SARANAC LAKE—It wasn't the political right, but rather the Democrats who sent a message in Bill Owens' successful bid to replace John McHugh in Congress.
"Tonight with the entire country watching, Upstate New Yorkers sent a message," Owens said at his victory party in Plattsburgh. "We came together tonight as Democrats, Republicans, and Read More
PLATTSBURGH—Here's a new theme of the Owens campaign: vote for me because I'm not one of those horrible people who are mistreating Dede Scozzafava.
The Democratic Party's congressional candidate interrupted a supporter at the Clinton County Democratic headquarters here on Route 3 to call comments made by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh "obscene." This Read More
ALBANY—Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava just held a conference call to rag on her opponents in a special Congressional election.
Scozzafava said it was a "crime" that Bill Owens and Doug Hoffman, the Democratic and Conservative party nominees against her, are not going to a debate planned tonight at News10Now in Syracuse.
"I just Read More
ALBANY—Could Doug Hoffman actually win a seat in Congress?
He's been cast, understandably, in the spoiler role—the guy running to the right of Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, who would siphon off enough votes from her that Bill Owens, the Democratic Party's nominee, would win the race to replace John McHugh. But the legs Read More
ALBANY—Of the three candidates seeking to replace John McHugh in Congress, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava most clearly articulated what she supports and where she'd like a bill reforming health care to go.
I interviewed all three candidates for the seat recently, and tried to make them be as specific as possible about some of Read More
ALBANY—Doug Hoffman isn't taking no for an answer.
The enrolled Republican was passed over during a selection process last month that made Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava the party's candidate to replace John McHugh in Congress. He announced he is seeking the Conservative Party's nomination, but he is also hoping Republican powers that Read More
When news got out that Michael Bloomberg was planning to meet with Republican county chairmen to seek their approval to run in their primary, I wrote that the event probably marked the beginning of the end of John Catsimatidis, another billionaire looking to run for mayor on the Republican line.
Catsimatidis supporters reacted strongly, Read More
After hisa press conference on Rudy Giuliani and the presidential race in midtown yesterday, I asked former congressman and Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari about the Republican Party here in New York. “We are struggling for survival--that’s how serious it is,” he told me. To save it, it’s going to take “strong Read More
In an interesting bit of 2009-related news, The New York Sun noted that John Catismatidis, a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton who said he wants to run for mayor as a Republican, just hired a Republican advisor, Rob Ryan.
Ryan, you may recall, worked for former Yonkers mayor John Spencer in a no-hope Senate Read More
More praise for Andrew Cuomo, at Eliot Spitzer;s expense, from an odd source:
"He has the opportunity to become what Spitzer wanted to be: the guy who cleans up Albany," former George Pataki aide Rob Ryan told me. "And that’s what people want.”
Andrew Cuomo isn’t doing interviews. (Really.) Unlike the abrasive candidate who barnstormed the state hoping to be Governor in 2002, or the one four years later who confessed to being more comfortable speaking to hundreds of people from a stage than to a handful in a living room, Mr. Cuomo is avoiding the spotlight. Or Read More
Also in this week's paper, I look how Andrew Cuomo is winning over critics in uncharacteristic fashion: by doing his job and not letting self-promotion get in the way. "What we're seeing is a guy who sees the value of letting the work speak for itself, as opposed to engaging in gratuitous public relations," Read More
While Eliot Sptizer, Joel Klein and other officials are conducting public efforts to win over their critics, one office-holder you'd think would be rushing into the spotlight is keeping a low profile. 75 days into Andrew Cuomo's tenure as Sherrif of Wall Street Attorney General, he's among the least attention-seeking officials. Just like his campaign, Read More
Don't expect any last-minute attacks on Hillary Clinton from John Spencer in these waning days of the campaign. "We're running a campaign on principles," Spencer's spokesman Rob Ryan told me. "We're talking about issues that are core republican issues, and we're talking about Senator Clinton's failure to properly serve the people of New York." "It's Read More
A reader notes John Spencer is in a category of his own. Unlike John Faso, Jeanine Pirro and Chris Callaghan, Spencer hasn't come out with an ad criticizing his opponent for being "friend" or "running mate" of Alan Hevesi. (Hillary, who is flustered with answering questions about Hevesi, called him a Read More
