The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Reader Pat sends today's Buffalo News endorsement of Eric Massa.

The Messenger-Post endorses Massa [pdf] mainly because of his more detailed positions on the issues. (Update: Here's the link to an online version, thanks to reader Cathy.)

The Star-Gazette follows the Gannett line and chooses Kuhl because he brings home the pork and because Kuhl of his "street wisdom" and "He's so rooted in the district that he no longer keeps an apartment in Washington, choosing instead to bunk out on a bed in his office."

Randy Kuhl is on an internal GOP "goner" list, according to a report in Politico. Kuhl's seat is ranked in the worst category, along with neighboring NY-25 and the Don Young (AK-AL).

Along with that non-endorsement from his party, Kuhl also received the endorsement from Vets for Freedom.

The 13-WHAM has posted their story about Kuhl's "suffer" comment.

Reader Tom sends the City Newspaper endorsement of Eric Massa. City also has a profile of the 29th race.

Finally, Tom also sent this item from Politico which contains an e-mail soliciting DC-area Republicans to make phone bank calls. Randy Kuhl makes the top ten, with 338 calls.

Reader Elmer noticed that Eric Massa was endorsed by American Hunters and Shooters.

The Star-Gazette also reports that Randy Kuhl was endorsed by Monroe County Town Supervisors, who are all Republicans.

The Democrat and Chronicle's endorsement of Randy Kuhl is the usual low-quality product of their opinion page. It condescends, ignores facts, and demonstrates the writer's ignorance of the most basic political truths.

Their first argument, such as it is, is that the little people of the 29th don't need a Congressman who is "encyclopedic on the issues", like Massa. We are too simple for that. We "can't afford politicians who fight the big battles". Massa is a "big-picture guy in a district with small-picture needs". The D&C apparently feels that Kuhl is the better man to keep the hicks in the 29th down on the farm.

The D&C also says that Kuhl has become "more confident" and "less defensive". No evidence is provided for these claims because the facts are in complete opposition to them. If anything, Kuhl has become more defensive since 2006. A few minor protests caused him to make his town hall meetings appointment-only events. He refused to participate in any public debates. Those aren't the actions of a confident politician.

The D&C believes that Kuhl, who has a long record of voting with his party, has "moved away from Bush". Their evidence is his words, not Kuhl's voting record. Kuhl voted against any effort to limit funding to the war in Iraq, thus handing the Bush administration a blank check, yet the D&C believes that "[h]e's challenged the administration on war issues." Kuhl switched positions and voted for the second, pork-packed bailout, but the D&C is satisfied that he "questioned the lack of accountability in the Bush-proposed legislation."

The underlying problem with the D&C is that they cling to a fool's notion of politics. They say that Kuhl "must put aside partisanship to work with Democrats." This is wishful thinking based on complete ignorance of Kuhl's leadership status and voting record. When it comes to important votes, Deputy Whip Kuhl has voted with his party 90% of the time.

The D&C has been cutting reporting staff to invest in their social networking website. When reporters don't report, the end result is fact-free editorials like this one.

Eric Massa was endorsed by one Republican County Legislator and a newly registered Democrat who was a Republican for 20 years.

The Hornell Evening Tribune has a lengthy interview with Massa.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story [pdf] on Massa's VFW endorsement.

Two retired generals, Paul Eaton and John Batiste, attended a joint endorsement event for Eric Massa and NY-26 candidate Jon Powers. Jerri Kaiser at the Albany Project has photos of the event.

Batiste lives and works in Rochester, and he endorsed Massa last year. Eaton's last Iraq assignment was being in charge of training the Iraqi military in 2003 and 2004.

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.