A Leap of Faith

(Guest post by Ahmed Kokon)

Back in 2006, Steve Harrison went up against Fossella, was outspent 13:1, received little backing from any big organizations or Democrats, and received a record amount of votes - all in seven months of campaigning.

Some people make the argument that isn't enough, 43% was bad for a year such as 2006. But you just can't compare NY-13 to the rest of the country. We have the only Republican representative in all of NYC so obviously we're a different constituency. You can't just generalize and expect trends that occur in other parts of the country to occur here.

43%. That includes the 42% of votes Harrison received from Staten Island and 49% from Brooklyn.

Now it's 2008 and Harrison, who spoke loudly of Fossella's lack of ethics, is running for Congress again. He knows, just like any other person in the know will tell you, that if you're a Democrat running for this seat, you can't just run once if you want to win.

49% of Brooklyn in 2006. Now, McMahon is in the race. He hasn't proven that he can receive a single vote outside of the North Shore. The only reason he knows Brooklyn is because he brought Councilman Recchia from over there when Recchia was good enough to run for Congress (pre-Fossella).

Can you even guess how much of Brooklyn Harrison will take now? Especially since McMahon is in support of the war in Iraq?

42% of Staten Island in 2006. McMahon flip flopped on Congestion Pricing, eventually voting for it. Steve Harrison, and most Staten Islanders, were against Congestion Pricing.

McMahon stated that we should have a "leap of faith" when it comes to the MTA.

This is the same MTA that told us we wouldn't have to pay tolls for the Verrazzano Bridge.

Trust the MTA?

Are you kidding?

When it comes to our district, we don't trust politicians on a "leap of faith." Show us what you will do for us and show us how you will do it.

Steve Harrison showed us he can win, despite all the challenges he faced. Let's stay united behind Steve Harrison because now, with Vito Fossella finally gone, we can put a Democrat with democratic principles and values in Washington D.C.

Healthcare for all, ending the war in Iraq, and finally..truly..representing the good people of our district...your neighbors, your family, your coworkers.

We can do this together.