Republicans
Demos Hits Cox On Family Ties (Updated)
Aug 9th - 12:29 pm
George Demos released a new Web video today hitting one of his two GOP NY-1 primary opponents, Chris Cox, for playing up his family ties to the hilt while campaigning for the seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop.
“Bloodline and pedigree are not qualifications to serve in the US Congress or any job,” the spot states.
Cox rarely misses an opportunity to note that his is the grandson of the late President Nixon – a connection he said has been a “big plus so far” during a “Today” show segment that aired last week.
The first-time candidate insisted he is feeling no negative effects from the Watergate scandal that tarred his grandfather’s legacy and forced his resignation on this very day, 36 years ago.
Cox also frequently mentions, albeit with less regularity, the fact that he is the son of state GOP Chairman Ed Cox, even though his father has insisted on multiple occasions – much to the disbelief of Conservative and Republican detractors – that he is steering clear of Cox-the-younger’s campaign. (The task of defending Chris Cox has been taken up of late by his future father-in-law, John Catsimatidis).
Since this race is becoming increasingly negative, it was only a matter of time before one of Cox’s opponents sought to use what is arguably his strongest suit – his family connections – against him.
UPDATE: Cox’s campaign spokesman Jim Teese responded by accusing Demos of breaking the late President Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment, (thou shalt not attack a fellow Republican), in a response that appears after the jump.
Timing Is Everything – PSC, Mosque Edition
Aug 9th - 10:58 am
In the wake of the Post story that ConEd owns part of the property on which developers want to build a mosque just blocks from Ground Zero and the sale might require approval from the Public Service Commission, Rick Lazio released a statement declaring he would appoint anti-mosque commissioners if he’s elected this fall.
“The reporting in today’s New York Post is exactly the information that would have been exposed weeks ago if Andrew Cuomo had done his job as Attorney General,” the GOP gubernatorial hopeful said in a statement.
“Instead, Andrew Cuomo has let a divisive debate go on for weeks while the developers of the Cordoba Ground Zero Mosque have been operating under false pretenses. Shame on Andrew Coumo, shame on the Imam, and shame on Sharif El-Gamal for opening the wounds of September 11th all over again.”
“As governor I will appoint commissioners to the Public Service Commission who like me oppose this group’s plan to build a mosque at Ground Zero and I encourage New Yorkers to call the Public Service commissioners and tell them the same.”
The Mosque And The PSC
Aug 8th - 3:06 pm
The Post has a fascinating story today that suggests it’s possible the mosque-near-Ground Zero controversy will be kicked up to the state level, perhaps landing in the lap of the Public Service Commission.
Apparently, one of the two buildings currently on the site of the proposed mosque is owned by ConEd, which is currently mulling the sale of the property to the project’s developers. The sale might have to be signed off by the five-member Public Service Commission.
Here’s where things get interesting. The Post refers to the PSC as “controlled by” Gov. David Paterson. But that’s actually not the case.
Two of the five commissioners – Maureen Harris (Republican, sister of Michael Finnegan, longtime friend and former Pataki top counsel) and Robert E. Curry Jr. (Democrat) – were last-minute appointments to $109,800-a-year jobs with six-year terms made by former Gov. George Pataki during the final months of his third term. (June 2006).
Scozzafava’s Legacy
Aug 6th - 3:20 pm
It has been eight months since Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava was forced out of the NY-23 special election and crossed party lines to endorse now-Rep. Bill Owens, clearing a path to victory for the Democrats in a long-held GOP district and making her a pariah among her fellow Republicans.
Scozzafava lost her leadership post in the minority as a result and has since decided not to seek re-election, yet her treason continues to be revisited, used in campaigns and held up as Exhibit A by Republicans who want to force candidates to sign a pledge promising not to oppose the eventual nominee of a given race.
From the Washington Post:
“This is a shot across the bow of folks who are going to break party unity,” said Morton Blackwell, an RNC member from Virginia who proposed the rule change and said it was adopted by the RNC’s rules committee unanimously.
“We need this when we have people doing outrageous things like Crist and Dede Scozzafava.”
“Crist” would, of course, be Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who ran and raised campaign cash as a Republican candidate for the US Senate and then dropped out of the GOP primary against Marco Rubio and is now running in the general election as an independent.
