The Troy Record (TroyRecord.com), Serving Troy and its surrounding communitiesOpinionTalespin:
We just have to weigh inMonday, September 14, 2009
It’s Primary Day Eve, and generally the day before an election is a black out day as far as political opinion goes but forging the signature of a union leader on a piece of campaign literature is so egregious, so arrogant and so offensive that we just have to weigh in.Here’s what happened.Incumbent Mike Stammel and challenger John Mooney are in a hotly contested battle for the Legislature. They are running in District 6, which is the City of Rensselaer.The small river city is made up of mostly Democrats, but in Rensselaer party matters less than family. And, while it’s been quiet as of late, a few years ago there was one faction of families that just didn’t like the other faction, and the feeling was more than mutual. Safe to say there is a ton of Mooneys in Rensselaer.Anyway, Stammel and Mooney are two pretty popular guys and so is Steve Green, a union leader with strong ties to labor and an up-and-comer in Democratic Party circles.Stammel has the endorsement of the Conservative and Independence parties and will appear on the ballot in tomorrow’s primaries. Mooney is waging an opportunity to ballot on both lines.An OTB means there were enough signatures collected from members of each party and as such enrolled voters can write-in anyone they want - in this case it would presumably be Mooney.Write-in campaigns are not easy because the voter has to slide open the little door and write the candidates name without error. It sounds simple enough, but it takes a ton of discipline and training and enough people willing to do it who can follow directions to a T.The GOP must be worried though. If there are 100 votes cast in each minor party primary it will be a huge turnout so they must think Mooney has a shot. They also must think Stammel doesn’t have a shot in the November general election without the lines or they wouldn’t go to such a length as forgery.After that long, and probably pretty boring, lead-in, fliers were mailed out to enrolled Independence and Conservative Party members touting Stammel’s record on the Legislature, where he has served since 2001, and they bore the signature of Common Council President Chuck Hall and that of Green.Friday, Green sent a notarized letter to voters saying he didn’t endorse a candidate and that his signature was “forged.”“I did not endorse any candidate for county Legislature District 6 at this time nor did I allow anyone to sign my name on this political mailing,” he wrote. “My signature was forged. This mailing was not authorized by me. This is not my signature.”Also Friday, GOP spokesman Rich Crist blamed a “campaign volunteer” for signing Green’s name to the piece without authorization. And, he refused to put Stammel on the phone to answer questions about the forgery.A couple things come to mind.We’ve been around long enough to know there is not one piece of literature for any of the 19 GOP candidates running for Legislature produced without Crist’s stamp of approval.Also, we’re sure Stammel has a cell phone, and we’re as sure Crist has the number yet he would not put him on the phone to answer questions about the forgery.Stammel’s name was on the flyer, he’s the candidate, he’s the guy who wants to continue to represent the people of Rensselaer -- we want to talk to him about the forgery, not a seasoned spokesman.
A new HQThe North Greenbush Democrats are opening up their own headquarters and we hear it’s a pretty decent spread located across the street from the bowling alley.It has two floors and is conveniently located near a liquor store.We’re told the Dems, or at least one faction of Dems, will occupy the new digs until the November general election. There they will strategize their campaigns, hold brain storming sessions and run their phone banks.In other words it will be their new War Room and will temporarily replace the basement of one of their long-time most active members, Charles “CB” Smith, who has nearly as many files as the Library of Congress.Talespin was written by City Editor James V. Franco.URL: http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2009/09/14/opinion/doc4aadacd849adb355682838.prt© 2009 troyrecord.com, a Journal Register Property
