I have not been following this race very closely because I have not lived in New York since I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1984. I voted absentee for several elections while I was overseas, but gradually lost touch with what was happening there despite my mom’s best efforts to keep me informed.
When the Air Force moved me to Virginia I decided to vote locally here in Virginia, as races in upstate New York are typically very one-sided and non-competitive. That was then, it turns out that this year the race in the 24th district is close, very close. Way too close to call.
Sherwood Boehlert (the incumbent Republican) announced his retirement way back in March. Michael Arcuri was already running then, well before Boehlert’s announcement and well before the primary. While many in the area were excited by this news, my family was not. Oneida County District Attorney Arcuri has won some of his elections by less than scrupulous means, and some of the “sex-offenders” he went after to get election votes were actually clinical social workers doing research for the District Attorney when they were charged. We know the social worker in this case, we know he was innocent, and we know that Arcuri simply went after him for sensationalist journalism to help his own campaign. We hoped there’d be more choices, but Arcuri scared the other prospective candidates off by claiming only someone who had a proved record of being elected in Oneida county could win in this mostly Republican district.
On the republican side, state senator Ray Meier managed to run unopposed in the Republican primary despite an interesting challenge from Ken Camera (who simply could not get enough signatures). The district is very large geographically, and it’s a shame Camera could not get on the ballot; for he is very interesting as a candidate.
A Libertarian is on the general election ballot; Mike Sylvia also looks like a great candidate, though conventional wisdom is that no one can challenge the two party rule of the United States. We’d love to see that changed…
So the ballot will have three candidates, and the press has been all over how miserable the two big party candidates are running their campaigns. Neither Arcuri nor Meier have managed to drum up much support in their prospective district (the money is huge, but it’s all flowing in from outside the district by the national parties).
Arcuri has poisoned his Democratic and liberal base by stating that he is in favor of the Iraq War and he’d have voted for the recent law that strips away habeas corpus. What kind of Democrat is that!?
Meier is so right-wing offensive and socially conservative, that Boehlert’s moderate base is not supporting him, and he could not even secure an endorsement from the retiring congressman.
Polls for both these men are low, and neck and neck. This makes it appear to be a close race between them. My suggestion to voters in the 24th: vote for Mike Sylvia as the least evil choice. Seriously. He has a chance.
As the one Libertarian in congress he is not likely to do much harm. He’d be sought out by members of both the Democrats and the Republicans as a possible swing vote in congress. He’d have influence far beyond his one vote, and you can vote for Ken Camera in the 2008 election (he’s a better candidate anyway).
Gah! And I thought our choices were limited in Virginia!
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