The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

The DCCC has added a web ad to its campaign highlighting Randy Kuhl's present vote on Iraq funding. It will also field a new robo-call from General Wesley Clark:

Hi, this is General Wes Clark, calling on behalf of the DCCC.

Congressman Randy Kuhl had the opportunity to stand up for our veterans.

Instead he voted against expanding the GI bill for the first time since World War II to provide a free college education for veterans.

That's leaving our veterans behind.

Call Randy Kuhl at 607-776-9142 and tell him to stand up for our troops and our veterans.

Paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

The web ad is embedded below:

Update: The DCCC released a Kuhl-specific version of the ad.

The DCCC and Americans United for Change ads are embedded after the jump.

DCCC Radio Ad:

Download mp3 (1.4MB)

Americans United TV Ad:

Randy Kuhl's vote against the new GI Bill will be the target of a just-announced ad campaign from Americans United for Change. Details of the campaign have not been released. In the past, these campaigns have been long on press releases and short on media buys, but they usually garner a story in print or on TV. I'll embed the ad once Americans United releases it.

The Massa Campaign has released a new YouTube ad about the Iraq War to commemorate the anniversary of "Mission Accomplished". The ad is interesting because it hits both the real cost and the opportunity cost of the war, two issues which will no doubt be on center stage during the campaign this fall.

My wife received a mailing [pdf] today from the Healthcare Education Project, a joint venture of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA).  The four-page glossy mailer urges the reader to "write Congressman Kuhl today and urge him to vote against President Bush's proposed healthcare cuts".  A list of cuts for 29th District hospitals is displayed prominently on the second page of the piece.

The attached postage-paid return card is addressed to the union, which is a round-about way to "tell Congressman Kuhl" anything.  I assume the mailing was targeted at women, since my wife isn't a union member or healthcare activist.

Unless you've been hiding in a cave, you know that the New York State Presidential primary is tomorrow.  I've contributed a guest post to Rochesterturning in support of Barack Obama, and you can view Obama's latest ad after the jump. 

The New York Democratic Party has a special webpage full of information for Democrats.  There doesn't seem to be a similar page for Republicans. 

For those interested in an overview of polls, there's an excellent post at pollster.com which summarizes the recent history of every poll in every Super Tuesday state in one easy-to-read chart.

With favorite son Rudy Guliani out of the running, Randy Kuhl has officially endorsed John McCain.  Eric Massa is tacitly supporting Senator Hillary Clinton. 

I received the following robo-call yesterday:

This is an urgent message from American Family Voices at 202-293-1128. Congressman Randy Kuhl voted for a $13 billion Christmas present for the oil industry in the way of tax giveaways.  Meanwhile, Congressman Kuhl has taken thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the oil industry.  Why, with oil prices over $100/barrel, and gas prices on their way to $4/gallon this year, why in heavens name should Congressman Kuhl be giving tax giveaways to big oil?

Call Congressman Kuhl at 607-776-9142 and tell him we should be helping Americans at the pump and not rewarding big oil.

WETM, Channel 18 in Elmira, also has a story on the call.  By my count, this is the fourth robo-call from this group.  Other calls concerned unsafe toys, S-CHIP and war with Iran.  According to the non-partisan Public Citizen organization, American Family Voices is a 501(c)(4) funded mainly by AFSCME. 

I received another robocall call earlier this week:

Hello, I'm calling from the Campaign to Defend America.  Congressman Randy Kuhl needs to be honest with the American people. US intelligence agencies have revealed that Iran stopped building nuclear weapons four years ago.  Congressman Kuhl, George Bush and Dick Cheney were wrong about having [?] to bomb Iran, just like they were wrong about invading Iraq.  Call Congressman Kuhl at 585-223-4760  and tell him to stop pushing us into wars based on lies.

Update:  Reader lean, who considers these calls harassment, sends along the full contact information for Campaign to Defend America:

Campaign to Defend America, Inc.
1825 "K" Street NW
Suite 400
Washington DC 20006

Phone (202) 454-6200 main
(202) 263-4528 (direct)
(202) 263-4530 (fax)

info@iraqcampaign.org
www.noiraqescalation.org

Reader Elmer sends a story from the Corning Leader [pdf] about Randy Kuhl's appearance at the dedication of the community center in Addison.  This example of retail politics is one of the many examples of the natural advantages of incumbency. 

Another is the high-quality four-color foldout [pdf] I received earlier this week from Rep. Kuhl's office.  This mailer, produced and mailed at taxpayer's expense, is an example of the power of the franking privilege.  Each representative uses their franking budgets in different ways.  Before I was gerrymandered out of Louise Slaughter's district (NY-28), I used to receive her mailings, which were more like a cheap newsletter than Kuhl's polished document.  As of 1997, each Member of Congress' franking budget was $112,000, a number which has probably been adjusted for inflation in the last decade.

I received the following robo-call earlier this week.

Hello.  This is a call from American Family Voices,  202-293-1128.   Congressman Randy Kuhl has allowed China to import unsafe products to our nation by underfunding our inspection agencies and allowing corporations from around the world to import goods to America without proper oversight.  Pet foods that harm pets.  Toothpaste that contains antifreeze.  Even children's toys that use lead paint.  While our trade deficit soars, and the holiday season approaches, Congressman Kuhl's unsafe products keep coming in from China.  This is dangerous, and it's costing us thousands of middle-class jobs and putting our children at risk.  Call Congressman Kuhl at 607-776-9142 and tell him to put America first.

This is the third set of robo-calls from this group.  S-CHIP and possible war with Iran were the subjects of earlier robo-calls.  According to the non-partisan Public Citizen organization, American Family Voices is a 501(c)(4) funded mainly by AFSCME.