| I have been a Jon Powers supporter. I will always be a supporter of Jon's and a friend of Jon's. He has left a mark on this district that many of us will remember. I really hope he bounces back better than ever and serves his community, this region and the people of this area. Powers has a bright future and as I have told him many times, wherever he goes, I'll be sure to be right there fighting for him.
 In the 26th congressional district, we do have a Democratic nominee. That nominee is Alice Kryzan. She is a strong progressive who supports a green energy economy for Western New York and wants every American to have health insurance coverage. She wants to bring our troops home from Iraq safely and securely while bringing accountability and ethics to Washington D.C.
For those Democrats who might be upset that Powers or Jack Davis didn't win, let's look at the other option: Chris Lee. In today's Buffalo News, Lee gave us a lot of fodder. He said he supports the Bush tax cuts, which doesn't surprise us as Lee is a millionaire and has received the tax breaks while the rest of Western New York's middle class has picked up the slack for him. He also said that while he supports a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, he believes the timetable should be made by the military and not the politicians (even though it is the politicians who will need to set such a timetable). Lee also supports the same free trade practices that have hurt Western New York and shipped many of our jobs out of state or out of the country.
So, as a Democrat, you have to ask yourself: Do you want two more years of Republican representation that has done nothing for NY-26? Do you want another representative in the mold of (and endorsed by) Tom Reynolds? If not, the only option is to vote for Alice Kryzan. If you want to continue the abysmal Republican leadership here in NY-26, you will vote for Chris Lee. It's that simple.
Believe me, it will take time for a lot of us who supported Jon Powers to come around. I can tell you that if Jack Davis won, many of us (including myself) would not rally behind him. There are things Kryzan will need to overcome, but when considering our options, she is the best option. She is progressive, she is a Democrat and she won't go to Washington and further a Republican agenda. Instead, she will go to Washington D.C. and push a progressive and Democratic agenda for our area and for our country.
When ready, we need to rally behind Alice Kryzan and give her our votes in November. It will be tough after supporting Jon for 14 months. Some will join sooner or later. But if we allow Chris Lee to walk into this seat, we won't be doing ourselves any favors. Once this seat goes Republican, it will stay Republican. So we need to make sure we are voting with this in mind come November 4. We need to vote for the best candidate. That candidate is Alice Kryzan. |
