Push Polling in the 29th? – Part 2/Update

(Update to yesterday’s post “Push-Polling in the 29th?”.  Hat tip to blogger optimusprime, who sourced the link to NRCC’s Schedule E below.  This information started the procedure that led to this post.)

The information below is from: SCHEDULE E; INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES; FILING FEC-239944; Committee: NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. This is the firm that the NRCC has hired to conduct a poll for Mr. Kuhl in NY-29:

PUBLIC OPINION STRATEGIES
214 NORTH FAYETTE STREET
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia 22314

Purpose of Expenditure: Survey
This Committee SUPPORTS The Following Candidate: RANDY KUHL
Office Sought: House of Representatives
State is New York in District 29
Date Expended = 09/28/2006
Person Completing Form: CHRISTOPHER J. WARD
Date Signed = 09/28/2006

Amount Expended = $21000.00
Calendar YTD Per Election for Office Sought = $21000.00

Push Polls in NY-29?

I’ve been hearing reports that possible push polling is being performed in NY-29 for the benefit of the Kuhl campaign. The rochesterturning website currently has two posts available on the subject:

Just as I was saying the NY-29 race had stayed pretty clean so far, I’m getting unconfirmed reports that the Kuhl campaign is doing some “push polling”.

… If you don’t know what a push poll is, here’s what Wiki says about push polls:

A push poll is a political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll…..True push polls tend to be very short, with only a handful of questions, so as to make as many calls as possible. Any data obtained (if used at all) is secondary in importance to negatively impacting the targeted candidate. Legitimate polls are often used by candidates to test potential messages. They generally ask about both positive and negative statements about all major candidates in an election and ask demographic information at the end.

Clinton on US/Canadian Trade Restrictions

(UPDATE:  Senator Clinton’s report, “Barriers Faced by New York State Agricultural Producers to Trade with Canada”, can be viewed at this link.)

Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton released a 14-page report yesterday that details Canadian trade barriers, especially in relation to New York products. In her speech, she outlined how this is impacting New York businesses who produce fruit, dairy, and additional products, and spoke of the reverse impact on Canadian producers in relation to trade laws.

UAW, Schweizer Employees, Charge Kuhl with False Advertising

(Editor note:  I received the following press release yesterday via my e-mail inbox.  I was waiting until I could verify before posting.  It is now verified, and I’m supplying three weblinks at the end of this post for your review.)

UAW, Schweizer Employees, Charge Kuhl with False Advertising; Officials and workers say misleading Kuhl ads falsely claim credit for Blackhawk jobs at Horseheads plant

Angry United Auto Workers representatives and employees from Schweizer Aircraft in Horseheads today charged Republican Congressman Randy Kuhl (NY-29) with claiming “jobs” credit he doesn’t deserve. Kuhl has an ad running on TV in the southeastern section of the 29th District, in which Kuhl touts his alleged achievements in bringing federal dollars into the district. In the ad, he also claims credit for bringing Blackhawk Helicopter jobs to the Schweizer facility.

Latest Iraq War News

(…Because it is important to be aware of what is happening.)

Heralded Iraq Police Academy a ‘Disaster’

BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 — A $75 million project to build the largest police academy in Iraq has been so grossly mismanaged that the campus now poses health risks to recruits and might need to be partially demolished, U.S. investigators have found.
(snip)
“This is the most essential civil security project in the country — and it’s a failure,” said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, an independent office created by Congress. “The Baghdad police academy is a disaster.”
(snip)
Even in a $21 billion reconstruction effort that has been marred by cases of corruption and fraud, failures in training and housing Iraq’s security forces are particularly significant because of their effect on what the U.S. military has called its primary mission here: to prepare Iraqi police and soldiers so that Americans can depart.
(snip)
The most serious problem was substandard plumbing that caused waste from toilets on the second and third floors to cascade throughout the building. A light fixture in one room stopped working because it was filled with urine and fecal matter. The waste threatened the integrity of load-bearing slabs, federal investigators concluded.

Jeanine Pirro Under State and Federal Investigation

Jeanine Pirro, the Republican Candidate for NY State Attorney General, is under state and federal investigation for alleged illegal spying on her husband while she was the Westchester District Attorney. Apparently, last year, she was trying to prove that her husband was having an extramarital affair.

General Batiste on Randy Kuhl

Disclosure: Hat tip and full credit for this post goes to The Fighting 29th website. This is their find, and they deserve the recognition. If you haven’t visited the site, please do so. They are doing some great work on the Massa/Kuhl congressional race.

