The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Both of the area's Gannett papers, the D&C and the Star-Gazette,  ran stories about the Massa and Kuhl money numbers.  Both quote Massa and the RNCC.  The RNCC thinks 2006 was the "worst environment for Republicans in decades". 

Update: The Messenger-Post also has a money story.  This one quotes Kuhl's confidence that he'll get his message across.

The Messenger-Post is first out of the blocks with its IRS/seniors story, which is why Randy Kuhl and Maggie Brooks went to a senior center in Pittsford last week.

Not much happening in the 29th media this weekend. 

The Corning Leader has a story on Eric Massa's AFL-CIO endorsement.  I had missed the AFL-CIO's claim of 56,000 members in the 29th when I posted the original press release earlier this week. 

WETM quotes Randy Kuhl saying that he's reassured by President Bush's statement that we're not going to be in the war "forever". 

The Massa Campaign sends an article from yesterday's Corning Leader [pdf] that includes Massa's reaction to the Petraeus testimony as well as the Columbian free trade treaty.  Massa's position on Iraq remains unchanged.  He opposes the free trade agreement, which Kuhl supports  Today's Corning Leader [pdf] quotes Randy Kuhl on Iraq.  He says that progress is being made, characterizes the surge as a "success" and touts economic gains.

Randy Kuhl's website has a press release about an event held today at the Pittsford Senior Center.  He appeared with County Executive Maggie Brooks and representatives from the IRS and AARP to emphasize that seniors must file a return to get a stimulus check.  Maggie Brooks has nothing to do with federal taxes, but come April 15, the media is searching for stories on taxes, and this one will probably make the tee vee. (via Rochesterturning)

Grievous Angel at Rochesterturning attended todays' Massa Press conference and has a report.  The main topics are free trade and Iraq.

Randy Kuhl is being sized up by all forms of lobbies.  Here's an example from the education lobby.  Kuhl sits on the Education and Labor committee and might have to cast a vote on No Child Left Behind, which isn't too popular with teachers, before the election.

A long, good story on Rochester-area Congressional politics and how it's changing, with four reporters contributing. Must be the area's "paper of record", the Democrat and Chronicle, right? 

Naah, it's today's Messenger-Post, now officially the best Rochester-area newspaper.  One of the themes of the story is how the the loss of Jim Walsh (NY-25), who had a senior position on the Appropriations Committee, will affect the district.  Randy Kuhl wants to try for some of that Walsh-style clout, though even he admits the odds are "slim".  The odds would be better if he were in the majority, of course, which points out how Kuhl has a tougher road in 2008.

In other news, we have the yin of Randy Kuhl being honored by the Chamber of Commerce opposed by the yang of Eric Massa being endorsed by the AFL-CIO.   I don't know if a unity of opposites is discernable in these two announcements.  I'm afraid we haven't reached that level of enlightenment in the 29th.

David Petraeus is the Iraq groundhog:  he pops up every six months and talks about the war.  Randy Kuhl articulates his view of the groundhog's March shadow in a press release that's full of the same rhetorical tricks he's been using for years. 

Here's one example -- everyone who's against the war was raised wrong:

I was raised, like many generations of Americans, on the principle that you must finish what you started. Regardless of one’s opinion on how and why the United States became involved in Iraq, we must complete what we began.

I guess Kuhl has been so beaten down that even he no longer uses the word "victory".  His new substitute, "finish", is even more meaningless.  Like Petraeus, Kuhl stubbornly refuses to discuss any kind of end game in Iraq, other than the notion that Iraq should be a "democracy". 

Kuhl also included this straw man:

Too many current and aspiring Members of Congress are quick to ignore and refute the guidance of the two men who know the most about the military and diplomatic situation in Iraq.

I haven't heard much refutation of Petraeus' and Crocker's analysis of the situation on the ground:  progress is "fragile and reversible".  The question is what to do about that situation.  In other words, what's our strategy?  Leaders' opinions often differ from those of Generals and Ambassadors.  Lincoln actually fired a few generals, as did Roosevelt and Truman.  Perhaps Kuhl, who aspires to leadership in his party, might want to exercise some here.

Kuhl's apparently signed on to the John McCain political suicide pact:  100 years or forever, whichever comes first.  It doesn't have to be this way -- there are Republicans who disagree.  I've included the words of one after the break:

SEN. GEORGE VOINOVICH (R), Ohio: Condoleezza Rice should get together with you guys and she should work day in and day out to let them know, "Folks, we're on our way out." And I just wonder: Do you understand that, that that's where we're at?

We have somebody sitting across the table here, maybe the next president of the United States. And the American people have had it up to here.

And, you know, we appreciate the sacrifice that you've made and your families have made. Lives have changed forever. But the truth of the matter is -- and I'm sure your guys and women understand it.

Do you know something? We haven't sacrificed one darn bit in this war, not one, never been asked to pay for a dime, except for the people we lost.

And I'd like to know: What do you think about the idea of really coming up with a surge during this next 10 months and let them know, you know, it's going to be over here, folks, and you'd better get at it?

RYAN CROCKER: Well, Senator, I appreciate the -- you know, the sense of frustration that you articulate. I share it. I kind of live it every day. I mean, the reality is it is hard in Iraq, and there are no light switches to throw that are going to go dark to light.

This is from last night's Newshour coverage.

This week's Steuben Courier includes a piece on a new WETM-TV program that will include an interview with Eric Massa.

The "Responsible Plan for Iraq" is the subject of a long op-ed in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 

Finally, this isn't strictly about the 29th race, but the lede in the latest McClatchy story on Senate earmark reform pretty neatly captures the Republican strategy of making a big noise in hopes that people will forget who was behind the huge earmark expansion in the first place:

Republican senators unveiled an earmark revision plan Thursday as part of an effort to counter their reputations as pork-happy spenders who ran up a deficit while in power and lost the public's trust in their fiscal oversight.

A reader was granted an audience with  Randy Kuhl at a recent town hall meeting.  Here are some excerpts from his report:

I brought my 3 mailers. You had to sign in with the watchdogs and they escorted you back to a conference room where he was sitting. I asked him about NCLB, the tax rebate and why he sends out the mailers. I didn't bring a recorder, so I can't give you any direct quotes, which was the whole point of the format as anyone could see.

The wait was between 25 and 35 minutes. I didn't see him until 10 mins. after he was supposed to leave and he spoke to me for 20 full minutes. At 10 - 15 minutes a piece, he saw less than 10 people including me.

Kuhl was actually well spoken. I was obviously not a supporter, but he was able to talk a good game. Very slick, he blinded me a little with bullshit.

Somehow we got onto the format of these one-on-one meetings and he got a little red-faced about how others might not let me speak and would be shouting me down if this was a regular open format. I wasn't quick enough to say something to the effect of it is their right to freedom of speech and that I'd rather that sort of thing not be limited. I also should have asked what he would have done if there were 5 or 10 more people out there waiting their turn to speak to him and they couldn't.

NCLB: he said there needs to be changes. He wasn't specific.

Taxes: Some of the money is going to help small businesses. Basic supply-side economics stuff. I told him I was going to put it into a savings account and not spend it, and he didn't disagree with me.

Mailers: Basic "I need to get information out to people who might not hear about it" answer. Seniors for example might not have heard about some of the regulations with the rebates..

Thanks for the report.  Anyone else who attended is welcome to send their view for publication or background.

Reader Elmers sends the Corning Leader's story [pdf] of Massa's request for a debate, as well as Massa's reaction to Kuhl's new office hours.

Here's some more coverage, with pictures, of yesterday's train derailment in Palmyra, courtesy of the D&C.