Handicapping the NY-1 Race In Our New Home

See, The Carpetbaggers Go North Too Sometimes ....

While we are still SC6, the fact is that for almost a year now, NY1 has been our home base. To be honest, we haven't gotten involved at all up here. There's no time, and the political machinery here doen't allow a guy who's just a District Vice-Chair to move in - unless he can buy it. Therein lies the problem with our Primary race here on the East End of Long Island. BTW, if you look on the map between the dots for Smithtown and Centereach, that is where we are - maybe up just a tad.

First off, YES.... New York doesn't have it's primary until the second Tuesday of September, and YES - it is a definite advantage for the incumbent to have his opponent get 50 days to prepare for a General Election... It is what it is.

In this year of vulnerable Democrats, NY1's Tim Bishop is near the top of the list. Not well known, and only elected to a couple terms, Bishop is a weak Democrat in a Republican majority district, ripe for the picking. If we had a strong local candidate to put up, we would take this seat easily. Problem is, the bandwagon to take on Bishop has attracted a slew of candidates whose ink is still wet on their rental units....

All three GOP candidates - Randy Altschuler, Chris Cox and George Demos - have less than five years COMBINED of residency in the district. Yes, the carpetbaggers have moved back North, adn they're all running for Congress. The easy part of it is when your district includes the Hamptons, chances are you have a rich uncle or cousin who owns a cottage there, and suddenly, your a resident. How we only got these three to make the cut is beyond me, but it is what it is....

Luckily for the voters, carpetbagging is all they have in common. Altschuler is a tall, geeky-looking younger guy who started Office Tigers, Cox is a young Opie twin who's grandfather you might know - his name was Richard Nixon, and his dad is the state GOP Chair. Cox makes his living as a 'consultant', which always makes us nervous. Those who can do, those who can't....... Demos worked in the public sector, and is viewed as the outsider and staunchest conservative, but his ads have been the most negative, even if they are true. Would Ronald Reagan approve? We're not sure.

All things being equal, it does lead you to use your own personal philosophy on which candidate to choose. Personally, we like real world experience at job creation, and not too conservative on the social issues, so we give a very cautious nod to Altschuler. Meanwhile, we're going to make some friends in the meantime, so we can prepare for our 2012 run. Know anyone with a house in the Hamptons?

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