Davis said he didn’t recall everything he had said in the speech.

But among the topics he discussed in the speech was his solution for the illegal immigration problem.

“I think building a double wall long the southern border is the least expensive long-term solution to maintaining the heritage of our fathers,” Davis said in the speech on YouTube.

Even more critical, from a purely political point of view, is the fact that Davis is running to “save jobs and farms”. So, what do local farmers in the district have to say about it? Check out this exchange:

Many Western New York farmers rely on migrant workers from Mexico to bring in the crops.

After hearing quotes from Davis’ speech, John Lincoln, the president of the New York Farm Bureau, said: “The farmers overall would be really concerned about his statement.”

Told what Lincoln said, Davis replied: “He’s not a regular farmer. He’s one of these big guys . . . I’d call him a multinational farmer.”

Lincoln, 70, is a dairy farmer with 200 head of cattle in Bloomfield, a village of 1,258 in Ontario County, southeast of Rochester. Asked if he had ever met Lincoln, Davis said he had not.

Davis doesn’t listen. He has pre-conceived notions, and can’t be bothered to hear anything contrary to them. This from a guy who wants to raise tariffs, which would actually harm his own company’s ability to sell product in all the countries listed here.

Here’s Jack Davis denigrating every immigrant from Mexico who ever came to this country - legal or illegal.

Three-issue Jack is filled with Fail.

And here he is trying desperately to debate someone and failing miserably at it:

Will Jack Davis show up on Hardwick’s show to debate his opponents? I doubt it. Jack Davis doesn’t think he needs to answer for any of his ugly views. He doesn’t need to talk about his three-issue platform. He’ll just buy people to tell you about it, or he’ll try to buy your vote.

The Batavian’s take is here.

If you’re going to “leak” a script used by Powers volunteers to phone-canvass voters in the 26th District, don’t refer to it as a “push poll” unless it’s really a push poll.

If the caller identifies himself as a volunteer for a candidate and tries to get a voter to change his mind about their selection, it’s advocacy, not push polling.

Idiots.

Coming up this Sunday is a debate between the Democratic candidates for the SD-61; Michele Iannello, Joe Mesi, and Dan Ward.

Coming up the Sunday after that (August 31st) is a debate between the Democratic candidates for the 26th Congressional District.

Well, some of them.

Alice Kryzan‘ll be there. Jon Powers‘ll be there.

But what of His Highness the Duke of Bilosershire, Earl of Winningnot, Viscount of Failingham, Jack Davis? So far, he won’t be there.

Figures. After all, he can’t buy a win on Hardwick’s show.

The Buffalo News has seen them, and confirms:

Congressional candidate Jon Powers released documents Wednesday showing that he earned $15,000 from his Iraq children’s charity in the first five months of 2007 — a year in which the organization raised only $41,738.

But the Powers campaign also released a letter from Veterans for America, the huge veterans organization where Powers worked, showing that the $60,000 he earned in 2006 was tied to his job as vice president for policy for that organization, as well as the War Kids Relief effort he ran there.

“Our opponents keep trying to frame it as if Jon was trying to rob War Kids blind, and it’s patently false,” said John Gerken, Powers’ campaign manager. “The claim that he took $77,000 from War Kids is patently false.”

Davis and whoever else can paint War Kids as a failure if they’re so inclined, but the original smear was false on its face. I think definitely it helps Davis in the primary. If he hands out $50 bills with his lit. Powers has the grassroots. Davis has the gasroots.

The sad thing in all this is that Jack Davis has taken something noble, something that Powers really believed in, although it didn’t accomplish everything it set out to, but did good nonetheless, and threw it in the mud and spat on it. To me, as a voter in that district, Jack Davis has revealed himself to be worse than just a flawed candidate with ugly views. He’s human filth.

UPDATE: To all of the commenters who have done so much more than Jon Powers to address the plight of the young Iraqi kids affected by the war, here is a list of War Kids’ accomplishments under Powers’ watch:

On Friday, August 15th, 2008, Jon Powers submitted the IRS form 990 to the Internal Revenue Service to comply with filing requirements for War Kids Relief. The form shows that for the fiscal year 2007, War Kids Relief raised $41,738. Powers also made available an IRS form 990 in anticipation of fiscal year 2008 showing that War Kids Relief raised $25,000 prior to being reorganized under another 501(c)(3).

Powers also furnished a letter from his former employer, Veterans For America, detailing their involvement with War Kids and his role with both organizations. Under VFA, War Kids Relief was able to raise $68,336.

Below are the facts with regard to the financial numbers for War Kids Relief:

• Total Raised: $135,074;
• Total Spent on Salary: $18,900, of which $15,000 went to Jon Powers;
• Total Spend on Educational, Advocacy, and Service Programs: $100,303.80;
• Total Spent on overhead at VFA: $15,870.20. (20% per VFA’s government approved NICRA rate)

The $100,303.80 spent on educational, advocacy, and service programs went toward:

• Collaborating in Baghdad with UNICEF, USAID, Department of Defense personnel, the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Iraqi Child Welfare Council, and the World Bank to design a model for child care for children abandoned as a result of the Iraq War;

• Research and presentation to the RAND Corporation regarding Positive Youth Development to Deter Youth Radicalism;

• Research and publication of “Iraq’s Youth at a Time of War,” in Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies Review Journal.

