NY-23 congressional hopeful, Matt Doheny, may be making making an early and aggressive play for moderate support in his bid for the GOP nomination this year. And it might make good sense politically now that Will Barclay has unexpectedly entered his name into the contest. And if Doug Hoffman enters the race for the Republican nomination, as many are predicting, then Doheny will have to turn somewhere for support.
Doheny may have already built some trust among moderates in the district with his active support of Dede Scozzafava in 2009. Doheny supported Scozzafava's run financially and was very public in his support of Scozzafava once she won the support of the county chairs charged with nominating the GOP candidate. The Watertown Daily Times reported that Doheny "praised her as 'terrific' and said he would work towards her election. 'I'm giong to do everything I can for her, and more.'" It would be interesting to see if Scozzafava decided to support a Republican candidate in 2010 or whether she will maintain her support for Congressman Bill Owens, who she endorsed just days prior to the special election last fall.
But Doheny's reach to the left of the party goes beyond just public support for Scozzafava. Mayor Graham leaked a rumor that Doheny's team has reached out to former congresswoman-turned-lobbyist, Susan Molinari. Graham wrote that the Doheny camp is expecting Molinari to campaign for Doheny this summer in the North Country. Some might know Molinari as a close advisor to Rudy Giuliani who recently revealed her interest in a US Senate bid against the victor of the Gilibrand/Ford match-up. And that's not a bad endorsement if you are trying to shore up moderate support either.
Just days ago Molinari invoked the leadership of Senator Charles Schumer in news report out of Long Island. Molinari makes no apologies for her pro-choice positions and was also closely associated with the now defunct Republican Unity Coalition, a gay-straight alliance that believes the GOP can only expand its influence by reaching out to gays and lesbians who share basic Republican positions and goals. And when she was president of Ketchum Public Affairs and it's lobbying firm, The Washington Group, her firm received over $300,000 to lobby on behalf of Freddie Mac (a mortgage company that now receives billions in US taxpayer bailouts).
Molinari knows the establishment players, has money, influence and communications connections in both New York City and DC. So if Doheny is looking to spread a moderate message to the North Country he may have found the person to help him do it. One insider explained the strategy this way: it sounds like Doheny is lining up his ducks to build establishment and moderate support to hold everything together and force Barclay to reconsider NY-23. Doheny's team knows that if Hoffman secures the conservative base and if Doheny can shore up the moderates early it leaves Barclay with a very small constituency to go after, making it a two person race that favors Doheny.
If Molinari really did lobby for Freddie Mac she can't win a US Senate seat in 2010. That stuff comes back to haunt you.
ReplyDeleteIf what you type is true I won't be supporting Doheny...we don't need any more RINOs in Congress and his support for Dede is troubling. I don't remember a lot of the things you typed, but if its true then that will weigh heavily on mind mind.
ReplyDeleteThis Molinari sounds like a joke, plus Members of Congress already have enough lobbyists running around - why should Doheny have one running his campaign. YUCK.
Why would she even mention Chuck Schumer? Does Doheny really want to associate himself with this kind of person so early on? Bad politics.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind and maybe it’s only in my mind, but based on my extensive knowledge of and research about and on the facts, not opinion, I conclude that anyone in office or running for office with big money ties to Wall Street or the so-called financial “world” do NOT have your best interests at heart. They may say they do, but they do not in the final analysis) ...
ReplyDeleteWitness the bailouts to Wall Street and other places: And, the gall for them to still give out huge bonuses vs. the collapse of Main Street (job losses and poor prospects).
I rest my case: it is the huge amounts of money.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/01/molinari-out.html
ReplyDeleteBuggs, looks like you might have forced her out of the race.
I'd like to throw a few darts, too to show my true colors - fairness:
ReplyDeleteFrom this NYTimes article
WASHINGTON — As the financial crisis jolted the nation in September 2008, Senator Charles E. Schumer was consumed. He traded telephone calls with bankers, then became one of the first officials to promote a Wall Street bailout.
He spent hours in closed-door briefings and a weekend helping Congressional leaders nail down details of the $700 billion rescue package.
The next day, Mr. Schumer appeared at a breakfast fund-raiser in Midtown Manhattan for Senate Democrats. Addressing Henry R. Kravis, the buyout billionaire, and about 20 other finance industry executives, he warned that a bailout would be a hard sell on Capitol Hill.
Then Schumer offered some reassurance: The businessmen could count on the Democrats to help steer the nation through the financial turmoil.
“We are not going to be a bunch of crazy, anti-business liberals,” one executive said, summarizing Mr. Schumer’s remarks. “We are going to be effective, moderate advocates for sound economic policies, good responsible stewards you can trust.”
The message clearly resonated.
The next week, executives at firms represented at the breakfast sent in more than $135,000 in campaign donations to Schumer.
* AND PEOPLE CALL ME WHACKY ABOUT THE MONEY IN POLITICS, right? ... boy how soon we forget?
Dan, are you suggesting there is some sort of financial link between Schumer, Molinari and Doheny?
