The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Rochesterturning reports that a conservative group, headed by former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, may be airing ads in the Rochester market. Freedomswatch.org is making a $15 million national buy, and according to Americablog, $187,235 will be spent on ads in the Rochester market. Four ads have been produced, and can be viewed on YouTube. Freedomswatch disputes the buy information.

After a long day at the office there's nothing better than sitting down, mixing a stiff drink, and listening to the latest robo-call:

Hello. This is a healthcare alert from Working America. Recently Congressman Randy Kuhl voted to deny healthcare coverage for almost 12 million uninsured children, and he voted to preserve big subsidies for HMOs. It's time to call Congressman Kuhl at (607) 776-9142. tell him to give back his $4,000 Congressional pay raise and start voting for children and seniors.

The bill in question is H R 3162.

Earlier this week, I got another robo-call from the "Campaign to Defend America," which is part of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, one of the sponsors of the recent protests. Like the call I received last month, it mentions a specific vote and tells me to call Kuhl's Bath office:

Hello, this is the Campaign to Defend America. I'm John Brunhn. I'm an combat Iraqi veteran. Last week, Congressman Randy Kuhl voted against giving our brave soldiers in Iraq rest time with their families, even after 15 months of combat and multiple combat tours. Call Congressman Kuhl at 607-776-9142. Tell him to stand up to Dick Cheney and Halliburton. Our soldiers deserve time with their families and should not be forgotten in this endless Iraq civil war.

The bill in question is HR 3159, which mandates that deployments of active-duty troops to combat can't occur unless the unit has had a period of rest at least as long as the last deployment. It also prohibits deployment of reserve units if the unit has been deployed during the last three years. The bill allows the president to waive the restriction in case of national emergency, and it permits individual service members to volunteer for early deployment.

The bill passed the house on almost party-line vote and is now in the Senate. Randy Kuhl voted against the bill. James Walsh in neighboring NY-25 was one of the few Republicans to vote for it.

I received an anti-war call from the "Campaign to Defend America", which is the working name for the Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, a MoveOn/Labor coalition. Text after the break:

This is a message from the Campaign to Defend America. I'm John Bruhns, an Iraq War Veteran. On July 12, your Congressman, Randy Kuhl, voted against bringing our troops home. According to Bush and Cheney, Al Qaeda is now more dangerous than ever. Your congressman, Randy Kuhl is wrong on Iraq, and wrong on terrorism. 3,000 soldiers dead, 10,000 disfigured, in a war that's costing $10 billion a month. Now, terrorism, and the War in Iraq are worse than ever. Call Congressman Kuhl at 607-776-9142 and tell him to change his vote on Iraq. We need to protect America first, instead of Iraqi politicians.

The number in the ad is for Kuhl's Bath office, even though I'm much closer to his Fairport office.

The DCCC has announced a "blitz" of ads targeting Randy Kuhl, among others, over the July 4 holiday. Unlike top-tier candidates (such as Jim Walsh in NY-25), who will be targeted by radio ads, Kuhl will be hit by "telephone calls, emails and web video".

Though the announcement doesn't say how many telephone calls the DCCC is making, when you combine the withering effect of robo-calls with emails and web video, one wonders why Kuhl won't just resign on the spot in the face of this terrific deluge.

If it's not painfully obvious, that last sentence was sarcasm. This is a nothing ad campaign that, at best, will garner a little attention in the local newspaper and promptly be forgotten.

VoteVets.org has launched a $500K ad campaign featuring retired generals critical of the war in Iraq. Randy Kuhl is one of the legislators targeted by the campaign. The first ad in the campaign, included after the break, is by Maj Gen (Ret) John Batiste. Batiste was highly critical of Kuhl in the 2006 campaign, and Eric Massa used Batiste's remarks in anti-Kuhl ads.

VoteVet's rationale for targeting Kuhl is that he is "very close to breaking with the President on Iraq". The local version of the ad will mention Kuhl's name and end with the tagline "Protect America, Not George Bush".

Rochesterturning calls this "big news". I agree.

Americans United for Change, the same group that financed anti-Kuhl radio spots last month, has produced a new ad attacking Kuhl for his Iraq War voting record. The 30-second spot, which will begin airing this week, details the number of dead and wounded in Iraq, shows a picture of Kuhl and President Bush, and ends with the tagline "Tell Randy Kuhl: after four years, it's time to end the war."

Kuhl is one of six Republicans targeted by the ad campaign. The others are Mary Bono (CA-45), Dean Heller (NV-2), Tim Johnson (IL-15), Jim Walsh (NY-25), and Heather Wilson (NM-1).

Video after the break:

Reader Rich writes to report that Americans United for Change will begin airing ads targeting Randy Kuhl in the Elmira market on Monday. The ads (listen here, script here [pdf]) charge that Kuhl's vote against HR 800, the Employee Free Choice Act, is a vote "against legislation that would help middle-class workers get ahead".

In addition to Kuhl, Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA-6) is also targeted. Like Kuhl, Gerlach's re-election was a squeaker (3,000 votes). The ads are funded to run for one week.

The Working Families Party has posted pdfs of three mailers sent (on 10/30, 11/2 and 11/3) in support of Eric Massa.

Massa has a new ad on Social Security - it's a "positive/negative" or "pivot" ad.  It starts with photos of FDR, and Massa saying that he intends to keep FDR's Social Security promise: "I won't cut taxes or raise benefits on Social Security, and Randy Kuhl knows it."  At the mention of Kuhl's name, there's a brief cut to black-and-white and a picture of Kuhl, but after making the point that Kuhl sponsored a bill to privatize Social Security, we're back in cheerful, colorful Massa-land.  Video after the break:

29th district residents are besieged by an onslaught of direct mail and robo calls. 

The Rural Patriot reports on a mailer that tells us how Eric Massa loves terrorists, hates the troops, and kicks his dog nightly.

Rochesterturning takes a look at the robo-call firm hired by the Kuhl campaign NRCC, and reports on a possible calling technique:  late night fake Massa robo-calls.