Doug Hoffman, the man who forced Scozzafava out of the race, arguing – along with Tea Party activists and the state Conservative Party – that she was too moderate, is now making a second run against Owens. He’s battling newcomer Matt Doheny for the GOP line.
That primary took a rather ugly turn, of late, with Hoffman (rather sloppily) trying to make an issue of Doheny’s drunk-boating arrests.
Blakeman: DioGuardi A GOP ‘Imposter’ (Updated)
Aug 6th - 2:23 pm
GOP US Senate hopeful Bruce Blakeman was in Western NY yesterday, and spent some time during an editorial board meeting at The Buffalo News to attack his primary opponents, casting them as too liberal to run on the Republican and Conservative lines against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
The former Long Island legislator let loose his harshest attack on the Conservative Party designee, former Westchester Rep. Joe DioGuardi, who failed to receive sufficient support at the GOP convention to get onto the primary ballot and had to petition his way into the Sept. 14 contest.
Blakeman compared himself to President Ronald Reagan, who twice carried New York because “he was a leader”. Bob McCarthy reports:
(Blakeman) said DioGuardi voted against President Ronald Reagan enough to earn a ‘D’ rating from the American Conservative Union. ‘He’s not a real Republican,’ he said. ‘He’s an impostor.’”
“…I will continue to be what I am because voters have a great ability to sniff out phonies. They may not agree on the issues, but they respect somebody who stands on principle and who does not waver according to public opinion.”
UPDATE: Here’s video of Blakeman attacking DioGuardi during a campaign stop in Syracuse today, courtesy of YNN’s fabulous Bill Carey.
‘Skunk At The Picnic’
Aug 6th - 1:53 pm
Assemblyman Greg Ball’s campaign is forwarding around this video of the Senate candidate speaking at a recent fundraiser (that featured Dick Morris) about the importance of restoring the balance of power in the upper house.
“If that does not happen, within six months of this election, we will go from having a little over 30 state Senate seats to probably 12 or 13,” Ball says.
“We will lose every Republican congressional district in the state of New York, and New York State will turn the lights out and we will go into the darkness for at least the next 100 years.”
Ball goes on to call himself “the sunk in the picnic”, adding: “You’re looking a guy who went to Albany and is disliked in the majority and those in power even in his own party because I did what is right.” He closes by saying Albany is full of people who would “rather have puppets than leaders”.
Ball is certainly right about members of his own party not liking him. In fact, they’re backing his GOP primary opponent, Somers Town Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy, and actively working against him, sending out mailers that highlight allegations he engaged in sexual assault and stalking.
The assemblyman, who is battling for the seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Vincent Leibell, has responded by forming a “Women 4 Ball” committee and deploying his ex-girlfriend to act as a surrogate on his behalf.
Paladino Who?
Aug 6th - 8:35 am
Here’s a clip from my interview on “Capital Tonight” yesterday with GOP gubernatorial hopeful Rick Lazio, during which I tried – unsuccessfully – to get the former Long Island congressman to commit to debating his primary challenger, Carl Paladino.
Lazio refused to even acknowledge the Buffalo businessman, insisting he’s focused on taking the fight to Democratic gubernatorial designee, AG Andrew Cuomo, in the November general election.
“My focus is entirely on November and Andrew Cuomo, Liz,” Lazio said. “We saw a catastrophic budget. It is Andrew Cuomo’s budget. ”
“Another increase in spending in the middle of a $10 billion budget deficit, kicking the can down the road, reckless borrowing, more taxes, and more jobs, unfortunately, that are going to be destroyed and more businesses and people that will leave this state. ”
“This is the legacy of Andrew Cuomo. This is part of his party. He controls the Assembly. He controls the Senate, and he’s on the phone every day with David Paterson. And so this is his budget and his spending, and I believe that people want to turn a page on this.”
Throughout the entire interview, which lasted more than 10 minutes (a near eternity in TV land), Lazio didn’t mention Paladino’s name one, not even in response to his new mosque ad.
Lazio brushed off questions about his recent campaign shake-up and his anemic fundraising, insisting – as he has on multiple occasions – he’ll have sufficient resources to mount a robust campaign through the rest of the election season.
