| I'm not here to point out what David Weiss said to Times Union reporter Carol DeMare. That will take care of itself in my interview with David Weiss, which will appear before primary day. But I am here to just transcribe some of the print version (since none of it appears on the TU website) as well as provide a bit of insight.
A teaser for the story was on the front page of the Capital Region section of the Thursday, September 4th, 2008 Albany County edition of the paper as such:
3-way race for Breslin seat
For the first time, the incumbent state senator faces challengers in the Democratic primary./D5
While factually correct, I have a couple of simple problems with this. First and foremost, that seat is ours, not Neil Breslin's, the same way every single seat in the State Legislature belongs to the constituents and not the legislators themselves. That's the first major reason our state government is seen as so dysfunctional. Secondly, in their coverage of several other primary races for state legislature and even county party committee, the story has seen front page coverage. An open question to the Times Union's editor might be: why are we burying this story, guys?
Inside, the headlines read like this:
Breslin faces party rivals Tuesday
Longtime state Senate incumbent facing primary opposition for first time
We also see a smiling picture of Senator Breslin (albiet from about ten years ago...what gives?) and his two challengers, Charlie Voelker with his mouth open and eyebrows raised, and David Weiss with a serious look on his face, both shots very blotchy. Anybody who's studied subliminal messaging can understand that one.
Now for the meat of the article. First, on Senator Breslin, who of course get the most words of the story as incumbents always do:
Two Democrats are vying with long-term incumbent State Senator Neil D. Breslin for the party's nomination in Tuesday's primary election for the 46th District state Senate seat.
Breslin, 66, of Delmar is seeking is seventh two-year term and has never faced a primary challenge. He said he feels confident that Democrats will win control of the Republican-dominated Senate in November, and if he's re-elected, it would put him in a senior position.
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Breslin, an attorney, who is of counsel to the Albany firm of Hiscock & Barclay, has served the "highest levels" of the Senate minority and has passed "more legislation than any Democrat in the past 12 years," he said.
He has been a member of the Finance Committee and the ranking Democrat on the Insurance Committee, and in that role, testified before Congress on insurance and health care issues.
"I want to be around to be part of universal health care," he said, adding it could happen in New York before it happens nationally.
For a supporter of either David Weiss or Charlie Voelker, the focus on incumbency is fantastic. In the big year of change of 2008, and at a time when the words "state government" and "dysfunction" are synomous, nothing could have been more positive coverage for either challenger. What's missing is a key fact that is very unique to Senator Breslin: his two brothers are the County Executive and the County Judge, giving one family a lock on all three branches of government in a county that already has a history of Democratic machine politics. And very little is mentioned about the Senator's involvement in Hiscock & Barclay, which is of course the largest union-busting law firm in the state. Indeed, one of the firms members, Republican Assemblyman Wil Barclay, lost a very highly publicized special election for State Senate earlier this year, which could very well be the reason the Seante is so close to a Democratic majority in the first place.
On to Conservative Party endorsed candidate Charlie Voelker:
Voelker is associate athletic director at the University of Albany and in that position handles corporate development and external revenue opportunities.
"We really need to run the state as a business and instead of taxing everyone as an answer, we need to look at revenue opportunities," he said. "Just like any other business we need to watch how we spend our dollars and operate for the benefit of the people who elect us."
In campaigning, he has realized, "that people want somebody to listen to them and listen to their problems and try to help them in their day-to-day lives," he said.
So Charlie Voelker comes off sounding exactly like your average Conservative party candidate, as well as very naive. In the 21st Congressional District, the Republicans have been repeating the same "government as a business" talking point for several unsucessful election cycles and it never works. And if Voelker had realized that people wanted someone to listen to them, he should have run a door-to-door campaign instead of just borrowing tens of thousands of dollars to buy television commercials. Which, by the way, are extrememly poor quality. It's safe to say he will not win this primary, but it's still good that his campaign is being reported on, and he will be on the ballot in November on the Conservative party line.
In the middle of the article, is David Weiss's story. And he deserves the most space because he's been campaigning at the grass-roots level with the same tenacity as any one of the Congressional candidates in Albany County. Recently, Democratic candidate Phil Steck noted he'd hit over 20,000 doors in NY-21; David Weiss has hit over 13,000 in a district less than half the size. Here's the relevant portion of the article:
"This country needs real focus and real vision that I don't feel" is happening now, said Weiss, a wind power and renewable energy advocate, consultant, and environmental activist.
He wants legislation passed "to allow community ownership of energy development ... Without this I see skyrocketing costs."
His company is the "only utility-scale wind developer in the country that would allow land-owners, or the state, counties, or towns to won the wind rights" at a substantial savins, Weiss said. Even if Democrats remain in the minority, Weiss feels this legislation could pass.
This is actually a rather good summary, though there is much more to the story. Of course, if you want more you should either head to David Weiss's website where he links to the proposed legislation and offers up much more detail on both that issue and other aspects.
The key points in the above quotes are David's optimism that this can be done despite the party-based control of the Senate and in how much of an impact the issue has. As I mentioned, I heard what Weiss actually told the reporter, and this article is still by far the smallest and most deeply buried off all the Times Union's articles on the 2008 primary elections.
I won't spill too much, and I did just happen to be there canvassing with him, but he said that the energy issue truly is connected to all the other ones, and while I can't quote him right now, I can give the gist of what he said because it's what I believe as well: there's no schools for education without energy, no hospitals for health care without energy, no jobs maintained or food produced and distributed without energy...you get the gist. And we've been using mainly nasty, polluting energy sources like oil and coal for this energy source for years, and the rising cost and volatility of these energy markets are probably the number one reason (besides the war in Iraq, which is a Federal issue) that our economy is so down in the dumps right now. Finally, David Weiss isn't so much an "advocate" of renewable energy as he is a nationally recognized expert on it.
In addition, Senator Breslin has been well-known to use his position of being in the minority as an excuse for not being able to get much done. But that doesn't stop him from claiming he's passed tons of legislation (most of which are useless proclamations) and it certainly doesn't stop Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco from making a big stink every time he wants to get something done in his house with it's Democratic super-majority. Just saying...and that's basically what David Weiss is saying out at the doors as well, to excellent responses.
I think that could have been included on page D5 instead of some puff piece on how a local amusement park is looking for little kids to dress up as ghosts on Halloween, don't you? Indeed, the same page featured twice as much space devoted to, you guessed it, blotters and dockets on stuff like baby-shaking and a marijuana bust. To which I say: there's a good reason why people at the doors all over the county refer to the paper as The Times Useless.
Still, since people are all in tune to politics since Labor Day has passed (at least, that's the conventional wisdom) it was great to finally see some real coverage of the race that could surprise everybody. Stay tuned for more from the ground with David Weiss as well as for much more from the candidate, in his own words, in the upcoming interview. |
