October 23, 2002
From the desk of Jane Galt:Well, smack my fanny, the
Well, smack my fanny, the Democrats are worried they're going to finish third in the New York governor's race.
That would be a major ouch! for the party, since it means they'd drop to third on the ballot, behind the Republicans and the Independance Party, for the next four years.
This is thanks to a lackluster campaign run by Carl McCall, combined with the advertising strength of filthy rich, certified wing-nut Tom Golisano, who has been attacking Pataki, but ironically, seems to be picking up Democrats who want to vote against Pataki, instead of the apparent target of his ads: Republicans who want to vote for someone who will actually, you know, govern like a conservative. Fiscally, I mean. Not that Golisano is necessarily that man; he's run for election before, and looking over the platforms he's run on, it's hard to see what he really stands for, except of course election.
Meanwhile, Pataki has been running some really atrocious ads against Carl McCall, basically accusing him of wanting to rape the environment, leave our children unwashed and illiterate, kill our needy seniors, and all manner of other horrors. . . all because as Comptroller, he didn't vote for companies to embrace price caps on prescription drugs, bizarrely cost-ineffective environmental proposals, and similar sterling ideas. In other words, he didn't violate his fiduciary duty to the people he was supposed to be representing. We've reached a pretty pass when the Republican governor is running to the left of the Democratic candidate -- except it's hard to be sure that's actually the case, because I've yet to see anything from McCall except a couple of genial news conferences at which he comes out foursqare in favor of Mom, Apple Pie, and Our American Values. I don't like the Pataki ads, but it's hard to be too angry about them, because the McCall response is so weak. Pataki's campaign has saturated the airways 'round here, and not once have I seen a McCall ad running against them. I know they may be short on cash, but what are you saving it for, Carl? The concession party? Election's in two weeks.
I still don't know which way I'm going to vote; every time I think I've decided, another ad runs and I change my mind. But my mother, who is an invaluable barometer for The Sentiment of the People, is thinking about voting for Golisano. She knows he's a wing-nut, but. . . "Pataki's just too much of a tall white man," she says. And McCall?
"Who's McCall?" she says, frowning. "Oh, the Democratic candidate? Is that his name?"
I think the Democrats are right to be very, very afraid.
Posted by Jane Galt at October 23, 2002 09:01 AM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links