The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Rochesterturning has a scan of today's Corning Leader, where Emiddo Massa, Eric Massa's 80 year-old father, writes to demand an apology from Randy Kuhl for remarks made Thursday.

Mr. Kuhl is completely out of line to be making an attack on myself and my wife of 57 years. Attacking a 79 year-old woman on her parenting skills is so inappropriate that I almost can't find words.

Update: Reader Elmer sends the whole editorial page [pdf], which also includes some comments from the Leader website.

Corning-area media covered yesterday's confrontation a bit unevenly. On television, WENY has a short story that lacks the color of yesterday's WETM account. In print, the Corning Leader has a longer story in today's edition. The Elmira Star-Gazette has a story about the press conference, but it doesn't mention the confrontation. I guess the S-G reporter left before it happened and his or her editors don't watch TV.

Evan Dawson at the 13WHAM blog compares the situation to Harold Ford's in Tennessee and wonders if it will hurt Massa. Exile at Rochesterturning thinks it's not a big deal.

Update: Syracuse News 10 also has a story.

Randy Kuhl's Congressional Office and Eric Massa's campaign have issued press releases about this morning's rumble. Drill in below to read more.

Eric Massa attended a Kuhl news conference this morning to ask Kuhl about scheduling time for a debate. Things got a little heated, as this WETM story recounts.

According to the report, Kuhl, who was "visibly unamused", talked a little smack after it was over:

"That's not the way I was raised," said Kuhl of Massa's behavior. "Unfortunately, there are people who didn't have the luxury of having wonderful parents like I did who taught about parental respect."

I understand the first part of Kuhl's taunt: Massa had bad parents (i.e., "Your Momma"). The second part, about parental respect, doesn't quite make sense. Is Massa supposed to treat Kuhl like his Daddy?

Video after the break:

WETM and Syracuse's News 10 both have coverage of Eric Massa's trade plan.

Sean Carroll at 13WHAM has a nice piece about the charities and public service organizations supported by Massa and Randy Kuhl.

Eric Massa had a short press conference this morning to announce his new trade plan. The plan is available on Massa's site[pdf]

Jeremy Moule at Rochester's City Newspaper has filed his take on Monday's Boehner/Kuhl press conference.

The Corning Leader has a story on Greenpeace's delivery of 1,000 signatures to the Massa campaign asking him to fight global warming.

The anti-war protesters who occupied Randy Kuhl's Bath office last year argued their appeal in court yesterday. More coverage here and here.

13WHAM's Evan Dawson has coverage of a Republican press conference in Rochester. One piece is Amo Houghton's remarks on why Randy Kuhl is targeted. (Because he's a moderate?) The second is an interview with Kuhl and House Majority Leader John Boehner.

One point of pride in Randy Kuhl's 2006 campaign was his pledge to visit all 145 towns in the district every year. Because of last year's protests, and their attendant media attention, Kuhl changed those meetings to by-appointment-only this year. He's held a handful so far, and no more are scheduled on his town hall meeting page. His campaign website also contains no mention of the meetings.

A reader noticed this state of affairs and contacted Kuhl's office asking about meetings. He was told that Kuhl will be having more meetings if he's elected this year.

In 2006, town hall meetings were a major part of Kuhl's effort to portray himself as a "service Congressman". In 2008, they are a public relations liability that are no longer part of Kuhl's campaign.

WETM covers Kuhl's drilling ad with a pretty favorable story, including a bunch of man-on-the-street interviews. Video embedded below: