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No Recounts in NY

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The day after a Primary always have a few losing candidates, their supporters and gullible reporters talking about "demanding a recount".

Let’s make it clear. There are no recounts in New York because there hasn’t been an official count yet.

The results that are out there now are unofficial. They are called in by election inspectors after the polls closed Tuesday night. Numbers are not double checked and mistakes are always made. No absentee, affadavit or emergency ballots have been counted yet.

In the next week or two, the Board of Elections will conduct the official count by recording the numbers off the machines and counting the paper ballots.

Thanks Tom Suozzi

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American doesn’t love a loser, so today is not a day many people will be thanking Tom Suozzi for his work and his campaign.  I was going to drop him a note, but I’m a blogger now, so what the hell, I’ll do it here. 

Thank you for turning your back on the safe path of careerism, trading favors, waiting for the death or indictment of an incumbent, and occupying a seat.  Instead you took on the corrupt and seemingly impregnable Nassau County Republican machine, made many of the hard short run decisions – higher taxes, reduced services, tougher labor negotiations – required to begin turning the situation around for the long run.  Thanks even more for taking on the disgrace our state government, once one of the best in the nation, has become.  That was even harder, because it required that you not only call out the other side, but also your own side and its supporters.  It made a lot of enemies, which has cost you.  But from my point of view, they include many of the right enemies.  And thanks for running for Governor.  You offered your service.  The voters decided to choose otherwise.  So be it.  That isn’t anything for Tom Suozzi to feel bad about.

Let’s Change The Primary Date!

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I had been planning to post an argument that we should move New York’s Primary date but today’s New York Sun shows that Chris Owens, Yvette Clarke, Jonathan Tasini and of all people Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver beat me to it.

Silver, in fact, has co-sponsored a bill to move the Primary to the 3rd Thursday in June.

The argument in that because the media has, and presumably will continue to focus so much on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks and there is now such much pressure on candidates never to campaign on September 11th, turnout in the Primary is depressed.

Woe is Upstate (Phony/Exaggerated Problem 4 of 4)

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For a decade or more the status and needs of Upstate New York’s economy has been the number one issue in virtually every statewide political campaign.  In 1994, Republican George Pataki unseated his predecessor as Governor, Democrat Mario Cuomo, in part by blaming Cuomo for Upstate’s economic decline.  In 1998, Democrat Chuck Schumer unseated his predecessor as Senator, Republican Al D’Amato, by blaming the Republicans for failing to revive the Upstate economy; meanwhile, Governor Pataki criticized his opponent, New York City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, for not caring enough about Upstate New York.   In 2000, future Senator Hillary Clinton scored points by “listening” to Upstate New York while her opponent, Republican Rick Lazio, committed a “gaffe” by claiming that Upstate New York was improving.  And one of the few risks in George Pataki’s 2002 re-election campaign was potential Upstate resentment at his “unjustified” attention to New York City in the wake of a minor incident with a couple of airplanes.  In this election, Eliot Spitzer compared Upstate to Appalachia, Tom Suozzi said upstate needs jobs, and John Faso is running in the tradition of candidates who believe lazy, undeserving New York City needs to be cut off to help hard working, deserving Upstate.

Mea Culpa Maxima; or The Mouth Bites Off More Than It Can Chew

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How embarrassing. A Reader who was either FUSTB or “Angry Bald Husband of an Overrated Judge” (ABHOAOJ) wrote an intemperate reply to one of my Voter’s Guide’s and while I was forced to zap their inappropriate remarks, the substance of their criticism was largely correct. Others also pointed to some smaller factual errors.

This was without bad intent (and I’m sure their correction was without good intent), but it was clear that it was my fault and needed to be addressed. My attempt to say something resembling insightful commentary about every contested primary for public office in the entire City was clearly a goal beyond my grasp. If the Citizen’s Union, with an entire team, couldn’t do it, how could I?

More Endorsements: Rock-style

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By now most of you readers know that I have endorsed the following candidates:

Chris Owens (11th Congressional), Eric Adams (20th Senatorial), and Terry Hinds (58th AD/ Male District Leader); and since today is the infamous “Thursday before the Tuesday”, let me lengthen my endorsement list before it’s too late to make an impact / lmao. I will save the gubernatorial race for last.

Upballot: vote for Sean Patrick Maloney for Attorney General. Even though Mark Green is better suited to this job than Andrew Cuomo (and it’s not even close, so don’t even try debating this), it’s really hard for me to vote for Green. I don’t think that I have to go into the reasons beyond saying: 2001. Cuomo reminds me of the guy who proposed marriage to this fancy uptown chick (gubernatorial run), and after being rejected fell back on the girl next door for solace (AG). Maloney has done surprisingly well (to me) in the debates, and I think it’s time for new blood.

Which Mike Should We Believe?

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Mayor Bloomberg says politicians who oppose measures to crack down on illegal guns have been "cowed or duped" by an "extremist gun lobby."

During an appearance in front of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg said elected officials in both political parties have been too "soft" when it comes to trafficking and possessing illegal guns.

"They say that they are protecting the Second Amendment, but that’s a red herring if ever there was one, and it’s time for us to start exposing it," Mr. Bloomberg said.

“The Dean, and the premier source of legitimate information” (Even For Those Who Disagree With Him)

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“Yassky has attractive credentials (smart, committed, excellent on gun control), with one drawback. He had to move three blocks to be able to say he lives in the district, continuing a pattern in which he seems a bundle of ambition and campaign contributions in search of an office. Previously, he had run for school board in Washington and for Brooklyn DA as well as for the Council.” 
New York Daily News Editorial (9/7/06)

“David’s obsessive ambition is still a concern. Sometimes it appears that he really thinks he’s going to be the first Jewish president. He’s spent his life looking for the next office to run for (from DC School Board to Council to DA to Congress) and is always starting his campaign about five minutes after (if not five minutes before) he unloads his moving van”
Gatemouth’s Blog (4/14/06)

The High Cost of Living in the Downstate Suburbs (Phony/Exaggerated Problem 3 of 4)

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During the Pataki administration, New York City’s pleas from the business community for overall lower taxes, and from poverty advocates for more spending on the poor, have largely been ignored.  Not so the whines of suburban New York about its high cost of living – high property taxes, high housing costs, and the lack of alternatives to multiple automobile ownership, all of which are pricing out the young.  When our politicians talk about bringing down the high cost of living, however, their “solutions” have generally involved subsidizing the high costs with taxes collected elsewhere, rather than reducing those costs.  Reducing taxes in the suburbs is difficult (but not impossible) because suburban living is expensive by design, and in some ways by choice.  And unless and until suburbanites become willing to change their choices and bring the cost of living down, the high cost of suburban living will remain a phony issue.

Gatemouth’s Voter’s Guide (Part Four-The State Assembly)

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 “Dear Emperor Gatemouth, In the land of pomposity, your reign is supreme.”

– Ravi Batra (who ought to know)

For New York City Residents, the Assembly is the good cop to the Senate’s bad. Those who have any illusions concerning what this means are reminded to read the following:

The Member of the Assembly is the elected official in the City with the smallest constituency, allowing parochialism to be at its most manifest. There are 62 Assembly Districts in the Naked City; here are a few of their stories: