The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

A couple of commenters say that they've seen Reed ads on TV that are anti-Pelosi, negative ads. If you're watching and see one, see if Reed says he approves the ad. If he doesn't the ads are from a third party, not the Reed campaign. Either way, I'd appreciate anyone who posts about seeing an ad, because it's interesting news if Reed is spending money on ads that he doesn't want to post on YouTube. Update: Here it is:

Here are Tom Reed's first two TV ads. Both are similar, and similar to Zeller's. The two candidates are just trying to form a positive impression and increase name recognition.

Here's Matt Zeller's first ad for broadcast, via the comments:

It's a good "get acquainted" ad. I've yet to see a Reed ad for broadcast.

This is Matt Zeller's most recent YouTube post, via the comments on the last post, and it concerns the Masonic Temple in Bath. Tim Kolpien from the Reed Campaign responded in the same comment thread, saying this:

Tom was a partner to raising more than $1 million in PRIVATE capital to restore this historic building and return it to productive use. The matching Restore New York grant has been consistently misrepresented as going to Tom personally. The grant money was applied for by the VILLAGE OF BATH, not Tom Reed. Further, the money has not even been disbursed yet.

Any assertions that Tom received any money are 100% false. This is public money and the records are public. As we have done for the last year, we challenge anyone to show one shred of evidence that this public money was disbursed to Tom. No one can produce any proof whatsoever that these allegations are true.

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Often, red herrings are in ALL CAPS when a politician drags them into an argument. As was discussed in detail when this story first broke, it's pretty easy to get a group of "PRIVATE" investors put together some money to renovate a property when the state is matching their investment dollar for dollar. This isn't the same thing as you or me risking our own money without a state match. When the check comes from the state, it won't say "Tom Reed" on it, but at some point this investor group will make a profit, and a check with Tom's name will be cut. That's the fundamental truth of the matter of the Masonic Temple in Bath -- Reed is leveraging a government program for his own profit. It's perfectly legal and pretty common. But the fact that he'd deny the City of Corning the same benefit that he gives himself is a legitimate issue in this campaign.

Reader Elmer sends this Corning Leader exclusive interview with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Eric Massa.

Massa also met with the Star-Gazette editorial board. Here's the S-G interview.

Finally, the Democratic National Committee has launched a pro-Massa radio ad campaign. Audio and text of the ad after the break:

The Albany Project has a copy of a mailer sent by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) attacking Eric Massa for his vote against the Iraq supplemental. I live in the Northern part of the district and didn't get a copy of the mailer, so it is apparently a targeted mailing.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is launching a series of robo-calls and TV ads attacking Representatives who voted to quash an investigation of Nancy Pelosi's knowledge of torture. What's interesting about the ads is that Eric Massa, who voted with his party on this one, is not included in the ads.

In fact, the list of targeted Representatives looks like someone threw darts at a Congressional directory. I can understand why Majority Leader Steny Hoyer [MD-5] was included, since the point there is merely to annoy. But Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin [SD-AL]? Her district is rated a "solid D" by Charlie Cook.

In New York, only John Hall [NY-19] made the cut, and Cook rates his district as safer than Eric Massa's, Mike Arcuri's [NY-24] and newcomer Scott Murphy's [NY-20]. In 2008, Hall beat his opponent by 18 points, compared to the nail-biters experienced by Massa, Arcuri and Murphy.

The NRCC was incompetent and ineffective in the last cycle, and this ad buy signals that we're probably in for more of the same in 2010.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is launching robocalls in the 29th which will try to link Eric Massa with Nancy Pelosi. There are also radio and TV ads, but it's not clear if any of those are going to show in the district.

Linking Pelosi with Massa is a long-time Republican strategy that didn't work out too well for Randy Kuhl. Pelosi's approval rating is as good or better than Congress' overall, it pretty much tracks Congressional Democrats' ratings, and it completely overwhelms Congressional Republicans. Republicans are between 18-30% approval, versus 43-50% for Democrats.

While the Republicans flail around trying to find an unpopular Democrat to link to Massa, unless trends change, Massa's job in 2010 will be much simpler. He just needs to point out that his opponent is a Republican.

I received this mailer [pdf] in yesterday's mail. It was created by a consortium of unions and drug companies, and it congratulates Eric Massa for voting for S-CHIP expansion.

The Hill points out that the Chamber of Commerce is congratulating Massa for his vote on the stimulus package.

Seeing the Chamber of Commerce and drug companies spending money to congratulate Massa has me waiting for frogs to fall out of the sky, peering at the horizon in search of horsemen.

Liz Benjamin has the details on a National Republican Congressional Committee radio ad targeting Eric Massa and other Democrats supporting the stimulus. USA Today notes that the ads are launched at a time when there's pretty broad support for the stimulus plan.