Straniere's remarks

via the Advance;

"We ran a great race, and I have my supporters and campaign staff to thank. But the tides were against us, and due to events largely out of our control -- including the severe downturn in the global economy and the declining support of the McCain-Palin ticket - -things did not go as we had hoped.

"Still, no one thought we could make this race as competitive as we did, giving voice to real concerns and forcing a spirited debate on the issues. While the debate continues, tonight I congratulate Mike McMahon on his win and a well-fought campaign."

I don't want to harp on Bob's loss too much here, but do want to point out a significant reason why he lost. He points out that a down turn in the economy cost him, signifying that people did not believe in his answers to help those in need. Bob's fiscal and conservative ideology lost and by his own admission they are not the correct path when our economy is hurting. He still has no idea what the average American is facing or what needs to be done to offer help.

A cow follows Bob from Manhattan

The New York State Democratic Committee sent a costumed cow to Bob Straniere's campaign events this morning to protest his hypocritical position on taxes. During his time in the Assembly, Straniere voted for over $2 billion in new taxes - he even supported raising taxes on milk.

Straniere voted for massive tax increases

via a NY Dems press release;

Billion Dollar Bob: Republican Candidate Voted for Over $2 Billion in New Taxes

Straniere even supported raising the milk tax

Republican Bob Straniere is an expert at making promises he doesn't keep. While he continues to tell Staten Island and Brooklyn voters that he'll lower their taxes - his record says something to the contrary. During his time in the Assembly, Straniere voted for over $2 billion in new taxes.

Straniere voted against eliminating the state sales tax and against reducing property taxes. He also supported income and sales tax hikes, and even voted to raise the tax on milk.

"Not only has Bob Straniere voted for tax hikes that directly impacted Staten Island and Brooklyn voters, his new economic proposals blatantly ignore the needs of middle class families in his district," said Carly Lindauer, New York State Democratic Committee spokeswoman. "Voters in the 13th District cannot afford to send another out of touch Republican to Washington."

Billion Dollar Bob: Straniere's Voting History

FACT: Straniere voted against eliminating the state sales tax on clothing (which at the time would have amounted to a 4% discount). [SI Advance, 4/3/1997]

FACT: Straniere voted against reducing property taxes that would have provided homeowners with $650 million in relief. [SI Advance, 4/3/1997]

FACT: Straniere voted in favor of an income and sales tax hike, which amounted to $1.7 billion in new taxes, and even supported a 21-cent-per-gallon increased tax on milk. [SI Advance, 5/6/2003; 1/25/1998]

Overall, Straniere supported $2.35 billion in new taxes.

Straniere and McCain

via Bob from Manhattan;

Said Straniere, "Senator Obama had a chance to match his rhetoric with his actions and instead he matched his liberal record with choosing a fellow liberal to run with. I want to thank Senator Obama for his decision because there will be no confusion for the voters this November."

and from the Washington Post comes this unfortunate reality;

McCain's awful campaign is having awful consequences down the ballot. I spoke a little while ago to a senior Republican House member. "There is not a safe Republican seat in the country," he warned. "I don't mean that we're going to lose all of them. But we could lose any of them."

Pre-General fundraising reports, Straniere struggling still

The last FEC report we will see before the election is the pre-general reports covering the period of October 1-15. Here are the numbers raised;

McMahon: $113,000
Straniere: $37,000

With the numbers Bob from Manhattan has raised his cash on hand numbers actually increased from $1,900 to $10,533. Simply put these are still horrible numbers for Bob. I don't even know how this guy pays rent for his offices let alone how he pays for campaign costs.

h/t to Swing State Project

update: Cash on hand numbers are updated in the right column.
update2: Morano (I) seems to have not filed his numbers yet and Cochrane (C) seems to not be filing any FEC reports, not sure what that is about.

A preview of 3Q fundraising numbers

In anticipation of third quarter FEC filings I took a look at 48 Hour Contribution Notices to see how the two campaigns are comparing. FEC rules state that campaigns must report any contribution over $1,000 when that contribution comes within 20 days of an election. Here is what the two campaigns have filed so far;

Bob Straniere: $35,300
Mike McMahon: $48,000

This brings Bob's cumulative total to $50,000 in donations, without seeing his smaller donations. This still puts him only about $700,000 behind McMahon.

Voters want Democrats handling economic issues

via the NY Times;

Strategists for both parties say Republican House and Senate candidates are being hurt by the dip in support for Senator John McCain at the top of the ticket, frustrating Republicans who had initially viewed Mr. McCain as a strong asset who could appeal to independents and even moderate Democrats and protect Republicans in a tough year.

But the market volatility and perceived Democratic edge on handling the economy has evidently turned voters to Democrats, a view supported by one top adviser to Republican candidates.

If it were not for the joke this race is, one of the story lines that would have come out of this race was the effects a Guiliani candidacy would have had in this district. Who knows maybe even Bob from Manhattan would have been faring better with Rudy at the top instead of McCain.

Straniere is "in Staten Island several times a week"

Bob from Manhattan in a previous interview with Tom is trying to make a case for his Staten Island roots and inadvertently claims;

"I am in staten island several times a week. Always have been, and I consider Staten Island my home."

Watch it, starting at 4:19 (the very end)



Bob, who we already know has been living in Manhattan admits to Tom that he in doesn't live in Staten Island an "visits" from time to time. Sure at one point in his life he lived there but he is now a Manhattan resident and has been for many years. If like Mike McMahon you live in Staten Island you don't have to use the phrase "I consider Staten Island my home." It either is your home or it is not. In Bob Straniere's case it is not.

