Posted on 11/02/2012 9:58:58 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
It's down to the final days of a big-spending, combative race between Rep. Nan Hayworth and Democratic challenger Sean Patrick Maloney, each courting voters in a redrawn district by portraying themselves as moderate and bipartisan and their opponents as extreme or untrustworthy.
Hayworth, a Westchester County Republican who unseated John Hall two years ago in another hard-fought race, has spent much of the campaign on the defensive, fending off Maloney's portrayal of her as a tea party extremist bent on replacing Medicare with a voucher program, cutting off aid to Planned Parenthood and lowering taxes for the wealthy.
But her campaign also has gone after Maloney with increasing intensity, portraying him as a carpetbagger and "political operative" with questionable dealings in his past.
Maloney, an attorney who worked in the Clinton White House and the administrations of Govs. Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson, zeroes in on Hayworth's support for the long-term fiscal plan crafted by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential candidate. He calls Ryan's budget a "radical document" and argues that Hayworth's endorsement of it discredits any claims of moderation on her part.
"The question is whether we want to go forward with a Bill Clinton Democrat, or someone who's being dragged along with the most extreme elements of the tea party," Maloney said in an interview. "If there are other issues where they're more extreme than she is, I don't think that should make us feel better in the Hudson Valley."
Although Medicare has dominated the debate, Maloney drew attention to Ryan's proposal to rein in Medicaid spending by distributing money to states as block grants and giving them more flexibility in how they spend it. He argues the impact would be devastating for New York and poor people who need the program for health care.
"This is going to create a multi-billion-dollar problem, as high as 10, 20 billion dollars for any governor of New York," he said. "You'd never be able to pay for the current Medicaid program if you block grant it and send it back to the states."
In an interview Thursday, Hayworth replied by pointing to the nation's looming debt crisis, worsened by "trillion-dollar-plus" deficits in the past four years. Issuing Medicaid block grants would lessen that problem and give states an opportunity to "innovate," she said.
"We have to find smarter ways of accomplishing the goals that we have set for ourselves," Hayworth said. "We do have to find ways to manage the federal budget."
Asked about the potential impact on New York, she said the transition must be made with "sensitivity to the needs of those who are most vulnerable" and in collaboration with social service agencies.
Hayworth defends Ryan's budget by saying it's merely a blueprint that outlines only gradual belt-tightening.
"This is a rational, compassionate budget," she said. "Why do I say that? If you look at the budget "» it doesn't balance until 2037, roughly. Now, that is not a radical budget."
Maloney summarizes his own approach to fiscal matters by saying, "We can balance the budget the right way. We can grow our way through this together, without destroying the middle class, without destroying programs that have worked well for half a century."
Residency issue
Part of Hayworth's critique of Maloney revolves around his residency. Maloney, who has homes in Manhattan and Sullivan County, bought a small house in Putnam County — inside the future 18th Congressional District — in May, while running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Hayworth. He says that's where he has lived while campaigning.
Hayworth's campaign recently challenged his claim by pointing out that the deed to the Putnam County house hadn't changed hands. Maloney's campaign responded by supplying an affidavit from a title company agent, who said she forgot to register the transaction with the county clerk after the closing, but has now done so — an explanation Hayworth scoffs at.
"And the dog ate the homework," she said.
Her campaign has linked the residency issue with elements of Maloney's professional background to question his integrity. Most recently, it ripped him for ties between a software company he helped run after leaving the White House and Enron, the giant energy company that collapsed in 2001 in a massive fraud scandal.
Maloney shrugs off the Enron attack, saying his business, Kiodex, made risk-management software, and Enron was merely a customer.
"Frankly, I think it's the kind of thing you do when you get desperate," he said of the charge.
Hayworth counters that the questions her campaign has raised about Maloney suggest a disturbing pattern.
"There's a fundamental issue of honesty and integrity," she said.
I hope she wins, despite her flaws.
I won’t mention her flaws, because, on cue, the flaw-finding crowd will show up in a New York minute.
you needed to put (NY-18) after the title of the article in the post above. ppeeples do not know what this is. Hayworth is some guy from AZ and Maloney is that lib lady down in NYC
Yes it gets confusing. Like Sterven King from Iowa and Peter King from Long Island. At least as far as the House, we got a pair of Kings ;)
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