Posted on 10/17/2016 9:24:48 AM PDT by shortstop
In my part of the world, Trump doesn't matter.
I've got the hat, and I'm voting for him, but it doesn't matter.
As a conservative in upstate New York, my statewide vote doesn't mean anything, it is dilluted and destroyed by teeming hordes of New York City Democrats.
So my vote for Donald Trump, just like my vote against Chuck Schumer, isn't going to move the needle.
I lose.
So I need to focus on where I can win, and where America needs me to win.
In upstate New York, particularly in that broad swath from the east suburbs of Buffalo to the west suburbs of Albany, the vote that counts is for the House of Representatives. Your vote for Congress is the one that can make a difference.
In several congressional districts, Republicans can and should win, and by so doing can bring some sort of stability to a looming presidency that could potentially be catastrophic. With Trump and Hillary vying for the White House, risks of a rogue presidency are real. He might actually be an idiot, she truly is an anti-American progressive.
And the Constitution is our only hope.
That whole balance-of-powers thing, the checks and balances, that's the only hope people like me have of the American ship of state sailing on an even keel in coming years. When the Founding Fathers conceived of a government with co-equal branches, they were thinking of times like this.
The presidency has grown far too imperial, with the current chief executive reigning like a sun king. The executive order has become the royal fiat of our day and rule of law and consent of the governed are antique phrases spoken but not lived.
And now we've got these two.
She who wants to erase our borders and he who can't focus on anything for more than 20 minutes.
And whoever's inaugurated on January 20th is going to need to be kept on a short leash.
That's where, for upstate New Yorkers, the House of Representatives comes in.
There needs to be a grown up in the room, and the closest thing we have to that is the Congress. It is essential that Republicans remain in control of the Congress. Other states will have to see to protecting the Senate, but upstate New York can help hold the House.
Not that the Republican speaker is without flaw. He is a centrist dweeb with delusions of grandeur of his own. But you play the cards you're dealt, and fate has dealt us Paul Ryan. And if Hillary or Trump are to be kept on the tracks, it will fall to the speaker of the House. Paul Ryan can have that job, or it can be forfeited to Nancy Pelosi.
And she's crazier than Trump or Hillary.
So electing your Republican congressional candidate becomes essential. That must be the upstate New York focus. Sure, put the Trump sign in your lawn, and wear the hat, and raise your voice. But the rubber meets the road with your congressional vote, and the campaign you must push along is your local congressional campaign.
Don't try talking your neighbors into Trump, it's a waste of breath and won't accomplish anything anyway. Talk to them about your Republican congressional candidate.
You can make a difference for Claudia Tenney, John Katko, Tom Reed, Chris Collins and Mark Assini.
Claudia Tenney is the true conservative in the mix, Tom Reed is my personal favorite, and Mark Assini is on the electoral bubble. John Katko is a successful centrist and Chris Collins is Trump's man in Congress. No two of them are exactly alike, yet each one of them is essential on Election Day and on that day in January when the next Congress convenes and votes for leadership.
Tenney runs a family business, serves in the Assembly and sent a son to the Naval Academy. Tom Reed is an affable former mayor who sits on Ways and Means. Mark Assini is a town supervisor trying to knock off a 30-year incumbent. John Katko is a lifelong prosecutor who has fought terrorists and gang bangers, and who has spent his two years in Washington working well with members of both parties. Chris Collins is a successful businessman, former county executive and a skilled spokesman for capitalism and business.
They are a pretty good bunch.
And they are worthy of support.
And they are upstate New York's play in this election. We can't knock off Schumer to help Republicans hold the Senate. We can't make a difference in the presidential race.
But we can hold four seats in the House of Representatives and pick up a fifth.
And that's what America needs us to do.
Yes, I'm voting for Trump. But I'm making a difference with my vote for Congress.
If Trump wins, he will need allies in Congress to help enact his agenda.
If Hillary wins, we’ll need all hands on deck to stop as much of her agenda as we can.
Is this true? Trump is a New Yorker.
Is there no hope for NYC and thus New York?
NYS is the bluest of blue states. Trump isn’t winning here. No Republican can win statewide at this point.
And, besides, carpetbagger she as she is, Hillary is “technically” a NYer as well.
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