NY-20: Tedisco has officially lost his marbles

WTF (4.00 / 7)

Can anyone get their mind around this move? It seems to bespeak a total divorce from reality. The space/time continuum has apparently burst open at Tedisco HQ.

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by: Hudson @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 00:46:16 AM CDT

His court petition 3 hours into election day (4.00 / 5)

also requested that he be declared the winner. Most folks in the district hadn't even voted yet and he wanted the court to declare him winner.

It is indeed simply mind boggling.

I guess his thinking is that he is the Republican therefore he is rightfully the winner.

Elections are for losers... i.e. Democrats.

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by: Andrew C. White @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 08:29:59 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Have you seen the petition? (4.00 / 1)

Does he give any reason why he should be declared the winner?

He didn't give any reason in his election day petition either. He simply said "Declare me KING!"

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by: Andrew C. White @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 08:34:12 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

No, I don't know that the petition is online yet (4.00 / 1)

And I don't see any press release from Tedisco. If anyone finds out more, please post it here.

The fact that Dem Election Commissioner Virginia Martin responds to and appears to confirm the story in the Reg-Star indicates this is for real.

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by: Hudson @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:32:22 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bizarre (4.00 / 1)

absolutely bizzzzzzare.

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by: Andrew C. White @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:18:15 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Let's call him "Dim" Tedisco (4.00 / 3)

from now on.

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by: Hudson @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:07:55 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Or "DarthVisco" (4.00 / 2)

T'Disco, Teddy Disco, Jimmy Disco, ...

No, we can't do that.  Name calling makes us sound nearly as bad as the tea-baggers.

And although he might be dim, his handlers aren't, or we wouldn't be having this discussion and Scott Murphy would be in Washington.

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by: Patriotic_Reader @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:18:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

OK, here's the Tedisco campaign's spin... (4.00 / 1)

Via The Hill:

UPDATE: We've received some clarification from the Tedisco campaign. The purpose of the petition was simply to mirror a similar motion filed two weeks ago that named Joe Mondello, Chairman of the New York Republican Party, as plaintiff. Murphy's lawyers had raised questions about Mondello's standing, so the Tedisco campaign re-filed the motion last night as an "insurance policy"-it was not meant as a new effort to be declared winner in spite of the vote count.

The petition is "procedurally something we are utilizing to make sure we maintain the standing necessary to maintain the court's oversight of the recount," said James Walsh, counsel to the Tedisco campaign. "This just brings Mr. Tedisco as a plaintiff to make sure we preserve all of our rights."

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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by: Hudson @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 12:55:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The NRCC seems headed towards the courts too (4.00 / 2)

From: ********** [mailto:********@nrcc.org]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 12:04 PM
To:
Subject: NY-20 Update

Hi there, I wanted to give you an update on NY-20. As of last night, Tedisco was down by only 86 votes (Official BOE count). This represents a .05% differential between the two campaigns. Seven of the ten counties have completed counting their absentee ballots and all ballot counting should be complete by Friday. 6,200 absentee ballots have been counted so far with approximately 570 remaining. Approximately, 1,550 absentee ballots have been challenged by attorneys for either the Tedisco or Murphy campaigns. These ballots are not included in the overall numbers. The election will most likely be decided in the courts.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/...

...but there is a big difference here between "likely to be decided..." and this nonsense. I would want to double-check the reporter's version and verify. This seems like something out of The Twilight Zone.

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by: Scarce @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 03:52:30 AM CDT

DOJ Bushie Court-packing, etc.? (4.00 / 5)

OK.... was all that nastiness that went on in the Bush administration with litmus tests for DOJ appointments all about setting the stage for this kind of thing?  Sheesh.  The price of liberty is indeed constant vigilance.  Fair elections and impartial courts are the cornerstones of any democracy.

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by: robinia @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 07:20:28 AM CDT

If "Tedisco" and" Winner" appear in the same headlines often enough... (4.00 / 2)

... will the people believe it?  

Is this a propaganda tactic with the long tern effect to get the people to believe that Democrats like Morphy and Franken steal elections?  Fuel for the "they are all crooks" turn-off and apathy we heard so much of when talking to potential Murphy voters?  

Or do we need to start painting "Save the 10th Amendment!" signs as the rights of NY and MN are being set up to be shipped off to the Reagan-Bush-Bush dominated federal courts, Y2K all over again?  

My guess?  Either or both.  That's how Republicans do business.  

One question that keeps coming to mind disturbs me the most. "How could nearly 50% of my neighbors have been so stupid?"  The exception being the 17% tea-baggers, I know they are not.  But as Amy Goodman says, "The people aren't stupid.  Propaganda is a very powerful tool."  (And not too many people can provide an accurate description of propaganda, let alone recognize it.)

Propaganda Critic and The Institute for Propaganda Analysis  

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by: Patriotic_Reader @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:09:44 AM CDT

Tedesco calling himself the winner (4.00 / 4)

isn't going to change anything. The people aren't that stupid. If they were, Tedesco would have actually been elected to begin with.

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by: pollbuster @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:23:06 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I can see a great comedy skit here along the lines of (4.00 / 3)

Sam Seder and Jeanine Garafolo doing Senator Katherine Harris who swore she was the new Senator from Florida even though Bill Nelson got 2 million more votes!

