Campaign 08

The NY- GOP has shot themselves in the foot again in the North Country of New York State.  They have endorsed a Super RINO whose voting record is on par with NY City Dem Selden Silver. He scored 10 and Dede scored 15% out a possible 100.

 

The nation will get invovled in this race.

 

 

 

Councilwoman Maria Baez, a Bronx Democrat, allegedly used tax money to pay the head of a nonprofit after the city deemed his group unfit to receive public funds, the NY Post Reports...

"The city had twice refused to allow Baez to fund Martinez's now-defunct Alliance for Community Services through a separate account for nonprofits, spending records show.

City contracts officials had earlier cut the group's funding, citing its troubled history, amid a federal and city probe into the council's long-standing practice of setting aside tax money for phantom community groups and later doling it out to members to hand out to organizations they favor."

...According to the Post story, the Mayor's office declined to comment pending the result of an ongoing probe. Now we'll have to wait and see what, if any, punishment she faces.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is playing her devotion to the "working families" of New York as we gear up for what will likely be a hotly contested Senate race in '10.

This article by PolitickerNY details what will likely be a recurring theme we will hear from Sen. Gillirband as the campaign progresses. The article plays up the whole "working mom in the Senate" angle, which was been done in regards to her before. I remember the Times-Union of Albany doing a piece shortly after her upset defeat of former Rep. John Sweeney about her travails being a working mom in Congress.

I actually covered the Sweeney-Gillibrand race in the 20th CD for a newspaper I was working for at the time upstate and had the opportunity to watch this very interesting race from up close. If I can find some of my old notes from the time, I may put up a sort of retorspective-type blog post in the near future.

 

 

The proposed controversial 18 story apartment building in downtown Brooklyn that oppnents say will block views of the Brooklyn Bridge is facing more scrutiny, The Brooklyn Paper reports. 

The proposed Dock Street Project had come under fire from some residents who claimed it would block views of the iconic bridge, and at a city council meeting Thursday, some politicians said the School Construction authority improperly colluded with the project's developer, the paper reports.  

Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) attacked SCA Vice President Ross Holden over a Dec. 8 e-mail sent from Lorraine Grillo to Kenrick Ou that seems to indicate that the agency was only humoring Dock Street opponent Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights) when the politician suggested an alternate site for a public school at 205 Water St."

 

Having covered building projects that were opposed by local community groups in my former capacity as a newspaper reporter, I can tell you one thing is certain: The debate over this project is far from over. 

Staten Island Conservative Party has endorsed borough president James Molinaro for a third term, the Staten Island Advance reports.

Conservatives also endorsed sitting City Councilmen James Oddo and Vincent Ignizio, both Republicans, and Ken Mitchell, a Democrat, during their county nominating convention at the Staten Island Hotel in Graniteville, the paper reported.

The party also backed Democrat Orlando (Lindy) Marrazzo in the North Shore Civil Court race.

All the endorsements were unanimous, according to Conservative chairman Carmine Ragucci.

Ragucci, a close friend and political ally of Molinaro's, said the borough president had "earned" the party's endorsement for the work he done both in government and in politics over the years."

The article does not state whether Molinaro has any challengers at this time. 

 

On the hardest moral dilemma of his day, Abraham Lincoln stepped up to the plate and took a stand -- unlike Obama, he did not say that it was above his pay grade

It's ironic that Barack Obama chooses to infuse these opening days of his presidency with the imagery of Abraham Lincoln.

I don't think there could be two more different men. Understanding why may help us think about what to expect in the days ahead.

Beyond his trademark "change we can believe in," Obama's defining theme has been unity and inclusiveness. "... There's not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there's the United States of America ... We worship an awesome God in the Blue States ... and have gay friends in the Red States."

Obama, of course, does not suggest that we don't have differences. His point is that those differences are not critically important and they're getting in our way. Let's put differences aside, get practical, and solve our problems.

The inaugural ceremonies have pastors for everyone. A white evangelical that opposes same sex marriage, a white homosexual, a left wing black male and a left wing black female.