UPSTATE AFLAME

The New York Post ^ | October 23, 2002 | Frederic U. Dicker

[TBP]

JUST two weeks to Election Day, Rochester billionaire Thomas Golisano has transformed Upstate into "Golisano Country" with an audaciously expensive media campaign and a tough anti-Pataki message widely seen as right on the mark.

It's a breathtaking transformation for a region that George Pataki set on fire in 1994 with a stark set of conservative proposals that produced the massive voter turnout that enabled him to defeat then-Gov. Mario Cuomo.

[TBP]

If Golisano does well enough to drop the Democrats to Row C, teh third line on the ballot, as Dicker suggests he might, the Democratic party is no longer a major party in New York and therefore under the law no longer is represented on the State Board of Elections and otehr agencies. This would be a lot of fun!

[gridlock]

If the 'Rats came in third to the Reform Party in NJ, would the NJ Supreme Court require that the Reform Party have a viable candidate on the ballot, because it is most important to maintain the "two party" system?

[spald]

"...and therefore under the law no longer is represented on the State Board of Elections and otehr agencies."

This situation would demand DemoCrap lawyers (on retainer from New Jersey).

[afraidfortherepublic]

This situation would demand DemoCrap lawyers (on retainer from New Jersey).

Or, send in the clowns from Floriduh!

[KellyAdmirer]

Golisano is causing more problems to the Democrats than the Republicans. Make him spend it all, George!

[Dutch Boy]

I live in Upstate NY and have yet to meet a single person that supports Galisano. Most think he is either mentally ill or has an ego larger than Daschle. His entire campaign is based on promises, that even if elected, he has no power to implement. May be that's why the dems like him over McCall. McCall isn't telling big enough lies.

[jjlkovacs]

Forgive me for being cynical, but what is the citation for that law? Even if the Dems dropped to Row C, they would have the largest voter registration of any party. I doubt they would be removed from the Board of Elections.

[Mr. K]

At first they were saying a vote for Golisano was a vote for McCall...
Now it is looking more like a vote for McCall is a vote for Patacki, instead of the other way around.

[hinckley buzzard]

Pataki "set them on fire " in 1994. Rodham set them aflame in 2000. Golisano is setting them ablaze in 2002--what's with these rubes? They remind me of the scarecrow, (A very flammable fool) wishing "If I only had a brain."

[hinckley buzzard]

Pataki "set them on fire " in 1994. Rodham set them aflame in 2000. Golisano is setting them ablaze in 2002--what's with these rubes? They remind me of the scarecrow, (A very flammable fool) wishing "If I only had a brain."

[TBP]

I remember reading about this in 1990 when the Republicans had the very weak Pierre Rinfret as their nominee and Conservative Party candidate Herb London was threatening to surpass him (which would have put the Conservatives on Row B at that time.) There were articles then about how this would cost the Republicans their Board of Elections jobs and other patronage.

In New York, your vote for Governor is everything; your registration numbers don't mean much.

It would be delightful to see this. Even if you're a Pataki supporter, root for Golisano to come in second. (Of course, the Dems would robably sue, but that could make things interesting too and show yet again how much contempt Democrats have for the law.)

BTW, if you have any Democrat friends who preferred Cuomo to McCall, due to the quirks of New York election law, Cuomo is still on the ballot on the Working Families Party. Urge your Demo friends to save their party from the corruption of the serial letter-writer by voting for Cuomo on the Working Families ticket. (This will help McCall finish third.)

[Marianne]

Whether it is on the macro issues of economic decay, the loss of young people to the South, runaway taxation or the starkly rising crime rates, Pataki is now widely perceived Upstate as just another tax-and-spend Albany politician.
Not only the above, but a large number of Erie County voters will not support Pataki because he signed a Gambling Compact with the Seneca Indian Nation which turns downtown Buffalo into sovereign Indian territory and also permits the Senecas to acquire additional land to build housing for their tribal members.
This land would be tax free forever and immune to state regulations. In addition, construction that takes place on tribal reservations does not have any environmental impact studies, zoning hearings, wetlands regulations etc.
The Seneca Nation determines what is and is not legal on their tribal lands.