Small Potatoes
I met a man in Japan, a native speaker of Japanese, who claimed to speak both English and German equally well. In fact he spoke both languages in the same way; he said he could see no important difference between them.
That’s my view of the Democratic candidates who wish to represent NY-23 in Congress. I believe any of them would serve us well; I see no important difference between them. I may have a preference, I’m undecided at present, but I will gladly support the winner whichever one that might be.
In my opinion, it is important to work for the candidate of your choice and to vote your choice in the June 26th primary. I hope that the victor will be the one most able to challenge Tom Reed. To that end, I would like to see the candidates concentrate on how their views differ from Tom Reed’s and how they would serve us better than Tom Reed, rather than disputing fine points with each other.
New NY 23rd 
I agree. They are all good candidates and I will be proud to vote in November for whoever wins the primary. I’m not sure yet who I’ll vote for in the primary. I’m trying to be objective about who has the best realistic chance of beating Reed, rather than just going with my personal favorite. Its definitely not the time to be voting based on the old “who would you want to have a beer with” concept.
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How about conducting a poll before it is too late for the candidates to “deal” with the polling results ?
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How would candidates “deal with polling results,” Gary? They only need make their case and accept the results of the election.
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It is true there are many similarities between candidates but one candidate clearly stands out. He is a veteran, a businessman, a lawyer and has had more experience with the ways government works than Tom Reed. He has connected well with people ~ Republicans and Democrats across the 23rd and is committed to fight against the domestic threat to America personified in Donald Trump. Plus ~ it would be very difficult for Reed to mount a campaign against a man of such integrity. I’m voting for Max ~ not only because he is the best candidate ~ but because he also has what it takes to beat Tom Reed. I sincerely have tremendous respect for and would be honored to buy a round of beers for all five candidates but Max Della Pia has my vote.
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The candidate must be prepared to be slimed and dragged through the mud.I have observed Reed and his surrogates and the game plan is always the same. LIe about your opponent. Use the dog whistle terms. Imply or state that the opponent has positions they do not hold (like they are opposed to the 2nd Amendment, which is his favorite). The candidate has to be able to have a very thick skin and to be able to fight back by clearly articulating Reed’s voting record.
Reed will use the franking privilege to use taxpayer dollars to send out campaign literature on the last day it is legal. He will have those photo ops of seniors while he votes to cut Social Security. He will have photo ops of factory workers while he votes to destroy unions and keep wages low. He will misuse statistics about the tax giveaway that he supported. He will talk about health care while he voted over and over to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He will call for a reduction in help for those in need while he and his family received federal assistance when he was a boy.
If the race gets tight Reed’s surrogates will paint his opponent as a communist, a cheat, a liar and in bed with Nancy Pelosi. Whomever gets the nomination had better be able to fight back and fight back hard. Reed has a long history of being willing to do anything to win.
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Tom Reed has many advantages which the successful candidate must counter such as incumbency, money, and party affiliation. Political issues have been surprisingly irrelevant in previous campaigns. Reed’s posturing as a “bipartisan hero,” a respectable family man, from here, fighting for us, will not easily be overcome. Reed has been able to go negative without damage to his positive image; opponents haven’t been successful at that..
I trust that the voters will choose the strongest candidate, if they focus on that.
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I am holding off on endorsing anyone right now. However, I will tell you what my criteria are for deciding who to endorse. Actually, there are just two factors that I am looking at when deciding how to vote. 1) Who has the skill set that is most needed in Congress at this point in time. 2) Who has the greatest chance of beating Reed in November.
The first criteria can be broken down a bit further. Are we facing any unique threats as a democracy that we have not faced before? Does Congress have any members whose backgrounds especially prepare them to address those threat(s)?
The answer to the first question is obvious. The Russians have undermined our democracy by hacking into the DNC and John Podesta’s email accounts and releasing the emails through WikiLeaks and other venues. They have also established thousands of accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites to plant fake news stories meant to sow division within our country and throw the election to Donald Trump. They MIGHT also be using groups like the NRA to undermine our democracy.
