By Mark Scheer/scheerm@gnnewspaper.com
Greater Niagara Newspapers
March 23, 2008 12:40 am
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U.S. Rep. Tom Reynolds’ retirement announcement shifted his congressional seat from “likely Republican” to “toss up,” according to the national elections analyst, the Cook Political Report.
According to the report, New York’s 26th Congressional District remains one of the most competitive in the country, while noting that Clarence teacher and Iraq war veteran Jon Powers will likely emerge as the Democratic nominee and could bring him the “flood of money and attention he has sought for months.”
The Cook Report rates races on a seven-point scale that includes ratings such as “solid Democrat” and “Likely Republican.”
Of the 435 congressional seats, only 13 are listed in the group’s “toss up” column, including the 26th District.
Tell me how you really feel
I now know how it feels to be a Niagara County legislator.
Yours truly got a pretty good tongue lashing this week from a reader who used part of her time in front of the Niagara County Legislature to admonish me for suggesting people are wasting their time talking to public officials during the public comment periods at public meetings.
She actually said she was appalled that I, as a reporter, would say such a thing.
I tried to call her this week to tell her that’s not really how I felt.
I guess she never got the message.
She was referring to a recent column item in which I addressed Sanborn resident Rosemary Warren and the brow-beating she took from Niagara-Wheatfield School Board member Don Moyer during the now infamous “blah, blah, blah” incident.
My original point was that, since elected officials don’t seem all that interested in listening to her, maybe Warren would be better off talking to crowds at college campuses or senior citizen centers or other venues where people of voting age tend to congregate.
What I was trying to say is that there is strength in numbers and, ultimately, votes are the only things that count when it comes to changing leadership in public office.
Warren told me this week she understood where I was coming from, although she did say she still thought it was important for people to tell politicians exactly how they feel about the work they are doing from time to time.
Fair enough.
Just so we’re clear, I have no problem with citizens as public speakers.
Very often, they are the only ones with anything interesting to say.
Just plain odd
New York state Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectedy-Saratoga, has an interesting take on what constitutes breaking news.
This week, his office issued a pair of taxpayer-funded press releases on the following subjects: his affinity for axe-throwing and his choices for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The first fax alerted the media to the fact that Tedisco has video of himself hitting the bulls eye in an axe-throwing competition with lumberjacks from Paul Smith’s College, just outside of Albany. It is posted to his blog at www.tediscotake.com.
That release was followed up by one a day later that announced Tedisco’s posting of his picks to win the March Madness tourney.
“In recent weeks, Tedisco has been right on target with his predictions, whether it be the Giants winning the Super Bowl by three points, hitting the bull’s eye in an axe-throwing competition, or predicting how much money the state will have to spend for next year’s budget,” the release notes.
No word yet if he’s had any success cutting taxes.
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