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by: politics64 @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:40:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

pretty sure it already is a great comedy skit (4.00 / 4)

Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/SteveinNYC

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by: SteveinNYC @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:40:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

GMTA (4.00 / 2)

And there is always the "Bring out your dead" scene.  "But 'es not quite dead yet!  Can you come back later?" or however that went.

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by: Patriotic_Reader @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:50:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

ad nauseum is a highly effective tactic (4.00 / 3)

Like I said, only 17% of the people are stupid, the tea-baggers.  

By rule of thumb, 33% of all voters are quite apathetic, and most vulnerable to propaganda.  Ad nauseum is one of the most effective tactics of conveying propaganda.   The goal of propaganda is to replace reality with false belief.  

17% (teabaggers of the base who will never change)

PLUS

33% (smart, yet busy or apathetic people vulnerable to false belief rather than honest reality, targeteed by Republican strategy to shrug their shoulders and say "They are all crooks")

EQUALS

50%  (the whole reason we are having this discussion in the first place)

I believe that at least part of what the Republicans are doing today, here and in MN, is setting up people for a future of more disgruntled apathy-  a subtle form of voluntary disenfranchisement of ordinary citizens.  

An interesting note is that by moving their absurd battle to Dutchess County, that they have largely escaped the media that covers the greater part of CD-20, media that could not help but to provide a dose of reality to constituents.  Is anyone other than the Register-Star or http://www.politickerny.com/ta...  providing this contest with any level of detailed, decent reporting?  

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by: Patriotic_Reader @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:13:04 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Or is it all about $$$$ ? (4.00 / 2)

As long as the Republicans can generate headlines, and portray a glimmer of hope via ad-nauseum, dollars will continue to flow and the campaign lawyers and strategists will continue to line their pockets.  

And we can bet our last dollars that those dollars aren't coming from we, the ordinary people, the ones who are supposed to have influence over our own electoral process.

We can do better.  If every Murphy voter provided a dollar, his legal fund would double.  Same if just 8,000 gave $10.  But more realistically, if just 1% of us skip the next ball game and give $100 instead, we just might be able to preserve an important slice of Democracy.  

Can you donate?  
Green is an essential color for grass roots

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by: Patriotic_Reader @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:47:10 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hail Mary! (4.00 / 7)

It's hard to say without seeing the substance of the petition, but my bet is that this is Tedisco's final Hail Mary (remember, the Monsters are never dead - they always come back one last time)!

He's realized that he had lost if the process proceeded with the current counting and the rules now in place, so they slowed the counting by heading to a Yankees game and by arguing today that they need more guidance from the court and are trying to figure out how to change the rules once again.  This is an act of desperation.  

Isn't the 20th CD glad it dodged this bullet, and didn't get stuck with this man as Congressman?

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by: Hyde @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:15:46 AM CDT

Tedesco is desperately trying (4.00 / 3)

to stay relevant in this election, and the best way to do it is just declare yourself the winner. I wouldn't worry about it very much.

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by: pollbuster @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:19:40 AM CDT

Front page on Kos (4.00 / 4)

congrats!

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by: Roatti @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:35:23 AM CDT

It's time to call (4.00 / 2)

the men in the white coats carrying big butterfly nets to take Tedisco away.

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by: zorro24 @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:38:15 AM CDT

Congrats to Hudson for Kos front Page! (4.00 / 3)

You hit the big times my friend!

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by: politics64 @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 09:43:48 AM CDT

Congressman Murphy (4.00 / 4)

now leads by 264.

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by: zorro24 @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:17:56 AM CDT

I think the courts should declare me the winner. (4.00 / 3)

If you can be the winner even though your opponent has more votes, why stop there?  Maybe you don't even have to be a candidate.

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by: zorro24 @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:34:15 AM CDT

And again, Jimmy Vielkind comes through... (4.00 / 1)

... with his usual detailed coverage.  

http://www.politickerny.com/31...  

(I'm begining to wonder if the Times Union subscribes to CD-20, or why the people of CD-20 subscribe to the TU?)

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by: Patriotic_Reader @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 10:42:30 AM CDT

Did Murphy's lawyers miss a trick? (4.00 / 2)

It would seem that if Murphy's lawyers were challenging the standing of Joe Mondello to sue in Tedisco's stead, Murphy's sue crew should have filed in another venue their own motion to be declared the winner. That way, if Mondello was found not to have standing to sue in Brand's court, Murphy's filing would take precedence thereby taking it out of the partisan Brands clutches.

I suppose that it is possible that they didn't want to start from scratch, but I would like a lawyer to weigh in here (I just play one on the blogtopia).

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by: haydenmountain @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 15:22:01 PM CDT

Good point n/t (0.00 / 0)

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by: Hudson @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 11:41:10 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Who is James Walsh? (0.00 / 0)

Is Tedisco's lawyer the same James Walsh who was just booted from Congress by Dan Maffei?

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by: Dan Jacoby @ Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 16:19:46 PM CDT

You know.... (0.00 / 0)

I was wondering that, too, although it is a pretty common name.

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by: robinia @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 15:05:24 PM CDT

[ Parent ]