No democratic candidate can solve the problem of treason on the right. But we desperately need someone with a firm grasp of cyber security and cyber policy issues in Congress to help prevent the manipulation and undermining of our democracy while keeping the internet as open and free as possible. There are LOTS of lawyers in Congress. There are business people in Congress. There are a few doctors in Congress. I don’t know if any members of Congress are elected to Congress with a cyber security and cyber policy background, but if there are, then they are relatively few. And there would be fewer still who are lawyers as well. I like all the other Democratic candidates. All would be a huge improvement over Reed. But Tracy has the skills that are most desperately needed NOW to keep our democracy functioning.
Of course, the most well-qualified candidate in the world won’t do us any good if they can’t beat Tom Reed. I am more uncertain about this criteria. This is why I’m still keeping an open mind as to who to vote for and I hope to read more arguments as to why Candidate X or Candidate Y has the strongest chance of beating Reed.
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I forgot to add two other points in the previous post. Though I think Tracy is most needed in Congress right now, I agree that all the candidates are well qualified and all would do a good job. And all will be a vast improvement over Reed.
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I didn’t intend to start a debate over the relative merits of the candidates, but only to stress the importance of choosing wisely and supporting whichever candidate is chosen. Tom Reed will relentlessly ferret out any weakness and ruthlessly exploit anything he finds, so it is important that the majority of primary voters advance the strongest candidate. Tom likes to strike early in the campaign to maximize the impact of any opportunity to discredit his opponent.
Here is what our candidate will face: http://www.extremeithacaliberal.com/
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I feel the same as whungerford. I really have not decided yet. While I will strongly support whoever wins the primary, I am concerned that everyone seems to be tip toeing a bit (a natural occurrence in politics). I am a Sanders progressive, yet in this race the criteria of who is most likely to beat Reed is more important to me that an individuals “progressive credentials”. If I had thought it earlier, I would have run as a Republican to primary Reed. I SERIOUSLY believe that the best way for the winning candidate to beat Reed is to say openly and loudly that they are basically running on the same idea that the Republicans had in their 1956 platform. Really. That would eliminate Reeds “extreme liberal” BS. In a primary, it is necessary that the candidates show their differences. So far they all seem quite the same to me. Who has the GALL to STAND to REED’s BS? I haven’t seen that from anyone yet. I’ve been a Sanders fan since I worked in Burlington in the 80s, so maybe I just expect too much. Whether I like it or not, I believe the candidate that can talk like (and too) conservatives/independents/Republicans will be the one that could easily beat Reed. I haven’t seen that from any of the candidates. Time to decide soon.
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The candidate that can speak like, and to, Republicans/conservatives/independents is the most likely to beat Reed. From activity in the primary, I haven’t seen that from any of the candidates. Progressive credentials are almost irrelevant in this race, in my opinion. To me THAT is the most important key to winning the election in Nov. I am a “communications guy” and I believe this communication very important. Who has the nerve to nullify Reeds “extreme liberal” BS and dirty tricks by saying they are basically running on many of the ideas that made up the 1956 GOP platform? That is the person that will win.
(BTW… Don’t let my mention of the GOP lead you to think I am a right-winger. I’m a progressive that has been a Sanders fan since working in Burlington in the 80s. We need a candidate with the “gusto” that Sanders has to simply call Reed out on his BS. Who will it be?)
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Does Peoplefirst advocate adopting 1956 Republican political views to challenge Tom Reed? I agree that appealing to a wide range of voters is important, but I don’t agree that reasonable progressive views are a liability. It will take more than nerve to overcome Reed’s many advantages; the ability to communicate responsible positions on the issues will likely be important.
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To Anonymous and Peoplefirst ~ Max is the one person running with the government experience and maturity to not get sucked into Reed’s campaign hysteria. Agreed ~ the position statements of all the candidates can, for the most part, be interchanged but only Max can speak from personal inside government experience.
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