The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Rochester's Channel 10 "I-Team" has a story on the cost and use of congressional mailers.  Of the Rochester-area Members of Congress, Randy Kuhl spends the most on mailings, $136,000 in 2006.

I haven't received my copy of Randy Kuhl's stimulus mailer yet, but Rochesterturning has a scan of the piece.

Evan Dawson had a post yesterday on the illogic of pork barrel spending, where he makes the following good point:

The incongruity seems to come from those who argue that government spends too much -- but then argue that their own Representative has a duty to bring home fistfuls of cash.  They don't seem to care to inspect the validity of each earmark; it's good enough that their Representative is bringing home something.  $100k for library tags in Greece?  Sure.  $1 million for a private college that is in no financial trouble?  Why not?

Today's Messenger-Post has an editorial that takes Randy Kuhl to task for distributing a glossy flyer that essentially duplicates information sent by the IRS.  Kuhl has fired back with a press release, taking the M-P to task for some loose wording in the editorial. 

I'll let readers decide whether Kuhl's call on the factual error is right. At best, it's nitpicky.  If the M-P had added one word in the second graph ("probably getting" instead of "getting"), there would be no issue.  Otherwise, I agree with Rochesterturning that this is a well-written editorial that makes a sound basic point:  Kuhl doesn't need to send out an expensive glossy mailer that duplicates an IRS mailer containing the same information. 

Kuhl's stated justification for sending the mailer was that his office received 200 calls in February with questions.  That's a silly reason, since the IRS mailers, which cost taxpayers $42 million, didn't go out until early March.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader column [pdf] from Managing Editor Joe Dunning. Dunning thinks Kuhl is in for a tougher run this time around. Money quote:

If you consider Bush one of the worst presidents ever -- think a foreign policy like Lyndon Johnson’s (Vietnam) and a domestic plan like Herbert Hoover’s (The Depression ) -- then it would be hard to look favorably on his supporters. That’s the battle Kuhl must overcome to get back to Washington.

The same page has an Iraq editorial that mentions calls for victory and notes that "it's impossible to know now when it might be deemed a success". That editorial concludes by saing that Bush's

successor must be someone who, on March 19, 2009, will observe this grim anniversary not by looking back, but by reporting progress on a plan to swiftly end this war, bring our troops home, and engage the United States as a diplomatic player -- rather than a ham-fisted bully -- in this critical region.

This is from a conservative newspaper that endorsed Kuhl in 2006. If you want to understand how things have changed since then in the most Republican part of the 29th district, look no further.

Randy Kuhl:

Although it is vital that Iraq’s political leaders move more aggressively to reconcile the differences between the factions within their country, Iraqi leaders are slowly learning to govern and have passed several key pieces of legislation in recent months.

Washington Post:

Petraeus, who is preparing to testify to Congress next month on the Iraq war, said in an interview that "no one" in the U.S. and Iraqi governments "feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation," or in the provision of basic public services. [...]

[T]he Iraqi government also has deferred action on some of its most important legislative goals, including laws governing the exploitation of Iraq's oil resources, that the Bush administration had identified as necessary benchmarks of progress toward reconciliation.

Randy Kuhl:

Under the leadership of General David Petraeus, America’s armed forces have made significant strides in bringing stability to the region.

CBS News:

The levels of fear and animosity have not ebbed, even if the statistics seem to indicate otherwise. Reporters and camera crews still must adhere to the “15-minute rule”: stay no longer than 15 minutes in any one place. In some places, indeed many places, even that is far too long.

The exceptions are neighborhoods where a combination of concrete barriers, known as “T-walls” because of their shape, guarded entrances and the presence of Iraqi security forces backed up by and under the close watch of U.S. troops make it safe to spend time. There are more than a few of those now.

Baghdad is no longer so much a capital city as a jigsaw puzzle of uni-ethnic zones.

Randy Kuhl:

And most importantly, our troops are coming home knowing that their efforts are leading to victory.

BBC:

Gen Petraeus was keen to emphasise that the ongoing unrest in Iraq is not something he expects to be resolved overnight.

"Northern Ireland, I think, taught you that very well. My counterparts in your [British] forces really understand this kind of operation... It took a long time, decades," he said.

Eric Massa has an op-ed about the budget in today's Corning Leader [pdf].  There's also an interesting editorial on Obama from a pretty conservative newspaper.

Tom Reynolds' retirement caused a political consultant to tell WHAM-13 that a three-office sweep could be possible for Democrats in Western New York.

The NRCC's cash on hand at the end of February is down $1.3 million.  They have $5.1 milllion, compared to the DCCC's $38 million.  The only bright spot for the NRCC is that retiring members are donating part of their campaign chests to the NRCC.

According to media reports, Tom Reynolds (NY-26) will announce his retirement today.  This leaves Randy Kuhl as the only incumbent Republican running in Western New York.  Reynolds' retirement is late and unexpected, and it probably means another drain on the budget of the NRCC, since Reynolds was a reliable fundraiser.

In 2006, the Rochester media market was crowded with ads from Tom Reynolds and his self-financed opponent, Tom Davis.  Reynolds was also able to garner a significant amount of free press coverage due to his party standing, including a visit from Laura Bush.  Without the presence of Reynolds and Jim Walsh (NY-25), the 29th race might be the best-funded and most-covered campaign in the Rochester area. 

Eric Massa, Jon Powers (NY-26 candidate) and Dan Maffei (NY-25 candidate) held a joint press conference this morning to discuss the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War.  Massa also held an individual conference later, which was covered by Rochesterturning.

In more general coverage, the Messenger-Post has a long look-back on the war which mentions Kuhl and Massa. 

A new site, responsibleplan.com, has launched to publicize the new Iraq exit plan co-authored by Eric Massa, nine other Democratic congressional candidates, and four military experts.  Besides an exit strategy that is based on Iraq Study Group recommendations, the plan also addresses humanitarian issues, the restoration of Constitution-guaranteed checks and balances, restoring the military and the independence of a free press, and changing energy policy.