I’ve had candidates inquire about endorsements for this falls elections for almost a year now and we’re still eight months out from the elections. Contrast that to the Republicans who can’t even find candidates to run in all statewide races. They’re really digging around the bottom of the barrel for people willing to run under their banner.
NewsCopy has a theory on this: Voter suppression strategies relying on less-than-competitive top-of-the-ticket races to ensure that Democrats don’t overcome Republicans and they can win back control of the State Senate. While I believe this theory does have some merit, I think the driving force behind their problems are the party leaders, hacks and consultants running the GOP. They’re totally out of touch with the concerns of the average person.
Take a look at the campaign websites for Rick Lazio, Steve Levy and Carl Paladino. Levy and Paladino are trying to organize issues-based coalitions. Lazio isn’t. All he lists are endorsements by politicians and party functionaries. Where is the endorsement by Joe Citizen? When was the last time a statewide Republican (or Democrat) candidate actually tried going to the people for support? The present tea party surge should provide a golden opportunity for the GOP to pick up seats top to bottom all across the state. Right now it looks like they’re going to blow it.
It’s a shame. The country club mentality is why the state GOP is in the condition it is in. They should be inviting the newly politically active leaders who are forming county-level Tea Party groups into the GOP fold. They could even keep their Tea Parties and run on both tickets.
They needed new blood 10+ years ago to give them time to build their credentials to the point where they could run a viable statewide campaign.