Here. Let me help.
Posted on 05/30/2006 12:02:52 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Moderate Republicans are off and running in the summer horse racing town of Saratoga Springs and other upstate New York cities, struggling to save their jobs and a dying political breed.
In a party dominated by conservatives, the last of the Northeast GOP moderates face several daunting election-year trends, including a strong top of the Democratic ticket in statewide races and growing discontent with President Bush, the Iraq war and the Republican-controlled Congress.
New York has always preferred its Republicans in the mold of the late Gov. Nelson Rockefeller — socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
"We don't send right-wingers to Congress," said Republican Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (news, bio, voting record), whose retirement after 12 terms creates a competitive open seat in central New York.
Rockefeller's tenure as governor ended in 1973, his brief, Watergate-generated time as Gerald Ford's vice president in 1977, and while the notion of "Rockefeller Republicans" lived on, the number of GOP moderates has dwindled some 30 years later.
In states such as Connecticut, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, moderate Republicans are trying to remain more relevant than other '70s icons like disco music and white suits. Eight Republicans in those states are facing tough races.
In New York, a half dozen House incumbents are fighting off Democratic attempts to fuse them to Bush, whose approval rating stands at just 22 percent in the state. They hope that the party can get past its internal feuding to settle on candidates for senator and governor, and avoid no-shows at the polls in the fall.
"Getting out the vote is going to be critical, and we anticipate turning the spigot on 100 percent because in these congressional races that's going to be key," said Bob Smith, the Republican chairman in Onondaga County.
Dominating the election ballot are two Democratic heavyweights — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is seeking a second term, and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the favorite in the governor's race. Three-term Republican Gov. George Pataki, his eyes on the White House, decided not to seek another term.
Polls show Clinton and Spitzer with large leads over their little-known Republican rivals in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 2-to-1. In addition to two Democratic senators, Democrats hold 20 House seats to nine for the GOP.
The state GOP worries that economic setbacks coupled with the statewide realities could give Republicans little incentive to vote on Nov. 7.
"I'm extremely pessimistic," said Todd Finzer, a 38-year-old employee at a Greece, N.Y., sign company in a region hard hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs. "I feel like we're walking on a razor, that's what it feels like. It's just a house of cards ready to go boom."
The father of five and self-described Christian conservative voted twice for Bush but doesn't support him now.
"Ever since I was young, I was conservative, and I'm sloooowly listing to the left," said Finzer, who said he's unsure who he'll vote for this year or if he'll even bother.
A prime target for both parties is Boehlert's open seat in New York's 24th Congressional District, which includes parts of the Finger Lakes and the cities of Utica and Rome. Among Republicans, state senator Raymond Meier leads the field, while Democrats have settled on Oneida County district attorney Michael Arcuri. The primary is Sept. 12.
Teacher Jonathan Parks of Cortland, N.Y., said he would vote for the candidate most like Boehlert.
"I thought he handled himself very well. I thought he voted not only his party but he voted his conscience," said Parks, a registered independent who usually votes Republican.
In the bedroom communities around the state capital of Albany, four-term Republican Rep. John Sweeney (news, bio, voting record) faces a tough challenge from lawyer Kirsten Gillibrand. The Democrat has tried to appeal to the older generation of Rockefeller Republicans.
"They don't agree with this administration at all. They don't agree with the lack of fiscal discipline. They don't agree with the right-wing agenda on social issues," Gillibrand said in her bid for the 20th Congressional District seat.
Sweeney recently enlisted the help of Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona, the White House hopeful who brings star power but none of the baggage of Bush. At a fundraiser not far from Saratoga's famous racetrack, McCain warned of a tough election season and said the threat to Northeast moderates could drive a geographic wedge through U.S. politics.
"I believe the Republican Party should be a national party not a regional one," McCain said.
Democrats ridiculed Sweeney about a month ago when the 50-year-old father of three showed up at a college fraternity party at 1 a.m.
Dave Hill, a Democratic-leaning voter from Ballston Spa, said he thought the criticism was a cheap shot. Of greater concern, Hill said, is how much longer U.S. troops will be in Iraq.
"I'm not totally against the war personally, but at some point I'd like to see a plan of how to get out of there," Hill said.
The wild card in the Sweeney race is the congressman's health. He was hospitalized in February with life-threatening high blood pressure and inflammation of blood vessels in his brain. He has undergone further medical tests but now declines to discuss his health.
In the western part of the state, four-term Rep. Tom Reynolds, who also heads the national House Republicans' re-election effort, faces a repeat challenge from businessman Jack Davis. The 26th Congressional District, which includes suburban Buffalo and Rochester, has lost many manufacturing jobs.
Davis favors trade protectionist policies for U.S. industry. The argument about the economy may get more intense as auto parts maker Delphi Corp., the largest employer in Niagara County, tries to work its way out of bankruptcy.
Delphi has said it intends to keep open its plants in the county and in nearby Rochester. However, the largest Delphi union is preparing for a possible nationwide strike to defend jobs and wages.
Other incumbent Republicans drawing more heat from Democrats this year are Rep. Randy Kuhl, a first-term lawmaker who won 51 percent of the vote in his Southern Tier district that includes Elmira and Corning, and Rep. Sue Kelly (news, bio, voting record), whose Hudson Valley district north of New York City has changed demographically due to an influx of liberals from the city.
