Morning after
* Voters, commentators were saying this morning, were unhappy with Bush and want change, so Democrats picked up far more seats than they needed to control the House of Representatives. But not in Western New York. The state’s Republicans knew exactly what they were doing when they drew our Congressional district lines. Even with the war, the president’s low popularity, the Foley scandal, and strong Democratic challengers, every Western New York seat was a safe seat. And unless something dramatic happens in the counting of absentee ballots, Jim Walsh, Randy Kuhl, and Tom Reynolds will be back in Congress in January.
* I’m still befuddled at the Democrat and Chronicle’s Congressional endorsements. The editorial-page editors went for Eric Massa over Randy Kuhl, and they seem to have been concerned about a lot that the Bush administration has been up to. But like a lot of voters, for this crucial election, Bush was forgotten. What mattered was that Upstate Republicans had brought home the bacon. OK, sure: Representatives are supposed to work for the interests of the folks back home. But that’s just part of their job. Just as important -- more important, right now -- is forging national policy. The men Upstate is sending back to Washington will do all they can to support the Bush disasters.
* Well, at least the ads will stop. “Ugly” doesn’t begin to describe the House and Senate campaigns around the country. And then there was the money spent on them -- $2.6 billion, according to the latest reports. “Obscene,” growled Lou Dobbs during CNN’s election report last night. Yes indeed. And just think what the country could do with that money if it were channeled toward education or health care.
* Speaking of ads: it’s a petty thing, in the overall scheme of things. But the first reform I want Eliot Spitzer to work on is political phone ads. Our home has been blessedly free from telemarketing calls since we signed up on the Do Not Call registry. But when the politicians passed that legislation, they did the predictable. They excluded themselves.
-- Mary Anna Towler
* I’m still befuddled at the Democrat and Chronicle’s Congressional endorsements. The editorial-page editors went for Eric Massa over Randy Kuhl, and they seem to have been concerned about a lot that the Bush administration has been up to. But like a lot of voters, for this crucial election, Bush was forgotten. What mattered was that Upstate Republicans had brought home the bacon. OK, sure: Representatives are supposed to work for the interests of the folks back home. But that’s just part of their job. Just as important -- more important, right now -- is forging national policy. The men Upstate is sending back to Washington will do all they can to support the Bush disasters.
* Well, at least the ads will stop. “Ugly” doesn’t begin to describe the House and Senate campaigns around the country. And then there was the money spent on them -- $2.6 billion, according to the latest reports. “Obscene,” growled Lou Dobbs during CNN’s election report last night. Yes indeed. And just think what the country could do with that money if it were channeled toward education or health care.
* Speaking of ads: it’s a petty thing, in the overall scheme of things. But the first reform I want Eliot Spitzer to work on is political phone ads. Our home has been blessedly free from telemarketing calls since we signed up on the Do Not Call registry. But when the politicians passed that legislation, they did the predictable. They excluded themselves.
-- Mary Anna Towler
posted by the editor at 10:24 AM
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