ReplyDeleteAnon 5:49 - Nope - I haven't suggested such a thing ... I merely pointed out, which flew right over your noggin', that it is the huge amounts of money that is the root of most of our problems with members in office, and then I gave an excellent example with Schumer (lined above).
ReplyDeleteI have not posted anything here about former Rep. Susan Molinari ... not one word.
My views on Doheny have been posted already a couple of times - please keep up...
Dan, I think the point that 5:49 is trying to make is that your post is completely irrelevant to the topic: "Doheny's Aggressive Play for Moderates in NY-23", which is about Doheny and Molinari.
ReplyDeleteYou, of course, couldn't "keep up", as you say, and instead chose to just be nasty. As always.
Maybe true, but I think it is worth pointing out Doheny's apparent close association with a lobbyist who has received over $300,000 from Freddie Mac. If he has her campaigning for him he clearly doesn't believe in the economic/fiscal positions most Republicans would ascribe to. Can you say leave behind Main Street to bailout Wall Street? After all, that is where all of his $$$ comes from - Wall Street interests.
ReplyDeleteWho knows if this is even true. It was a conversation that was overheard in a bar afterall.
ReplyDeleteWhat if it is true and Buggs is only teasing... maybe Buggs has the source?
ReplyDeleteIf Doheny continues shifting left and actually forces Barclay out of the race, which I don't think he can do, then he is obviously going to have to move back to the right to make a credible shot against Hoffman. He needs to be careful of avoiding any flip-flop label that John Kerry was awarded in 2004 against W.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I don't know how Doheny makes a clear shot down the middle because that is where Barclay is and he can't compete on the right against Hoffman, that's just not going to happen. So where else to go? People like Molinari, I guess.
Schumer, Doheny, and Ford -- all are connected to Wall Street their money bags ... that's a fact.
ReplyDeleteCheck the money trail connected to them. Yellow brick road. How about "greenback road?"
Dan - it is hard to accurately judge Doheny's money trail since he has never been in a general election. He was never even in a primary. So he has never campaigned to local voters.
ReplyDelete10:00 - I have a hard time agreeing, somewhat, with Dan, but if you look at the money Doheny has raised publicly it is all from NYC donors with Wall Street connections. I don't necessarily view that as bad, but a lot of them got bailout money and that is not something I want my Congressman connected with at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is a major problem for Doheny in my mind.
Anon 1:11 - precisely my point... it's not necessarily the money, but it's the huge amounts and sources of all the money ... that's the issue for me.
ReplyDeleteSeldom we agree Anon: but we are close on this.
Unle$$ and until we change the $y$tem, the $y$tem will control u$.
That has always been one of my goals.
Right, I don't disagree that the money came from outside sources and in high amounts, but, as already said, there was NO local campaign so all of the money was inevitably going to come from friends and colleagues. Those donors (many of whom are registered democrats) were likely just donating to their friend with no expectation. As much as we like to think NY-23 is important to them, I really doubt it. They are probably just buddies of Doheny's who wanted to be supportive of his political ambitions. I really wou;dn't read anything more into it. If he officially throws his hat in the ring, starts campaigning locally and still all the money is coming in from outside the district, then there might be something to talk about but to use his pre-nomination donations as a benchmark is a little unfair.
ReplyDelete230 - you make the case yourself. "Many of whom are registered democrats" - seems like you know something about the donations of the Doheny campaign perhaps, but regardless I don't want my Congressman to have ties to NYC friends who may have benefited from my tax dollars in the bailout. That's a conflict of interest to me and is a problem for Doheny. Forget that he's trying to make the case to be the Republican candidate, not the Democrat candidate.
ReplyDeleteWhat about all of Hoffman's donations (assuming you can believe them...amazing that an accountant can't seem to manage his own records). They are almost entirely from outside of the district. I am so tired of people complaining about this. Until the rules change money is going to come in from the outside for NY-23. We are just TOO POOR! If one side was stupid enough to try not to attract outside funds the other side would be ecstatic. It just is what it is, until there are more decent paying jobs in the district money will have to come from outside, be it NYC, Washington DC or California. You can complain about it all you want, you can pass judgement on the candidates all you want, but at the end of the day, if a candidate does not receive outside funds for a congressional race he will lose the election. It is that simple.
ReplyDeleteI think what is really the issue is that people hate and distrust Matt Doheny, but they also want to be polite to him. It's the North Country way of treating outsiders like him. I see it all the time.
ReplyDeleteSo we come up with this "other reason" to oppose him: his NYC money and ties to Wall Street. That way we don't have to be honest talking about how much they hate this guy's guts. And we can achieve the same goal (seeing him fail) by airing his dirty financial laundry instead of his dirty personal laundry.
933 - this is a great point and possibly something that should be exposed further. We are simply entertained by his movements and possible candidacy, but I'm yet to talk with someone who's convinced his the next Congressman. And I attended his fundraiser and talked to those people...
ReplyDelete9:33 - Strong word. "Hate". I am curious why you feel so strongly. I didn't think anyone, except some legislators and others in government, really had a good feel for the guy. But to "hate his guts", I am guessing you have more of a personal history with him?
ReplyDelete