The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

I wasn't able to make today's Massa press conference, but WXXI already has a story up.

This is only peripherally about NY-29, but I think the NY-26 campaign taught a lot of people some hard lessons that are applicable to most political campaigns. I'll bury my thoughts after the break for those only interested in NY-29.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story [pdf] on Randy Kuhl's new health care plan. The text of the entire plan is posted on his campaign website.

I am here at the WHAM-13 (CW-16) studios, and since there's nothing going on in the 29th, all attention is on the neighboring 26th district. So far, the highlight of the night is Evan's reference to Jack Davis' big swinging wallet.

10:05 PM - The news here is bad for both Jon Powers and Jack Davis, who proved the political adage that negative campaigning hurts your opponent and it hurts you. Alice Kryzan, a relative unknown who spent a fraction of the cash that Davis and Powers spent, apparently beat them both.

10:14 PM - Dale Volker, in SD-59, is facing a strong challenge from his Republican opponent. Kathy Konst, the Democrat endorsed by Tom Golisano's Responsible New York, seems to be winning running away.

10:20 PM - Evan was trying to get me to say that Jon Powers was a terrible, terrible, terrible candidate. I believe this, but I just can't bring myself to say it on the TeeVee. Powers' response to the War Kids Relief accusations was to essentially ignore it. For every ten press releases from the Massa operation, the Powers campaign sent out one. Powers raised 900K and I'm sure he wishes that he spent more of it.

10:31 PM - The Powers' loss probably sinks the possibility that Massa, Powers and Maffei will campaign together. Synergy is always overrated, but I thought there were some possibilities.

10:39 PM - The schadenfreude countdown begins -- we're waiting for location video of disappointed Powers supporters.

10:41 PM - Sean Carroll just ran a story that was all about the personalities in the 29th race. There are two strong personalities in the race, and they're worth covering, but Rochester media's need to cover 4 Congressional Districts often means that Rochesterians don't hear about the issues.

Today is primary day. There is no primary in the 29th Congressional District, but on the off chance that some of my political junkie readers missed it, there are New York State Senate primary contests in two districts in the 29th.

There are Republican and Democratic primaries in New York State Senate District 59, which contains all of Wyoming County, and parts of Erie, Livingston and Ontario Counties. Democrats Kathy Konst and Timothy Pawarski are running, as are Republican incumbent Dale Volker and challenger David DiPietro.

There are Republican and Conservative primaries in SD-62, which covers Gates, a tiny bit of Rochester, Orleans County and part of Niagara County. Republican Brian Grear is doubling down by challenging incumbent George Maziarz in the primary, as well as in the general: Grear also filed petitions for the Democratic line. Conservative Donald Hobel is challenging Maziarz for that line.

I'll be appearing with some other local bloggers on Rochester CW-16's primary night show tonight between 10 and 11 P.M. The show is a combination of primary-night reporting and pre-general analysis, and the bloggers will be talking about the impact of blogs on local politics. I will probably also be writing a post on the impact of primary results on the election in the 29th. 13-WHAM and CW-16 share the same news team.

As reported earlier, Greenpeace is bringing a solar demonstration vehicle to the Southern Tier. The vehicle will be on display at Watkins Glen, Clute Park/Lakeside (by Route 414) tomorrow, between 4-6 P.M.

The Massa campaign has a new ad attacking Kuhl's energy plan, embedded after the break.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader Opinion Page [pdf] with Bob Rolfe's Insider column. Rolfe mentions the Massa point that only the President can recall Congress, as well as Randy Kuhl's votes against renewable energy.

The Leader also give Kuhl and Massa a "grin" for talking about Social Security.

Despite promises to the contrary, the House leadership has decided that it won't bring another Supplemental Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) vote to the floor before the election.

If you search for S-CHIP on this blog, you'll find that discussion of an increase in funding and coverage for that program dominated the press last Fall. Eric Massa and Randy Kuhl battled over the bill with press releases and mailers. President Bush vetoed it twice, and the House failed to override those vetoes.

The S-CHIP "compromise" that finally passed at the end of last year extended the current program until March, 2009. Though it was promoted as a temporary measure, today's move by the House leadership indicates that last year's vote was a surrender, not a compromise.

S-CHIP began as a modest increase to a popular program which had some bi-partisan support (at least in the Senate). It morphed into a major ideological fight that dragged in issues of immigration and fiscal responsibility. I don't see it as a "win" for anyone. Democrats look impotent, Republicans look like obstructionists, and a huge amount of time and voter attention was wasted on an issue that ultimately wasn't solved.

S-CHIP is also a cautionary tale. Despite almost certain Democratic gains in the House and Senate, it's highly unlikely that either body will have a veto-proof majority. Unless Democrats also win the White House, we could be looking at four more years of S-CHIP style stalemate on issues of health care, energy and the economy.

The Messenger-Post has a tough editorial about the Massa campaign's attempt to tie the demise of a trucking company to Randy Kuhl. It also calls Kuhl's energy plan a "fantasy plan".