• Development and pilot of the Youth Center Work Study Program with the Iraqi Minister of Youth and Sports to engage Iraq’s out of school youth;

• Development and pilot of a Youth Conference between American and Iraqi Students in coordination with Iraq Embassy personnel.

• Developing programs with Iraqi youth oriented NGO’s in Kurdistan to provide crucial links between Iraqi and American youth.

While with VFA, Powers was paid to work on the following:

• July 2005 – Started at VFA as program manager of War Kids Relief.

• May 2006 – Vice President of Policy for War Kids Relief (paired with his role as program manager of War Kids Relief)

• Generally: Provided research and program development with fellow Veterans to publicize and correct the problems facing returning soldiers and veterans. Helped develop legislation with VFA colleagues and fellow veterans.

• Summer 2006 – Witness to National Institute of Health on PTSD DSM-4 hearings.

• December 2006 – Witness to Department of Defense Mental Health Task Force under Lieutenant General Kiley. Provided research and testimony on suicidal veterans prior to the Joshua Omvig Bill.

• Specific legislation that Powers worked on:
- Lane Evans Bill requiring VA to do reports on the War.
- Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act – Extending Health Care from 2-5 years.
- Homelessness Prevention Act.

• VFA worked with Bob Woodruff on his work at ABC – To Iraq and Back

• Spokesperson on BBC, CNN, CBC, and other major news outlets

• February 2007 – Toured Walter Reed Hospital the day after the Washington Post broke the story.

• January 2007-March 2007 – VFA decides to refocus on Veterans issues exclusively and War Kids Relief becomes its own 501(c)(3).

Indifference
I don’t really give two shits whom Obama or McCain picks as a running mate.

Consider the Source(s)
I believe that the leaking of a barrage of alleged e-mails between Sam Hoyt and his former paramour(s) to embarrass Hoyt a few weeks before the election undoubtedly originates from City Hall.

When You’re a Jet, You’re a Jet all the Way
Hoyt’s “Sharks” to Brown’s “Jets” are hitting back, but for now it’s far below the radar. There are rumors being floated that if true would be, in many people’s opinion, far more scandalous than the revelation that Hoyt cheated on his wife.

Party of One
As I indicated yesterday, the State BOE now reports that Jack Davis has filed 890 pages and 6 volumes of petitions to get himself listed in November on the “Save Jobs and Farms” party ballot. I hope that each page was worth every penny.

Labels
Illuzzi is getting hammered right now on WBEN. I suspect that the fact that the News and TV media have referred to him as a “blogger” bothers him more than anything.

Erie County Independence Party Chairman Tony Orsini asks Glenn Gramigna something of a rhetorical question:

McCarthy, and others have done it again, let me ask you and your readers what is a bribe? Jack Davis paid my wife for help in a Democratic Primary, and contacts in the I.P. his name was not put up for consideration by the Chairman of Munroe County or Erie County we had an Indpendence candidate, in the race. Bribe ?Brian Higgins campaign gave the Working Familys Party $25,000.00 and received the indorsment Bribe? Chairman Tony Orsini

Setting the creative spelling aside for a moment, when Orsini was first asked about this a few weeks ago, he said:

Rafael Colon did not return a call to comment. But Anthony Orsini said his wife’s company, incorporated in Florida earlier this year, has earned the money by providing names of friendly Democrats to the Davis campaign.

“She gives him names of contacts; that’s what he wanted her to do,” Orsini said. “It’s got nothing to do with the endorsement.”

Costal Consulting South gives names to Davis of “people who are players — Democrats who have worked with the Independence Party in the past and who could be helpful,” Orsini said.

He later said,

“She gives [Davis] names of contacts; that’s what he wanted her to do,” Orsini said. “It’s got nothing to do with the endorsement.”

Why would a very well-funded (self-funded) Democratic candidate need the help of the wife of the Independence Party’s chairman to get the names of Democratic “players”? The names of big donors are readily available by getting some intern to hunt and peck through past campaign finance disclosures. The names of organizers and activists is also pretty easy to ascertain without paying Orsini’s wife’s Florida-based company $5,000. Can we see the work product that $5,000 bought?

At least the Working Families Party has a set of principles it promotes and believes in. It’s even running ads right now against Paterson’s proposed tax freeze. The Independence Party is a rudderless endorsement mill and nothing more.

On his website, two-time loser Jack Davis writes,

One more thing - I want to run on a positive campaign on my record of saving AND creating jobs, global economic experience, and a passion to give back to the country and the community that has given me and my family so much.

So I will not be the first to engage in the politics of personal attacks. I invite all the others running for this office, to join me in a pledge to the taxpayers - not to interrupt their time at home with negative TV ads or clutter their mailboxes with tacky mailers. The issues are too important, we can do better, and I hope the other candidates will agree.

The issues are important indeed, but Davis’ “pledge” is - and was - a lie.

