Author: Jerry Skurnik

I am often asked by potential long shot candidates whether they should run if they don’t have much of a chance at winning. My answer is that there’s nothing wrong with running and losing as long as you can afford it both financially and emotionally.

I feel that way because while people in politics and the media often say that a losing race hurts a candidate’s chances for future success, I don’t think many voters feel that way. And running any political race, even a losing one, usually makes you a better candidate in any future campaigns.

Just look at the three most powerful elected officials in New York State government; Governor David Paterson, State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. All have lost elections before assuming their present jobs – Paterson for Public Advocate, Skelos for State Senate and Silver for City Council.

Gatemouth’s commentary on the two Sarahs repeated an “urban legend” about the 2004 campaign that was created when DC pundits still thought Karl Rove was a genius.

http://www.r8ny.com/blog/gatemouth/two_schmuels_for_sister_sarah.html

Gatemouth wrote – “In 2004, there was virtually no effort made by Republicans to attract black voters to George W. Bush, and as a result he got virtually none. The one exception was in Ohio, where helped by the presence on the ballot of an anti-gay marriage initiative, Republicans did undertake such efforts, and Bush managed an eye-popping 25%, which alone may have deprived John Kerry of the White House.”

With the prospect of a Democratic Party victory appearing more and more likely, many conservatives are looking for a “silver bullet” to snatch victory.

The Wall Street Journal has come up with an interesting idea but I think it probably won’t work.

In an editorial titled, Conservative Canada, John McCain take note, the Journal points to this week’s re-election win of Conservative Prime Minister Steven Harper.

While many more State legislators lost in Tuesday’s Primaries – 4, it’s still true that incumbent Senators & Assembly members are still extremely difficult to beat.

Except in the 22^nd Assembly District!

The 22^nd AD was created in the 2002 Legislative re-districting and in centered in Flushing.

The New York Times in reporting on Tuesday’s Primary results claims that it might forecast good news for the Republicans in the State Senate –

All Republican senators running for re-election won their primaries, suggesting that the G.O.P. may be more tightly unified going into the November election.

http://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_184100548.html

JACKSON (AP) July 02, 2008 10:05 am

— Mississippi Congressman Chip Pickering has told The Clarion-Ledger that he filed for divorce from his wife, Leisha.

Pickering, a 44-year-old Republican, announced in August 2007 that he would not seek re-election this year. He said then that he wanted to spend more time with his wife and their five sons.

I wonder if anyone besides myself reading about John McCain’s meeting with the Dalai Lama was remaindered of the following quote from Bill Murray’s in “Caddyshack”?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080487/quotes

Carl Spackler: So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald… striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one – big hitter, the Lama – long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

On Thursday, July 10, Party designating petitions were filed at the New York City Board of Elections.

This is the list of possible upcoming contested Primaries, based on the petitions filed. This list will be changed as candidates withdraw and/or removed from the ballot. There also may have been some errors made in compiling the list. I am including some commentary about some of the races. As usual, most contests are on the Democratic side.

The 2008 edition of Prime News is at the printer and will soon be mailed to @1,500 political activists.

Prime News is the publication my partner Stu Osnow and I produce each year that lists the most complete New York City election results published. It also includes information about what we at Prime New York are up to and this some of our history as we are celebrating our 20th annivesary.

If you can't wait to get it in the mail or are not on our mailing list, you can dowmload the 2008 Prime News on our website at –

http://primeny.com/

Tuesday New York Times features a story about leaders of the American Muslim community complaining about the Obama campaign not treating them well enough.

I was struck by one paragraph that didn’t pass my smell test:

In 2006, the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee arranged for 53 Muslim cabdrivers to skip their shifts at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia to transport voters to the polls for the midterm election. Of an estimated 60,000 registered Muslim voters in the state, 86 percent turned out and voted overwhelmingly for Jim Webb, a Democrat running for the Senate who subsequently won the election, according to data collected by the committee.