In his Syracuse-based district, nine-term Republican Rep. James Walsh (news, bio, voting record) also is under siege. GOP officials argue that voters will stick with the longtime moderate Republicans they know despite the national trend.
"I think everyone's getting a very clear message that this war is wearing thin, but I don't hear people telling me Jim Walsh is responsible for going to war," Smith said.
No, she's also talking about gay marriage, open borders, gun control, campaign finance (free speech) restrictions, etc., etc.
Houghton leaves, now Sherwood B. Good buy, good riddance. Their replacements are nothing to write home about either, but are better overall than both of them. We really need to get the Right to Life Party back on the ballot in NY.
This is why I see moderates (or RINO's) as being mostly brainless - you can't be socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Being socially liberal involves spending lots of taxpayer dollars to try to fix real or preceived problems with government solutions, more often than not with lousy results. You can cut taxes all you want, but if you continue to spend money like crazy there will eventually be economic collapse (which is what is happening in NY state at this time).
They should use a spell-checker. They keep spelling "democrat" wrong.
"Ever since I was young, I was conservative, and I'm sloooowly listing to the left," said Finzer, who said he's unsure who he'll vote for this year or if he'll even bother.
Sounds like he'll vote for whoever has the best tasting kool-aid.
The story now may be that some of the people Republicans have come to count on in the "blue states": Catholics, Evangelicals, younger voters, just aren't so keen on Bush or the party just now.
As the GOP becomes the voice of the "red states" it alienates some Northeastern voters. I don't think it's so much a matter of ideology as it is of style and personal affinities, but the administration's difficulties do a lot to make things worse.
One thing to bear in mind, though, is that in some states, like Rhode Island or Massachusetts, a regular party Democrat candidate may very well be more conservative on social issues than a Republican. So politics there can be more of a pick and choose, "vote the man not the party" affair than in other parts of the country.
At least then there'd be a clear-cut opponent if the dems di win these states. With moderate or liberal repubs, you'll just hear the tired old argument we shouldn't oppose them because it'll be repubs 'attacking their own'. Not to mention the apologists for the lib repubs saying 'well they were ELECTED, weren't they?'
Here. Let me help.
"socially liberal and fiscally conservative"
"Since all these "social" issues cost us so much money - how can you be?"
Liberals love to spend money!!!!!!
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
OK. FDR
Name three more.
LOL
Gooberment skuuls.
You said: "The RINOs still have most of the money, though. That's how they hold on."
The money goes to buy ads in MSM. We should ask the whining MSM why they keep writing about incumbents' lock on power when it is MSM's fault that they don't do their already paid for job "informing and educating" us, "the great unwashed" about the candidates for free. Info that used to be called NEWS paid for by their commerical advertisers!!
I for one will never vote for a democrat with the current Democratic national platform in place, nor a RINO either.
New York is circling the drain. There are reasons why. A partial list includes high taxes, an unfriendly business climate and decades of Liberalism - from both Parties.
Current bid: 45.4, down by 2.1 from yesterday. I wonder if the Paulson nomination for treasury had anything to do with today's big fall. W is on a roll!!
Thanks goodness I don't see as much of this on FR as I have in the past several months, and hopefully it will disappear by November.
Just take a deep breath and close your eyes and picture...
President Gore/Kerry with a Democrat Congress, two ultra liberal justices installed on the Supreme Court, no war on terrorist Islam, tax INCREASES, no controlling legal authority, gay marriage as the law of the land, babies being grown and harvested for "research", Iraq with nukes, the Taliban blowing up a few more statues, etc, etc.
The thought of that future ( which is still HIGHLY possible ) is what should keep us from letting your rant become reality. As much as I would like to see true conservatives occupying every office in government, there are still enough impressionable folks out there for that to happen this election.
We need to remember this and keep on working toward what we know is right. Unfortunately this democracy thing means that, as much as we know what is right and good, we have to move toward our goal in increments.
I think that's your tip off to knowing that either this "reporter" is lying his a** off, or that this person is a total idiot who either a) never voted Republican or b) did so for reasons that humans with an active cerebral cortex will never understand.
Anyone who says that they are sloooowy listing to the left, obviously needs a long session on the couch.
Well said.
What is it with the spoiled loser crowd, anyway?
I think you can make a tentative case for gay marriage, in the form of "civil unions" but as for the other issues - no. There are many erstwhile Democrats that agree with Conservatives on these issues, including urban Catholics and Orthodox Jews, private sector union members, and farmer owners. That Congressional Republicans have proven unable to expand their party's ranks is testimony to the siren song of political power and the shortsightedness of human nature: both of which Democrats count on to expand their own ranks.
In short, Republicans fell into the same trap that Democrats did in the 1970's: they first promoted, and then came to believe their own BS. The difference (and potential advantage for Republicans) is that Democrats continue to believe their BS. The larger problem is that too many Republicans in Congress have come to view principles as career-limiting moves, and have promoted BS as the lingua franca of politics as much as any Democrat ever did.
>>
At least then there'd be a clear-cut opponent if the dems di win these states. With moderate or liberal repubs, you'll just hear the tired old argument we shouldn't oppose them because it'll be repubs 'attacking their own'. Not to mention the apologists for the lib repubs saying 'well they were ELECTED, weren't they?'
>>
What exactly does this mean? Does it mean you'll be irritated to hear tired arguments? Yes. It does, because that's what you said.
Tell me, how does your irritation stack up against gun confiscation? Which would you rather endure?
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