Moderate Republicans struggle to hold on

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.

As an aside, Saratoga Springs is a lovely community here in upstate New York. Then they voted in a Democrat mayor and she wants to build low-income housing in Saratoga Springs. You can hear what's going on if you can get Andrew Wilkow's radio program.

I had no idea tht "moderate" Republicans are endangered. It seems to me that 90 percent of the Republicans are quite "moderate" to me. If not "moderate," then fearful.

"Republicans in the mold of the late Gov. Nelson Rockefeller — socially liberal and fiscally conservative."

I read this story off the AP wire this morning, and when I got to this part, I simply stopped reading. Now I'm used to liberal media spin, but this claim is so beyond outrageous and an outright lie as to say a pile of $hit is Godiva chocolate. Rocky's spending habits as NY Governor were so legendary that he made some of the most freewheeling liberal Democrats look like tightwads. Anyone who could claim a politician who shamelessly spent a cool billion taxpayer dollars at the height of a recession (that in late '60s/early '70s dollars, mind you) on the ghastly monstrosity known as the Empire State Plaza project in Albany and be termed a "fiscal Conservative" ought to be hit in the head with a shovel until the white meat shows.

As bad as McCain is, his friend Rudy Giuliani would be FAR WORSE! A pro-illegal, pro-gay, anti-gun, scumbag who was "sainted" by the media for a few good speeches after 9/11.

If 2006 becames the bloodbath that some posters here say it willl be, it would be interesting to take a body count of the casualities. Which faction would suffer more - Red Meat Conservative or RINOs?

Regardless of the casualty count, I may have to brace for another grandstanding speech by Ray LaHood and Mark Kirk on how the GOP can be the dominant party if Republicans followed their leads.

If you truly did wish to see every seat claimed by a conservative, as you say you do, you should be in total agreement with my sentiment in my statements.

Do I think it's going to happen to every moderate and liberal repblican? Of course not. Do I wish it would. You bet. Should we work towards it? Of course.

I think it's fine to call a spade a spade, and work to get them known for what they are so we can get rid of them and get true conservatives in.

No apologies here.

What's worse, a dem who's blatantly anti-gun control or a guy in your own party who chips away at your rights to own guns small pieces at a time?

At least with the democrat we won't have guys like you ripping on conservatives who criticize the mod/liberal republican because 'he's a republican and you can't attack the people in your own party'. Liberal republicans are not really republicans - the 'R' means 'liberal who just happened to be on the Republican ticket because the liberal in that race was even further to the left."

Don't friggin' kid yourself or try to yank me around. You know it's accurate in many of these instances. Too often they work against anything the repub's actually try to muster together as an agenda. They are democrats with 'R's behind their names.

that's just something the dems love to see. I know, I love it when they're too busy attacking themselves.

Today, political issues are often framed in moralistic terms. Abortion, environment, war, death penalty, homeless, etc are being fought over by two parties whose base membership follow two very different moral/religious value systems. Once Democrats and Republicans agreed on values of right and wrong but differed on the practical implementation of those values. Today, they do not agree on what is right and what is wrong. One party's base adheres to the traditional Judeo-Christian ethos while the other party's base follows a new age Enviro-Humanism. Blue Blood Republicans and Southern Democrats have found themselves alienated by their parties because they do not see their issues in moral terms. They will have to choose a side or live in irrelevancy.

I wouldn't expect one.

This is a hotly debated topic, and what you say is true about calling a spade a spade. However, reasonable people can still disagree on things, look at the opinions on this site alone, and we are ALL conservatives here. I would suspect that your definition of a conservative and mine are fairly close, but our ideas on how to achieve our goals differ slightly.

I think that you are right and I hope that conservatives can start educating the sheeple and running as conservatives. The sad truth is that alot of the Rinos are such simply out of a misplaced sense of fear of the MSM and so called independent voters.

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