Discussion of “Kuhl Fundraising”

The post “Kuhl Fundraising” caught the attention of a commenter who took issue with the topic. This post covers his comment and my subsequent response. I feel that it is important that this issue be reviewed more in-depth; therefore, I’m putting this out there for greater exposure.

Last Night’s Spitzer/Faso Debate

Spitzer called on Faso to explain his “no” votes on an anti-stalking law, a bill to prohibit police from making rape victims take lie-detector tests and a measure that would have set pay scales in the private sector to ensure equal compensation for men and women.

Faso touted his plan to cut the state income tax by 25 percent and eliminate it altogether for married couples earning less than $50,000 and singles earning less than $25,000. He has called for capping property taxes and ending taxes on capital gains and dividends, saying the cuts would pay for themselves by encouraging new business development in New York.

NY-29: Hotline Ranking at 38

The new 2006 House Race Rankings are in. The Kuhl/Massa race is ranked at #38 in the nation.

How they’re ranked:  Seats are ranked by likelihood to switch party control (i.e., the top-ranked race is the seat most likely to flip).

The rankings are analyzed by Chuck Todd, Hotline Editor, and Josh Kraushaar, House Race Hotline Editor.

From Eric Massa’s internal campaign polls:

In April, when the race was first polled by Seacrest and Co., it showed us in a statistical tie. … According to the preliminary numbers I received at the end of the week, we are still in a statistical dead heat with Randy Kuhl.

To my knowledge, Randy Kuhl’s campaign has not released any polling data.

NY Counties Must Choose Voting Machines Before Machines are Certified

This would be funny if it were not true. With NY State being the last to comply with HAVA, now all of a sudden it is an urgent necessity that our counties choose by late October which machine(s) they want their residents to use to “meet a court-agreed deadline for having the new machines by September 2007”. And nevermind that the available models to choose from will not be certified for use in NY State until late December.

Massa, Witte, Hunter and Fineberg-Duckett in Cuba

Yesterday, Allegany County Democrats held an event at Moonwinks Restaurant in Cuba, NY.  Attending and speaking were Eric Massa, Candidate for NY District 29 House of Representatives, Linda Witte, Candidate for NYS Assembly-149th District, Judith Hunter, Candidate for NYS Assembly-147th District, and Allegany County Democratic chairman Lisa Fineberg-Duckett.

Your Tax Dollars Working Wisely

This one I like:

…the government planned to announce today that it will supply hazard warning radios to all 97,000 public schools in the nation.
(snip)
The Homeland Security Department now has decided to provide $5 million to make sure every public school has such radios, NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher said.

Originally conceived to convey weather warnings, the system now covers all hazards – including terrorism, abducted children and derailed trains carrying toxic materials.

Now, I know that we rarely have tornadoes in this area, but we do have periods of heavy snow and/or blizzard-type weather.  Having lived for an extended period in a traditional tornado alley area, I know what it means to have that early warning.

As Martha would say, “It’s a good thing”.

Judge Himelein to Decide on Cattaraugus Co. Redistricting Issue

Judge Himelein will hear arguments from Cattaraugus County Attorney Dennis Tobolski and the attorney for David F. Wright this Thursday, September 28, regarding Mr. Wright’s concern alleging that the redistricing performed in 2003 may violate statute.

Both sides have agreed to seek summary judgment that will allow Judge Himelein to decide the case without taking it to a jury.

Mr. Wright said today that statutes call for one redistricting vote every 10 years. The County Legislature, he claims, redistricted twice in 2003.

The first was a weighted voting plan that is designed to meet the “one man, one vote” qualities in the Constitution, and the second was a 17-member County Legislature in eight re-drawn districts.

Real Terror

This morning on my way to Mass at Mt. Irenaeus I stopped at the Giant Food Mart in Cuba to buy some eggs, coffee cake and cider. On my way into the store I spied a Cuba Patriot. On the cover was a color picture of a couple of local residents sitting with Eric Massa, Linda Witte and Judith Hunter discussing our failed health care system with community residents and health care providers. Noticeably absent from the meeting were incumbent Congressman Randy Kuhl and Assemblyman Joe Giglio. All three candidates present support redesigning our health care system. Existing health care programs put doctors in a pinch, don’t address patient needs for both preventive or acute care. The system only benefits insurance carriers who reap tremendous sums of money from a system designed to maximize their benefits.

