The problem of NY Republicans
With the mid-term elections approaching closer by the day the New York Republican Party is being questioned on the strength of its candidates for the Seante seats of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Charles Schumer. It’s a situation that seems odd when put in the light of the national anger over the debate and passage of the Health CAre Reform, the ineffectiveness of the Obama Stimulus, and the lackluster (at best) approval ratings of the Democrat leadership and Congress in general.
In New York State this is even more magnified. The current Governor David Patterson was appointed after a scandal forced out the elected Governor, only to face scandals of his own. The result was his retraction of efforts to begin a re-election campaign. In Harlem, long-standing incumbent Rep. Charles Rangel has been fighting ethics violations, and multiple tax failures, for 2 years. In the junior Senate seat Senator Gillibrand was one of 7 Senators to support the publicly denounced community organization ACORN after video displayed entrenched corruption and potential fraud in that organization. Just recently Rep. Massa resigned from office in scandal as well, while eventually claiming corruption and politics in the Democrat Party were the true cause of his departure. Then there is the recent revellation that Democrats are seeking political donations to trade for political favors.
This says nothing of the growing deficit of the State, and the proposed higher property taxes in towns across the State and new taxes on items as common as soda. It would seem that providing a candidate to run in opposition of these Democrats would be an easy process.
But what seems simple may not be. Though 3 candidate have appeared to take on Senator Gillibrand, Bruce A. Blakeman, Joseph J. DioGuardi, and David Malpass, the question facing voters is if any of the choices is better than the current elected officials. To that end State GOP Chairman Ed Cox and other Republicans are banking on national political trends.
Let me say that again, national political trends will rally New York State voters to vote Republican.
That’s the best offer that can be made to voters? That the trend is reason enough? With due respect, one might call such a statement inane.
It is not enough for Republicans, or any candidate, to say that they aren’t the other guy (or gal as the case may be). America and New York State require a choice that is based on a plan, a goal that matches the views and aspirations of the majority of voters. To do less is to have yet another election where the mantra of “Change” is the rally call but the explination of what change involves floats off into the wind. Something that likely will not work in another election for the rest of this generations voting lifetime.
Senator Gillibrand, and Senator Schumer, has given many examples of single minded partisanship in the past year. Voters where avoided in town halls for half a year, their emails rebuffed with stale recycled boilerplate messages that defined much ado about nothing. The will of the people, seen in poll after poll, screamed that the elected officials neither cared nor listened.
Yet the State GOP believes that the best answer for this dearth of accounability in the Senate and Congress is a rollercoaster ride of public opinion? Exactly how is such a “platform” a diagram of success, or confidence building with voters?
No matter who is ultimately elected to office, they should have clear goals and well defined beliefs that voters can gauge them by. Because the option of bad leadership cannot be replaced by a vacuum or worse yet the vague promise of ‘I’m not as bad as that one’. Such a non-answer might bode well in a high school election, but the stakes are massively greater with repercussions that will last perhaps decades.
Given the choice of blind partisanship, as has been displayed over the past year, and the vacuum of thought as presented by Cox, the best choice might well be neither Party getting any votes at all.
But there are other candidates. And there is time. Hopefully at some point before November someone will stand up and take a position, and if we are lucky that position will reflect the majority of New Yorkers thus deserving our votes. Otherwise it may be that you can give the people sand and they will drink it.
