SD-46: Weiss Campaign: "To Be Continued..."

by: Soundpolitic

Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 14:46:00 PM EDT

Hi.

As most of you know, I came in second on Tuesday's primary, 14% of the vote.

Everyone's been asking how I feel.

I feel great because I know that I did the best possible job I could.  I was out every single day all summer, knocking on about 200 doors a day (getting, by the way, an incredibly encouraging response along the way), working 20 hours a day and organizing some great volunteers.

And everyone also wants to know what I've learned.

Although I went into this thing knowing I was going against a huge machine, but I didn't realize the extent to which the local media would black out this story.  The Spotlight wrote a nice article, but Times Union & WAMC studiously avoided mentioning the race.

As to what I'm going to do next?

Check below the fold for the answer to that big question...

SD-46: Senator Breslin Holds Off First Primary Challenge

by: Soundpolitic

Wed Sep 10, 2008 at 01:44:42 AM EDT

Unnofficial reports from 100% of 345 Albany County precincts show that Neil Breslin will hold his line and his seat as two challengers split a contested anti-incumbent vote in the September 9 primary.

STATE SENATOR 46 DEM

Neil D Breslin
15,796 (76%)

David N Weiss
2,750 (13%)

Charlie Voelker
2,310 (11%)

Senator Neil Breslin will be up for re-election to on the Democratic, Working Families, and Independence Party lines in November. There, he will face off against Charlie Voelker again, who has the Conservative Party line, too.  David Weiss will not be on the ballot.

Senator Breslin is the brother of both County Executive Mike Breslin and Albany County Judge Tom Breslin.  The 46th Senate District is entirely and exclusively Albany County.  Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 80,000 in Albany County and are are expected to win all races in the 2008 General down the ticket.  

Senator Breslin will likely recieve his seventh term in office after his first Democratic primary challenge, and return to the Senate in 2009.  The big question facing Senator Breslin, and all Senate Democrats, is whether he will begin to serve in the majority next year.

SD-46: David Weiss Responds to Sen. Breslin's Energy "Plan"

by: Soundpolitic

Mon Sep 08, 2008 at 13:46:50 PM EDT

From the first paragraph, and based on the questionable policy details of the plan, it's clear that Sen. Breslin made the announcement only because his primary opponent, David Weiss, is a nationally recognized expert on renewable expert and has made it the key part of his platform in his incredibly strong grassroots challenge.  David Weiss responds to the ploy in the article as well after the fold:

ALBANY -- Facing his first ever primary challenge this week, Democratic state Sen. Neil Breslin on Sunday urged Senate Republicans to return to Albany to pass an energy plan that would give money to families earning up to $85,000 a year.
::
But Weiss, 51, a wind power advocate, suggested there is money to pay for the program -- contrary to Republican beliefs. "The senators should not take their 200 million dollars of line items ... there is money."

More below this fold on why Senator Breslin's plan is political pandering and David Weiss's platform is necessary to change our State's energy policy for real...

SD-46: A Letter to the Editor for David Weiss

by: Soundpolitic

Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 23:34:51 PM EDT

The best part about this paper are the several pages devoted to letters to the editor right after the front page each week.  Yet these letters are not posted online, most likely as a privacy concern for the writers or as a space-saving measure for the publication's webstite.  The Enterprise has a long-standing policy of not publishing such letters in the week before an election so that unconfirmed information is not allowed to sway any race.

Yet the crux of the letter has to do with the lack of coverage of the Democratic Primary in New York's 46th Senate District in larger, corporate media outlets has been designed to sway the race in favor of an incumbent by ignoring a strong primary challenger, and the information has been confirmed and I believe it deserves to be given more light of day in the online record of the race.

Below the fold is the full text of my letter as it appeared in print last week...

SD-46: Press Finally Recognizes David Weiss

by: Soundpolitic

Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 08:53:42 AM EDT

The article makes no mention of the websites of any of the three Democrats who will face off this Tuesday, including that of Conservative Party-backed Charlie Voelker.  Nor does the article appear in an online version, so much is still to be desired.  But after nine months of campaigning, the paper of record for the 46th Senate District, which consists entirely of Albany County, finally recognized that Breslin will face two challengers, not just one.

It's interesting because a lot was left out of the article, which does in fact make a decent attempt at summarizing David Weiss's candidacy, as well as the reason he is running against Senator Breslin.  But even more interesting is the fact that this blogger knows just how much was left out because (surprise) the interview was conducted while I was out canvassing with David!

More below the fold...

SD-46: Prospective Voters Guide to David Weiss

by: Soundpolitic

Tue Aug 26, 2008 at 03:06:52 AM EDT

Prospective Voting:  Voting based on the imagined future performance of a candidate.

American Government, 9th ed., Lowi, Ginsberg, and Shepsle.  2006

When an incumbent legislator comes up for re-election for another term, many voters may look back in retrospect and vote on the past performance of the candidate in choosing whether or not to send that person back into government.  In the 46th State Senate District, coterminus with Albany County itself, Senator Neil Breslin is up for re-election, as are all member of the State Legislature.  A few weeks ago, we took one look back at what a retrospective voter might take into account in considering voting for anybody but Breslin based on past performance.