The medical care nightmare is a real terror for most of our citizens especially the 45 million un-insured Americans. We’re all paying for the wrecked system that has been created by a legislative health care cabal that penalizes patients, doctors and hospitals. It’s a broken system that is costing local taxpayers millions of dollars annually. Simple universal health care for all Americans would cost taxpayers about 500 billion dollars a year less than the current system, but a well orchestrated campaign that relies heavily of fear and misinformation is in place that keeps voters from getting the real story.

This system of phony answers has created a system that benefits only insurance companies and is driving up taxes to pay for increased medical costs. As taxes increase businesses leave and citizens are taking a double hit of increased property taxes and lower and lower paying jobs. I have to wonder if Randy Kuhl and Joe Giglio were invited to the meeting and if they were invited what can explain their absence. Where do Randy Kuhl and Joe Giglio stand on the health care crisis that effects all of us?

Weekly News Roundup 9/24/06

In case you may have missed any of these articles. Covering mainly Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties, but WNY regional, state, and national topics of interest are also added.

LOCAL

Giglio kicks off Assembly campaign
OLEAN – Assemblyman Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, kicked off his campaign for the 149th Assembly District on Tuesday, outlining his platform in news conferences in Olean and Frewsburg.

City request for funds for impact from casino totals $1.5M
SALAMANCA – City officials have quantified $1,509,215 in expenses related to the Seneca Allegany Casino’s presence in the West End.

Kuhl Says His Constituents Don’t Understand

The link below is the Buffalo News’ recap the the Kuhl/Cheney account.  Little was to be learned about the event from this article that hadn’t already been covered from the Rochester area reports.  What is missing from that article is the mention of any protest activities.

However, this post is about the following passages from that article:

Kuhl, a freshman locked in a competitive race against Democrat Eric Massa, is one of the dozens of House Republicans for whom Cheney has campaigned this year. And he couldn’t agree more with the vice president’s assessment that combating terrorists around the world stands as the top issue of this campaign.

A flow of bad news from the war zone needs to be countered by a frank discussion of reality, he said.

“They don’t necessarily understand the full importance of our presence there,” he said of his Finger Lakes and Southern Tier constituents.   (my emphasis)

Cheney/Kuhl Event News Recap

Here are several news and blog reports from around the area:

Hundreds of Cheney protestors line city streets

Anti-war protesters make views known.  More than 250 gather to tell Cheney they want the U.S. out of Middle East

Cheney stands by war, Bush policies

Vice President speaks up for Congressman Randy Kuhl

Kuhl: View My Records. Me: Let’s Do It!

(First, though, a little bit about the Vice President’s visit to Rochester today…) 

Vice President Cheney attended a fundraiser today for Congressman Randy Kuhl.  As is normal in these types of events, air traffic was shut down, and the driving route to and from the event forced road closures.  Approximately 200 people were scheduled to attend, and $100,000 from just this one single event was expected to be raised for Kuhl’s campaign.

Bringing the polarizing Cheney to Rochester is a risk for Kuhl, political experts said. Some Republicans running in this year’s midterm elections have tried to distance themselves from the administration.

“I find it kind of surprising that he would bring him in,” said Jeffrey Koch, a political science professor at the State University College at Geneseo. “What a lot of Republicans are trying to do is localize the race.”

Surprising or not, $100,000 for just one event, under two total hours, is not chickenfeed.  Guess we don’t have to be too “independent” if the VP can pull in that type of money for you.

Three Protests in Two Days

‘Doughnut holes’ protest Cheney-Kuhl visit

September 21, 2006 11:19 am — About a dozen people gathered this morning to protest Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit to Rochester tomorrow, for a fundraiser for Rep. Randy Kuhl, R-Hammondsport, Steuben County, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

Carrying signs and boxes of “doughnut holes,” protesters outside Kuhl’s office in Fairport urged a fix for Medicare Part D, the federal prescription drug plan for the elderly.

Three protests were planned. In addition to this morning’s protest, an anti-war rally is being held at 5:30 p.m. today outside the Federal Building on State Street.  Tomorrow, an anti-war rally will be held at 4:30 p.m. at Washington Square Park, then the group plans to move toward the Convention Center.

V.P. Cheney will be in Rochester for a short, 2 hour period of time (4pm – 6pm; from plane landing to plane departure).  He will be speaking to the attendees at 5:35 pm.  The event is being held at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

To counter the Kuhl fundraising activities, Kuhl’s Democratic opponent Eric Massa will be holding a barbeque fundraiser tomorrow at noon at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Henrietta to raise money for the local Veterans Outreach Center.