| The Democratic Rural Conference is beginning events in Saratoga today... without Governor Paterson, who picks governing over politics and will stay in Albany to work on the budget, rather than speaking to the crowd as scheduled. Some may miss seeing the Governor speak, but, they will be pleasantly surprised when Don Barber addresses the crowd as scheduled.
A week ago, building up to the theme of taking the State Senate, SD 51 candidate Don Barber and a bus full of supporters traveled all seven counties of the 51st SD, stopping at seven venues to announce the kickoff of Barber's campaign. It was fun-- although the gerrymandered district is too far-flung to be easy to traverse. Here is a map .
|
| Herkimer Progressive did a good post on the stop in Little Falls-- check it out here. Some other TAP folks have left comments here, too-- like folks throughout the district, they met the bus at one of the seven stops and cheered Don on as he made his campaign kick-off speech. A busload of supporters traveled the entire route, 4:30 AM to 6:30 PM-- and, I can tell you, because I saw it with my own eyes, had a really upbeat time of it cheering Don on.
The speech was very good, and tailored to each of the seven stops, Catskill, Cobleskill, Little Falls, Oneonta, Sherburne, Cortland and Caroline. For me, the high point was probably either Cortland-- where frisky cows kicked up their heels at the commotion while Don gave his campaign-kick-off speech at his Mother's relatives' farm.... or, maybe Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton's passionate speech in Caroline about why we need good, solid Dems like Don in the Senate in Albany, to end the frustrating gridlock. The low point was definitely Oneonta, where the local press did not show up (only one of the seven stops for that-- good coverage, including TV, most of the way). Were they scared? Bought off? Oneonta was also the only place where a "counter-demonstration" to Don's campaign kick-off took place: about 35 people with professionally-printed signs reading "This is Seward Country!" lined the street opposite our kick-off event in the public square downtown. It was creepy, some were laughing in a way I found menacing. Did they think that Seward even having an opponent announce was cause for protest? Some democracy, that.
Back on the bus, one of my fellow supporters repeated that old Gandhi saying: first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. That made us feel better. The group had marvelous esprit de corps, and enthusiastic supporters met... and FED... us everywhere we stopped.
Can one genuine candidate who truly wants to "be your voice in Albany" and "carry your dreams to Albany" really prevail over the entrenched, semi-feudal state that has prevailed over Seward's 22 years in office? If the determination of the candidate, his staff, and his supporters is an indication, it is entirely possible. People beleive, as Don said, that "we deserve better."
Help it happen-- check out his web site at http://www.barberforsenate.com/. |
