News of the day

On: By: admin

SDCC has done a mailing targeting Jack Quinn in SD-58 hitting him for voting against mandatory storage A-5844 and redefining what constitutes a serious offense, A-7575.

Pete Grannis was fired as DEC Commissioner.  Good riddance.

In AD-137, candidate disagreements over their NRA candidate ratings here and here.

In CD-20, Sportsmen for Chris Gibson.

Michelle Schimel at a LWV Meet the Candidates night:

“… Schimel is a supporter and author of the microstamping bill. The assemblywoman said that was the reason she got into politics. Microstamping would imprint a unique mark on bullet casings, helping to connect guns and their owners to crimes. “I was a community organizer,” she said. “Long before I ever got into elected office, I was on the streets advocating that bullets don’t know race, creed, religion or color. Microstamping is a bill that’s supported by over 100 law enforcement agencies.” …”

Obama was also a “community organizer” and look what a great job he’s been doing.

More Congressional seats in play

On: By: admin

Dick Morris sees 11 New York Congressional seats in play.

Assuming he’s right and all of them go Republican, that would make 4-5 seats more pro-gun than they are right now. However, come ’12 with redistricting New York will lose 2-3 Congressional seats, probably held by those pro-gun freshmen.

Congressional seats in play

On: By: admin

The Politico now puts 99 Democrat-held Congressional seats in play including nine locally:

“… In deep-blue New York, Republicans have a shot at as many as nine Democrats. “It’s thermonuclear,” said two-term Rep. Michael Arcuri, in describing the campaign against him to The New York Times …  Upstate Rep. Bill Owens has a higher degree of reelection difficulty than Long Island-based Rep. Carolyn McCarthy … Nine-term New York Rep. Maurice Hinchey and four-term Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva until recently were considered near-locks to win, before their campaigns hit unexpected turbulence.  Hinchey attracted unflattering attention this weekend after a videotaped confrontation with a reporter at the same time American Crossroads and other GOP groups are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into ads in his district …”

Up until now I would not have said CD-22 was in play.  Maybe Politico has internal polling suggesting the race is close.

Gubernatorial debate

On: By: admin

I did not watch last nights gubernatorial debate.  It does not appear to have gone well:

Andrew Cuomo probably won it simply by not appearing to be a crackpot.

Bloomberg asks for insults

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From The PolitickerNY:

“The Bloomberg administration wants to dive into social media, even if it means being insulted on a more regular basis … “I don’t think we can have it both ways. I don’t think we can create an open dialogue and try to protect ourselves from insult at the same time,” said newly appointed Deputy Mayor for Operations Stephen Goldsmith. “I’m for an open dialogue, I’m not too worried about where the angry comments get registered.” …”

Perhaps not, but the sheer volume of them might be considerably more than he’s expecting.

Democrat supermajority in doubt

On: By: admin

I previously speculated that the Democrats would lose their supermajority in the Assembly.  They are now publicly admitting they’re concerned about that happening too.

With a weakened Shelly and embolden opposition, this would affect gun control legislation in the next session.

Brady endorsements

On: By: admin

The Brady’s have updated their list of endorsements for New York.  They’re going with both incumbents for Senate, all incumbents for Congress except in CD-20, CD-22, CD-23, CD-24, CD-26, CD-27 and CD-29, plus Eric Schneiderman for DA.

What little money their PAC has been distributed as follows: $1000 for Kirsten Gillibrand, $250 for Dan Maffei and $250 for Michael McMahon.

McCarthy endorsement

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The Long Island Herald has endorsed Carolyn McCarthy for re-election:

“… In this race, we encourage voters to return McCarthy to an eighth term because we believe that she has been, and will continue to be, an effective representative … A focus on gun control has paid off for McCarthy, who entered politics in 1997 on a one-issue platform. Two years ago she authored a bill that was signed into law, requiring the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to stop convicted criminals and those with a history of mental illness from buying guns …”

McCarthy herself doesn’t think she’s been very effectively lately according to this article from RealClearPolitics last year:

“Frustrated liberals are asking why a Democratic-controlled Congress and White House can’t manage to close the Guantanamo prison or keep new gun-rights laws from passing … “We’ll probably end up passing more gun bills” that expand owners’ rights “than we did during the Republican administration,” said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., a leading gun control advocate. “That is what surprises me.” …”

Plus, if she’s been so effective, then why are local Democrats worried about voter turnout?

The bottom line is McCarthy is hardly a powerbroker.  She isn’t prime sponsor of any major legislation and her signature issue, gun control, is going nowhere.  No matter what the media says, she’s still largely a single issue representative.  The Herald’s endorsement is just a weak attempt to pump up her failing career.

Oneida’s attacking Townsend on microstamping

On: By: admin

A 3rd mailer has gone out attacking David Townsend, this one hitting him for voting against the microstamping bill.

This raises some questions, so we fired off a press release requesting a public response from both the Oneida Indians and Robert Maciol’s campaign.