Oh, OK. According to the New Yorker, we’re already on to talking about what Republicans’ victory speeches really meant. But let’s a step back for a second and take a look at the Mark Assini-Louise Slaughter race. As of this moment, we’re still not sure who won. It may come down to absentee ballots, but we don’t know how many are out there, exactly, and when they’ll be counted. About 600 votes separate Assini-Slaughter right now.
Confession: I am one of the ones who believed that Slaughter was unbeatable. Her charm, savvy, intelligence, and all-too-rare candor, all simmering in that accent — a sweet Kentucky kick — is a devastating blend.
So what’s happening? My take: certainly, the anti-Obama mood of the country was bad news for Slaughter, and for Democrats in general. And Slaughter never tried to tone down her liberalism — her support for the Affordable Care Act is unwavering, for example — which is admirable from an ethical point of view but maybe hurt her politically this time around.
And Assini, who is supervisor of the Town of Gates, is an unknown figure nationally. He doesn’t have the baggage that accompanies Maggie Brooks everywhere she goes. (Slaughter beat Brooks handily the last time around. Many thought the Brooks race would be the race of Slaughter’s career.)
Assini wins either way the absentee ballots shake out. Last night catapulted him into the spotlight and he’s certainly a viable candidate for any number of offices. County Executive Assini, perhaps?
Slaughter, I don’t know. She’s in her 80’s sure, but that doesn’t mean she’s about to go gentle into that good night. People have been predicting her retirement – forced or otherwise – for years. But if she decides it is time to leave public office behind, who can we expect to take her place? Well, there are those rumors about Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren running for Congress.
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2014.
We can only hope that the demographics of the absentee ballots differs enough from the general voting population that we finally get rid of Slaughter. Maybe a lot of military and travelling suburban business people. Keep your fingers crossed, as it is long past time that she was taken off this gravy train. If Assini loses by such a small nuber in th end, the sad part will be that he had so little financial support from the Rep party and yet was able to come so close.
I wonder what election results would look like if High Schools taught actual history — like Republicans being the party that ran on, fought for, bled for, and freed the slaves. And the KKK being the paramilitary arm of the Democrats. How the civil rights acts of the 60s were advocated by Republicans for years and thwarted by Democrats. And George Wallace and Bull Connor being Democrats, while Martin Luther King was a fervent Republican….I wonder how things might shake out if it were widely known how much of what kids are taught in schools was total crap….
To the person who wrote the first post, I believe that the Republican Party used to be liberal and the Democratic Party used to be conservative, and that their positions swapped with time. Just because the names are the same doesn’t mean that today’s Republican Party, or Democratic Party, are the same as those of earlier times.
“I believe that the Republican Party used to be liberal and the Democratic Party used to be conservative,”
Liberal means different things to different people and it’s a misleading label that should not be used. The root of liberal means liberty, and the big government statist politician of the Democrat party works to defeat individual liberty at every chance. As does the RINO who works only to further the ends of the Democrat party and we know there are many of them.
The Republican party *was* the party standing for civil rights, the party that freed the slaves and that cannot be denied. The Democrats had former KKK members in power in congress up to just a few years ago.
Please learn your history; don’t take my word for it.
To say they ‘swapped’ ideeology over time cannot be supported by evidence.
I hope Warren runs for Congress, she will get less than 20 percent of the vote. Her brief record shows she has no clue what she’s doing and is under educated and overwhelmed as a Mayor. She doesn’t even seem to have a grasp of her own appointees, just look at the mess she’s made at the Housing Authority. I would love to see her actually debate someone. We know why she’s Mayor, the girl from the neighborhood had the connects with Gant. They got 4,000 people to magically show up and vote for a primary, boom she’s Mayor. At her present rate, she’ll be lucky to get re-elected. The Rebulican could run my uncle Joe against her and win. And lets write off the irish vote right now.
The local Republican Committee ( Monroe County ) put all of its time, effort and money into Rich Funke because they knew he could beat O Brien. No one ever thought that Slaughter could be beaten… and she has been beaten in Monroe County by about 93,000 voters. Even if Assini loses after the ballot count…we have sent a clear message to Louise…get off your butt and get this economy going again if you can; make a few changes in the ACA Act to make it even better; get funds to fix our infrastructure; rail is good but fix the freakin’ bridges first; work with the entire congressional and executive bodies to get it done and stop bickering; lessen the size of Govt’ and make your people work harder with less like the rest of us.