The only criticism that the Powers campaign has leveled against Jack Davis involved his very large investments in big oil stocks, raising the question of whether it was in Davis’ personal financial interest to push for alternative, sustainable energy solutions. That is a criticism on the issues - not a personal attack.

But Davis is now a desperate candidate; Davis with all his millions couldn’t buy himself the IP line, couldn’t buy himself the support of organized labor in spite of his anti-free-trade views, and couldn’t buy himself the endorsements of the Democratic party committees anywhere in the district.

Over the weekend, I was at University Plaza across from UB South waiting for a pizza. There was a young African American guy in the plaza sporting a “Save Jobs” t-shirt with a clipboard and Davis lit. I asked him what he was collecting signatures for, and he handed me the clipboard. He explained to me that he was there on behalf of Jack Davis, who is running for “councilman” and that he wants to “save our jobs and stuff”, and the clipboard held petitions to add the “Save Jobs and Farms Party” to the ballot in November. Yes, he was being paid. So, if Jack can’t buy himself the Independence or Democratic line, he’ll buy himself a minor-party line and will undoubtedly be campaigning through and until November. Particularly amusing was the party emblem, resembling an early 20th century socialist cog symbol.

In spite of Davis’ pledge not to run personal attacks, we’ve seen an attack website made to look like Powers’ own, using a URL associated with Powers’ unpaid army of volunteers. We’ve seen the release of a ticket for disorderly conduct from 2004, which when paired with $2.00 will buy someone a cup of coffee. We’ve seen the Rovian release of stinging pseudo-information about War Kids Relief, which some mainstream media recount, replete with added-value falsity.

Even Joe Illuzzi dropped this bombshell today:

For our part: The Davis campaign offered this publication $3,000 to do hit pieces on Davis rival Jon Powers in lieu of an ad. We said, NO! A shouting match ensued between yours truly & Davis spokesman Luke Vaughan. Albeit, we believe Jon Powers is a bum

They didn’t want to buy an ad, because that would have been too obvious. Instead, they wanted to pay Illuzzi to ream Powers, but maintain the appearance that they weren’t engaging in “personal attacks”. Jack Davis likes to talk about how he’s the candidate who’ll “clean it up“. What a load of nonsense. How will he clean up Washington when he’s been running a dirty campaign?

Naturally, Davis’ vigorous, relentless attacks on Powers only underscore the fact that Powers is the one to beat, and Davis quite literally can’t get anyone to pay him any attention.

Except, of course, for the Monroe County District Attorney and the federal authorities.

You can’t call them “consultants” when all you’ve bought for $5,000 is a vote. You’ll recall that Davis listed $5,000 in payments to “Blanca Semidey” for consulting services on his financial disclosures. Semidey is the maiden name of the wife of disgraced former Monroe County IP chair Rafael Colon.

Blanca Colon was one of three members of the Monroe County Independence Party’s nominating committee to vote for Democratic congressional candidate Jack Davis back in May, but she never revealed that she was being paid by the Davis campaign, according to a party member.

The mere fact that the money was paid out in such a way as to not be obvious that it was to Mrs. Colon and Mrs. Orsini is indicative of the fact that Davis knew the payments were improper vote buying and tried to hide them. Hate to say it, but that’s a whole lot different from when Jon Powers improperly reimbursed himself for running his campaign out of his house and then repaying the money back - because there was transparency; he didn’t try to hide them.

When asked about Davis’ payoffs, the Colons (showing infinitely more class than the Orsinis) promptly quit the party.

The Colons resigned when asked about the payments. Blanca Colon received the payments under her maiden name, Blanca Semidey. Davis made payments in the same amount to the wife of Erie County Independence Chairman Tony Orsini.

Payments to both women were made public after Davis filed campaign finance reports in mid-July. Colon resigned after the payments came to light.

After initially saying the payments would continue, despite Colon’s resignation from the committee, the Davis campaign announced Aug. 8 that the payments would end.

“These are half-baked slanderous charges made at the height of the silly season,” said Joy Langley, communications director for the Davis campaign, on Monday.

If they’re “slanderous”, then I expect shortly to see a complaint filed with the State Supreme Court against the individual who replaced Colon as chair of the Monroe IP, who called the payoffs “bribes”. Oh, and it was Davis who inaugurated the silly season, so WTF.

Ultimately, I think it underscores a few things. Firstly, that Jack Davis will do and say anything to get elected. Secondly, that Jack Davis is a liar who can’t run on issues that failed him in ‘04 and ‘06, and instead figures he can bloody up the frontrunner enough that people will turn again to him. Thirdly, that electoral fusion - especially where the IP is concerned - has taken yet another blow, proving once again that it’s a fertile breeding ground for corruption and scandal.

Meanwhile, Jon Powers has released his education agenda, his energy reform agenda, his policy on trade and consumer protection, and his call to service.

I know the mantra - “you’re just posting shit about Jack Davis, why can’t you post something positive about your guy”. Aside from attacking his opponents, what has Jack Davis proposed, apart from paying off the IP and paying off people at a Rochester gas station? What has Chris Lee proposed, apart from drilling for oil in states that don’t begin with “New” and don’t end with “York”? Zip, nada, zilch.

UPDATE:

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.