Air Grimm, Take II (Updated)
Aug 6th - 8:21 am
GOP congressional hopeful Michael Grimm is out with his second TV spot of the NY-13 race, just as the “Jewish money” flap continues to dog his Democratic target, Rep. Mike McMahon.
The spot is similar to the first one Grimm’s campaign released earlier this week. Both are introductory bio-type ads that highlight his time in the FBI and the US Marine Corps., with a dose of fiscal conservatism and homeland security thrown in for good measure.
Meanwhile, McMahon is facing an FEC complaint that Grimm says “raises some serious ethics questions” for the congressman. McMahon’s campaign declined to address the specifics of the complaint, calling it a “cheap political stunt” that was “orchestrated” by one of his GOP opponents (notice no names are named there).
UPDATE: The DN’s intrepid Michael McAuliff writes that Grimm’s ad has annoyed the FBI, which considers itself an “apolitical agency” and doesn’t like the use of its name in campaign ads or literature. He also irked the Marines with a Web ad that ran earlier in the season.
Here’s the script of Grimm’s spot, entitled “Key Issues”:
“Congress is out of control. While people look for answers, the politicians waste our tax dollars. That’s why I’m running for Congress. As your congressman, my priorities will be to cut taxes, help small businesses create jobs and reduce the deficit by ending the out-of-control spending while working relentlessly to keep our families safe from terror. You can count on me to fight the Washington politicians and stand up for you and your family, just as I did in the Marines and the FBI. I’m Michael Grimm and I approve this message.”
Michael Grimm: “Key Issues” from Liz Benjamin on Vimeo.
Dems Use Prop. 8 to Pressure Wilson, Donovan
Aug 5th - 4:33 pm
Democrats wasted no time in trying to use the overturning of California’s Prop. 8 against GOP statewide candidates here in New York.
The first hit came courtesy of state Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs, who called on Staten Island DA Dan Donovan, the lone Republican AG candidate, to “finally publicly state whether or not he supports marriage equality, one of the defining civil rights issues of this generation.”
Jacobs noted that Donovan’s campaign Web site doesn’t mention same-sex marriage, nor has his position on the topic appeared in any published accounts.
The chairman accused the DA of running away from this controversial issue “like the plague” and noted that his political mentor is Guy Molinari, who is, in Jacobs’ words, “a notorious gay basher.”
“With the civil rights of New Yorkers hanging in the balance, Donovan needs to state publicly: Does he take his cues on intolerance from his mentor and political patron Guy Molinari, or does he stand with principled New Yorkers – and now, thankfully, a federal court – who view marriage equality as a fundamental right?” Jacobs said.
Donovan’s campaign spokeswoman confirmed that Donovan believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, but stressed that he “will ensure that the laws of our state are enforced.”
McMahon Faces FEC Complaint In ‘Jewish Money’ Mess (Updated)
Aug 5th - 2:47 pm
Here’s the FEC complaint filed against Democratic Rep. Mike McMahon (NY-13) following the release by his campaign of the so-called “Jewish money” raised by one of his opponents, Michael Grimm, which led to the firing of the congressmann’s campaign spokeswoman, Jennifer Nelson.
The complaint was highlighted by Grimm’s campaign, which sent out a press release to alert the media of its existence that included this comment from the candidate:
“If Ms. Nelson was fired for this type of behavior, why weren’t those who authorized the creation of the list, or those that compiled the list also fired?”
“Mr. McMahon either violated FEC regulations, he condoned the practice of compiling segregated lists based on religion and ethnicity or both. It is time for him to stop hiding from the truth.”
The complaint was not filed by the Grimm campaign, however. At least not directly. That was done by one Brendan Lantry, who, according to a little Google search, used to work for Councilman Andy Lanza, a Staten Island Republican who has endorsed Grimm’s primary opponent, Michael Allegretti.
UPDATE: McMahon campaign manager Jonathan Yedin responded:
“This is a cheap, political stunt orchestrated by one of Congressman McMahon’s Republican opponents. It is without merit and has as much chance of success as LeBron James does of being elected Mayor of Cleveland.”
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