Not Lovely Warren, but Bob Duffy. I think Duffy has positioned himself to run for the 25th ever since he stepped away from Andrew Cuomo. I expect that Louise Slaugher will retire in 2016 and that Duffy will replace her.
Even though Duffy is mentioned from time to time as a candidate, I don’t see him running for Slaughter’s seat. The house he bought on Keuka Lake is in Tom Reed’s district, who is vulnerable in presidential years to a strong Democratic challenge. I also don’t think Duffy is nearly as popular as you might wish to give him credit for. A far better bet is either Mayor Lovely Warren or Assemblyman Joe Morelle. Morelle has been ambitious to be a Congressman for decades and being a lapdog for the insurance and finance industry, he could run a well-funded campaign. Whether he would win is another story. Warren would be a strong player as the first black woman from Rochester to run and she has a strong ground game. With the unforced gaffes she has had, I don’t know how strong she would run in the suburbs but 2016 will be a presidential year and Democratic turnout in the city and eastern suburbs is always much higher than in midterm years. There are other lesser known Democrats who could run, like Assemblyman Harry Bronson or City Council Vice President Dana Miller. Who the Republicans would put up is more interesting to me. Assini could certainly run again (and he would probably be better supported by the GOP Committee) or Senator Joe Robach, who for inexplicable reasons has some crossover appeal to Dems and independents. If Cheryl Dinolfo doesn’t run for county exec next year, she could be a candidate (and probably stronger than her mentor Brooks was). Since it is a seat in the U.S. House and these things don’t become vacant around here very often, I could see every Monroe County politician with a pulse having some interest.
When are you folks going to understand that both political parties are doing it wrong? Blindly following Slaughter (who is more than happy to toe the party line regardless of what her constituents actually want) is NOT good practice! You can try to make the argument that your favorite party is the lesser of two evils for whatever reasons are important to you, but when will you finally realize that there are OTHER options out there?
A third party or (even better) an independent who has no obligation to toe a party line is the GOOD to counteract the two evils that are popular today. There was a third candidate for congress in our district, Tim Dean, but no one bothered to research and vote for him because his name was not on the ballot.
Stop drinking the Republican/Democrat Kool-Aid and think for yourselves!! Vote for someone else for once!
I believe Bob Duffy to be an honest person that really cares about Rochester / Monroe County. I also believe, by his personality, that he is sick and tired of politics. We shall see in January, 2015… but I stand by Duffy, Wade Norwood, Ms. Conklin, and Cheryl Dinalfo. Whom I do not stand by is the Monroe County Legislature and their lack of willingness to work with the City Of Rochester in most matters. I was hoping Lovley and Maggie could work together in the future…but it seems like the same old bologna every year. When will everyone at least consider that without a healthy city we are all in trouble…as well, without a healthy County Of Monroe we are in trouble. We should also start thinking about the too many levels of Govt’ in the Towns and Villages to make the entire area affordable to all people in my opinion.
let me take a different view of the election of Assini v Slaughter. First, Assini never went negative, or, for that matter, even mentioned she was the opponent. So her base was not threatened. Second, this is a race where Brother Wease and Lonsberry both endorsed and liked the candidate, which is strange, but speaks to who Assini is. Third, I have never seen a candidate talk so directly and honestly in his messages.
Forth, I cannot remember an election that used so much radio. Fifth, Assini, according to his commercials, went to 12,000 homes. Sixth, whoever did Assini messages picked the right tone and content…he did not run against Louise, he ran against Congress. And, last, there was an undertone that she was too old and too political for the gridlocked Congress. She should never run again! If you are being honest, she got her butt kicked, win or not!
Good job weaselover…you summed it up very well indeed.
The Monroe County Republican Committee / Party will never throw any money at a candidate that has a slim or none chance of winning a race like the Assini / Salughter Race. But all were surprised indeed. There has not been this type of unexpected voter behavior in many. many years in our district. I hope the count is for Assini on this Wednesday but it looks like it may not become true. But again…the voters have sent a message to Louise. Get off your butt and do something in your last two years because next time the MCRC will throw the money at Assini.