By contrast, when a new challenger arrives, there is no legislative record to run on, and as such, retrospective voting is impossible for that candidate.  In Albany County, Senator Breslin faces two challengers in a Democratic Primary as Charlie Voelker and David Weiss pose the first primary challenge to Senator Breslin in his 12 years as State Senator.  Both are making their first run for office, and as such their campaigns are rooted in their possible future performance if they are able to oust the incumbent.

As this blog is dedicated to promoting progressive Democratic candidates, the prospects of Charlie Voelker's victory will not be considered.  This is due to the two facts that he has the endorsement of the Conservative party and that nearly everyone once affiliated with his campaign has left after a poor ground game and struggling financially.  His website is linked to for all interested parties.

It is David Weiss, a grass-roots activist of 35 years with a national reputation for success in that area, who provides Democratic primary voters in Albany County with the prospect of getting something better.  That statement is made under the assumption that the incumbent has performed his absolute best, but has served a good long time.  It is now time for change all over the country, and that includes the New York State Senate. And David Weiss is a candidate who presents a future that we can safely imagine will be much better for the people of Albany County and of the State of New York.

Below the fold is everything one would need to know in order to vote for David Weiss based on his issue positions and the links provided on his website...

SD-46: A Conversation on Fair Coverage

by: Soundpolitic

Tue Aug 12, 2008 at 15:21:02 PM EDT

But every now and then, I've been surprised to find myself magically appearing on television in support of Barack Obama and even highlighted anonymously at one of the recent forums for the primary in the 21st Congressional District.  And I was the last to find out that I'd crept into the public eye.  This was the case when I picked up my copy of the Times Union yesterday to find my correspondence with that paper's recently assigned independent political coverage monitor, a Professor Charlotte Grimes of Syracuse University, taking up my calls for more equity in coverage in the Democratic Primary going on in the 46th State Senate District:

"Where is the equal coverage?" asks reader Aaron Cirelli.

In the presidential race, he hasn't seen much coverage of consumer activist and independent candidate Ralph Nader and of Ron Paul, a Texas congressman who had run as a Libertarian and a Republican.

Colin Abele, a blogger supporting Democrat David Weiss in the 46th Senate District primary, is upset that his candidate hasn't been covered much. "All I'm asking for is an acknowledgment of who's on the ballot," he e-mailed.

Both see the lack of coverage as "bias."

For the record, that's who I am, that's what I think, and below the fold I will continue this conversation on equal coverage, or rather the lack of it, in this very important, very real and very newsworthy primary in Albany County.  And not just because I don't mind other folks knowing what I think - chiefly, it's because I think folks should know the whole story so they can be fully informed to make their own choice on Primary Day.  Read on...

SD-46: Retrospective Voters' Guide to Senator Neil Breslin

by: Soundpolitic

Mon Aug 11, 2008 at 13:43:11 PM EDT

Retrospective Voting: Voting based on the past performance of a candidate

-Lowi, Ginsberg, Shepsle, American Government, 9th ed.,2006

When it comes to general elections, all of us here want to see a Democrat win the vast majority of the time.  This comes from the prospect of seeing a future Democratic majority in a particular arm of government, or to see a present Democratic majority made stronger.

But in our case, we are considering a primary election, one that pits Democrat against Democrat in a race to see which member of the party would best serve in the current or emerging majority.  In SD-46, coterminus with Albany County, incumbent Democratic State Senator Neil Breslin is facing a challenge from political new comers Charlie Voelker and David Weiss.  

Many see Democrats in primaries battling each other as opposed to our common opposition as no pretty sight.  But the reality of these elections is that they alone have the power to bring us the "better" part in our "more and better Democrats" mission.  And while the focus in the New York State Senate is to get more (just a couple and we've got the majority), in Albany County, there is the chance to get something better.  This will come about by either electing a new, more progressive representative or by pushing the incumbent toward more progressive positions.  Voters in these elections usually vote in one of two ways: they either practice prospective voting in favor of what their chosen candidate, incumbent or challenger, is pledging to legislate in the future.

The other method involves voting specifically against the incumbent because of past percieved mishaps.  And when a retrospective voter becomes convinced they can do the incumbent's job better than the serving legislator, this voting method becomes the very cornerstone of the challengers' campaigns.  Below the fold, we will take one - count 'em, one - good hard look at everything the retrospective voter needs or may want to know in order to vote against State Senator Neil Breslin in the Democratic Primary on September 9th...

SD-46: Democratic Primary Brewing in Albany County

by: Soundpolitic

Tue Jul 29, 2008 at 13:53:47 PM EDT

You can almost imagine the headlines.  A State Senator of 12 years, the brother of a county executive and a county judge, challenged by two upstarts in 2008,  the year of political change.  

One challenger speaks of intimidation of voters in the petitioning process; another racks up over 1,000 signatures on his own two feet.  The latter is also a prominent figure nationwide as an energetic environmental activist.  You can almost imagine the headlines...

And you still have to, because they haven't appeared in the mainstream media since Charlie Voelker and David Weiss made the ballot to challenge Neil Breslin.  It has been over three weeks since nominating petitions and fundraising receipts have been filed for office.

This story has been all but absent in the mainstream media.  The fact that it is an important choice regarding their self-representation warrants that it should have been covered by now.  But read on to discover just how baffling it is that the press wouldn't want to pick up on such a story.