The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

13WHAM's Sean Carroll has posted a blog entry about the energy plans of the two candidates in the 29th. WHAM has also posted raw video of his interview with Kuhl and with Massa.

Today's Massa press conference concentrated on his just-released energy plan [pdf], as well as his position on our precious children.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story about $1.2 million in grants awarded in Steuben County. Randy Kuhl, who had nothing very little to do with the grant (except perhaps voting for the HUD authorization that created the grant program) gets his due notice in the story, as he does for all money that flows into the Southern Tier.

In contrast, Kuhl also announced a grant for the Monroe County Airport. Nary a peep from the Rochester press on this one.

Here are some recent items in national blogs that are at least peripherally related to the 29th:

The Politico's Crypt blog, which follows Capitol Hill, has the details on offshore and ANWR drilling. Offshore drilling would add 1.6% to our oil supply decades from now. ANWR would knock 5% off the price of oil 12 years from now.

Liz Benjamin of the Daily News has a story about last night's Rangel fundraiser. Eric Massa was one of the recipients. Republicans are trying some guilt-by-association because Rangel has been accused of a couple of minor ethics violations.

Finally, House Republicans have been holding protest sessions on the darkened House floor, demanding that Congress be called back into session to debate a Republican energy bill. John Boehner, the Minority Leader, apparently doesn't share that concern. According to the Crypt, he's been golfing in Ohio this week.

Larry Wilson of the Elmira Star-Gazette has a story covering the same territory as today's Corning Leader story on energy. So does Bob Clark at the Hornell Evening Tribune.

Both Clark and Wilson are good reporters. But in this case, I think Joe Dunning's Leader story is a fair bit better than the pieces they filed. The reason is simple. Rather than structuring his story as a he said/he said, and using Massa and Kuhl quotes to tell the story, Dunning summarizes the positions of both candidates and presents those positions in a dispassionate, factual way.

In other words, Dunning writes it as a policy story. Wilson and Clark write it as a controversy story. They use transitions like "The congressman criticized his opponent" or "Massa fired back". Those transitions take up space and also commit the writer to look for quotes that fit the controversy narrative. Dunning doesn't have to push the controversy rock up the hill, so he's free to put more facts and less friction into his story.

Some might argue that the controversy angle makes the story more interesting and therefore will sell more newspapers. I disagree. I think readers who aren't inclined to read about politics aren't going to read political stories, no matter how they're written. By focusing on the controversy and shorting the reader on facts, newspapers turn off the readers who want to learn more about policy.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not holding myself up as a shining example of good writing. And I realize that being a local newspaper reporter is a very hard job. These guys have to cover a wide variety of stories, and they do so under deadline pressure.

So, I'm not running down hard-working professionals. I'm just saying, "more of this, please."

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader front page [pdf] (and jump [pdf]), where Randy Kuhl and Eric Massa agree that Congress should be called back into session to deal with the energy crisis.

The article is a good comparison and contrast of both candidates' positions on energy. Massa has refined his position on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: he supports a plan to releasing light crude oil from the reserve and replacing it with heavy crude, which is more appropriate for the military. Kuhl voted against HR 6578, which contained that change.

Kuhl adds a new position. Countering Massa's claim that domestic oil could be sold abroad, Kuhl proposed a bill that would prevent the foreign sale of domestic oil. Those who believe that such a bill could work might want to check this out.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader editorial page [pdf], which contains Managing Editor Joe Dunning's column about oil and the election.

Dunning's point is that Randy Kuhl may have an edge because Democrats have not taken action on a comprehensive energy plan, and they don't have a short-term strategy. Much of what he says makes sense. Even Nancy Pelosi's own summary of Democratic action looks pretty piecemeal.

Dunning's also right to say that taxing big oil won't lower the price of gas. However, Obama's recently released plan to use the oil tax to pay for a $1,000 rebate to taxpayers shows a clear connection between oil taxes and consumer relief.

But Dunning's mistaken when he classifies oil drilling as a short-term solution, and contrasts it with the new fuel mileage standards, which won't kick in until 2020. He's right that the deadline for the fuel mileage standards is too far in the future. But the drilling advocated by Republicans won't come on line until almost 2020, either.

Once you separate spin from reality on the drilling issue, it turns out that there's no short-term solution to the high price of gas. That's a politically unpalatable truth. If Democrats had a bold long-term plan, I think they'd be in better shape politically. But Randy's not going to win this election promising to drill. That one-trick pony doesn't have legs to make it to November.

Also, it's interesting to note that Dunning's column is the only piece on that whole page that says anything positive about Republicans. The editorials criticize McCain's negative campaigning and discuss Ted Stevens' indictment. The syndicated column criticizes Bush, and the commentary piece talks about the upside of higher energy prices.

The Leader editorial page has been traditionally conservative, and I think it still is. Real conservatives aren't happy with the direction of the supposedly conservative Republican party.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story [pdf] (and jump [pdf]) about the new Republican S-CHIP extension bill. This bill is an extension of the current bill with no change in benefits.

The story covers Kuhl's attempt to inoculate himself against his opposition to S-CHIP expansion last year. It includes the statement that Kuhl voted against the original expansion because it "included illegal immigrants and adults." The adult provision was unchanged from the original S-CHIP bill, and I've debunked the illegal immigrant charge. Unfortunately, the Leader didn't get a response from Massa, though I'm sure one will be forthcoming.

Yesterday's Hornell Evening Tribune included a story about the Foreclosure Bill.

Finally, Kuhl has an op-ed in the Steuben Courier about a new bill he co-sponsored with John McHugh [NY-23] creating retirement health accounts similar to 401(k) and IRA accounts.

Reader Elmer sends two stories from today's Corning Leader [pdf] (jump [pdf]). The first is "2 big endorsements" given to Massa, according to the Leader headline. The story also mentions Massa's Veterans' plan.

The Kuhl story concerns the Clean Boating Act, which was recently signed into law by President Bush. The bill is a response to a court ruling that all boat ballast had to be regulated in the same way as commercial ships.

The story mentions an infestation of zebra mussels in Keuka Lake. According to the University of Rhode Island Sea Grant, the vector for spreading those mussels is often recreational boats. Kuhl believes that the bill cuts "red tape" by not regulating recreational boaters.

WETM reports on today's Massa press conference, where he was endorsed by Maj Gen (Ret.) John Batiste and former Horseheads Republican Committee Chair Sherman Moreland.

(Moreland isn't mentioned in the WETM piece, but a Massa press release includes him as another Republican endorsement.)

Update: Rochesterturning has video of Moreland's endorsement, which I've embedded after the fold. WENY in Elmira and Syracuse News 10 also picked up the event.

Update #2: Rochesterturning also has General Batiste's endorsement.