Now a word for the other side....Before the local Dems crow too wildly about their prospects, let me introduce you to Bill.
Bill is a sixty-ish hard working guy in retail whom I have known for years and is a registered Democrat.....I was chatting with him during dinner at Pete's (surprise).
Bill regularly votes for the Aubertines and the Schumers, but this year he wants nothing to do with incumbents. Bill tells me he has had enough and is disgusted with the whole Albany and Washington scene.
Bill is one of those people who is not in a union and not a government employee and as such is a persuadable voter. As he sits tonight, he is anti-incumbent above all else.....
If your name is Hennessey or Ford, voting is easy...You vote the party....But for guys like Bill who have thought of themselves as Democrats, it's not so automatic.
That is the reason the Dohenys and the Ritchies are very much in the hunt although conventional wisdom suggests otherwise. It's not a party thing...not a desire for the GOP to be in charge...It's a visceral revulsion of the current ruling class.
There are people out there who are mad as Hell....Bill is one of them.
7 comments:
"...not a desire for the GOP to be in charge..."
That I agree with. I know a lot of voters who are anti-incumbent yet still wouldn't vote for a contemporary Republican, unless he or she was a Republican of the Scozzafava breed.
I, for example, am a Democrat and not voting for incumbent state legislators. After every one of them sat on their hands while Governor Paterson begged them to cut spending, I vowed I wouldn't cast any votes for their re-elections. However, if my only other choice is one of the socially conservative Republicans or teabaggers, I'll simply skip the line on the ballot.
8:56 , I feel the same way. I am a democrat, but I am not voting for anymore foolishness; because it always comes back to haunt, "we the people". The only hard part is sorting out who would be a good candidate. The young folks ,people claim, do not have a lot of experience. Then the older folks try to hoodwink you, like you born yesterday. You know what I say ,"let thier actions and ethics speak for themselves, whether they are currently in office/or running for office. The good one will shine through.
But how can we be suspicious of young candidates and their lack experience. The more a politician gains experience the more crooked they become, the more they can appoint their friends to government postisions, the more they can channel money and resist efforts to unseat them. Why is this prefereable to an experience legislator like Sheldon Silver, who continally steals from everybody, and everybody's future. Why not try something else? Vote out all incumbents.
I have never understood how someone could vote their party line straight across the board for the simple reason it was the party they belonged to.
I believe I am able to make my own decisions and choices. I have crossed party lines almost every time I vote because I vote for the person I feel would represent me the best whether they belong to the same party I do or not.
I work in an office with a number of dyed-in-the-wool, always voted Democratic, folks who, for the past 6 months to a year just shake their head every time our state does something non-productive. They are ALL talking about voting out incumbents - and that means their own Democratic party. That language would NEVER come out of their mouths and that shows how pi$$ed off these people are.
I split my vote all the time was a 4 decade Elephant till i got burned by the Pataki meltdown in courage then registered Dem got burned by Spitzer and the non performance of the curent NYS legislature . I am angry at lack of ethical behavior , the inability of the legislature to make the difficult but necessary cuts and the general malaise in NYS politics thus i have no choice but TO EVICT ALL INCUMBENTS or things will not change . Sorry but that is where my interests are either PERFORM Ethically , Rationally and decisively to make the state live within its revenue or YOU lose my vote
Voting out incumbents - but will the party help a novice get on the ballot - or an old trusted loyalist who has never been elected - doubtful.
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