Bob from Manhattan's Manhattan residence

If you zoom out far enough, eventually you can see the district that Bob Straniere is running for Congress in. Bob from Manhattan actually lives in the Fourteenth Congressional district represented by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney who he choose not to run against. Note that the Bronx is actually closer to his apartment than Staten Island.


View Larger Map

Bob from Manhattan declines judicial nomination

He is running for Congress! And with this kind of party support it will be a fun month;

“It’s over. Completely over,” said Guy V. Molinari, the former Staten Island borough president who had led the effort to seek an opportunity for Mr. Fossella to run.

“I think we had a good chance of getting him to run before this,” Mr. Molinari said. “But we ran out of time and Bob Straniere is not that kind of team player. He has a terrible, terrible record and we simply were counting on the wrong man. All the scurrying around that we did turned out to be for naught.”

Kind of funny that Bob Straniere, who lives in Manhattan, was nominated for a judicial position in the borough he lives in, Manhattan, and declined it to run for Congress in Staten Island. He really has the interest of Staten Islanders and Brooklynites as his top priority. So much so he said he will move to the district if he wins! Don't fret;

“Robert Straniere earned himself the Republican nomination for the 13th District,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “And we are fully behind him and his campaign.”

Unfortunately that support does not include money or actual, well, support.

DCCC confident? NRCC broke?

The DCCC has been doing some major ad buys in districts across the country but has yet to find the need to do any ad buys for this district yet. So far they have spent money in 32 congressional districts. The NRCC on the other hand hasn't spent any money in this district to support Bob Straniere, but for a very different reason, they are broke. It also may have to do with them having no confidence in Bob from Manhattan. Either way it looks like they have no plans to get involved in this race. It is not a year to be a Republican candidate. It is really not the year to be a Republican candidate no one likes.

Swing State Project is tracking all these expenditures and saving me some time in the process.

Republicans to end their headache Tuesday, start a new one Wednesday

The Wall Street Journal is taking a look at the Republican primary this Tuesday;

Mr. Straniere's big plus is that he's a known quantity. He is a former state assemblyman; he has the endorsement of his local newspaper and of Peter King, a Republican congressman from nearby Long Island; and he's working donors at the Republican National Convention like an old pro.

Mr. Straniere's big minus is that he's a known quantity – he seems to have made some enemies in his own party and he lost his statehouse job by being ousted in a primary. What's more, he used a Manhattan address on his campaign petitions. That's perfectly legal, but there are voters who prefer to be represented by someone who sets down roots in their district. Guy Molinari, a former congressman and Staten Island borough president who is still influential in local politics, told the New York Times: "We threw him out of office and got him off of Staten Island. And we don't want him back."

The article talks about how the Republican Party will catch a break after Tuesday. It humorously ends the piece "After Tuesday, their 13th District nomination nightmare will be over." That is true since they will have a nominee who won the primary and at least this whole primary nightmare (Fossella, Powers, son of Powers, Wyne, Straniere, Atanasio, that DA guy...) for the party will finally be over. It is a small victory considering their general election headache will only be worse as they will have either Bob from Manhattan or Jim Wyne officially as their candidate.

note: fixed formatting

Bob from Manhattan on hypocrisy

via the New York Times here is Bob from Manhattan talking about his Republican opponent Jamshad Wyne;

He added: “What he’s trying to do is avoid the issues because he doesn’t understand any of the issues. He doesn’t want to discuss his lack of experience. And he certainly doesn’t want to deal with the ethically challenged facts about his medical practice.”

This from a candidate who removed issue pages from his website and has zero policy suggestions. This from a candidate who his own party claim is ethically challenged.

More Bob from Manhattan

via the Village Voice;

The Advance also reports that Straniere has "acknowledged that he will not be eligible to vote for himself in the primary because he is not a resident of the 13th Congressional District."

Obama vs. McCain and the down ballot impact with voters

Bob from Manhattan has come out with a statement thanking Obama for choosing Biden and in his opinion essentially handing McCain and Bob himself victory in NY-13, don't laugh;

Straniere yesterday issued a press release, thanking Obama for picking Biden as his vice presidential running mate.

I for one welcome an Obama vs. McCain race in the thirteenth and can't wait to see Bob lose horribly, that is if he even gets past his own primary he seems to over confidently think he has already won. Across the internet Politico interviewed Rep. Van Hollen, chairman of the DCCC, about the effects of having Obama and Biden atop the ticket this November;

“The majority of our candidates would be very happy to identify with Senator Obama,” the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told Politico. “If you look at the Obama economic agenda, it’s one that lines up very well with the agendas of our candidates.”

The Maryland congressman added that the presence of Joe Biden on the ticket as the vice presidential nominee will help down-ballot Democratic candidates in blue-collar parts of the country...

snip

But Van Hollen expressed some concerns that, despite the increased Democratic turnout expected on behalf of Obama, first-time voters may bypass the congressional races lower on the ballot.

“We need to make sure they don’t go in and vote Obama-Biden and hit the exits,” Van Hollen said. “That’s easier said than done, because there’s always some falloff on the ballot.”

The down ticket attrition rates have been horrible for Democrats in the past, as I have covered in my very first post. It is great to see that they are addressing this and believe the support to the Obama/Biden ticket will drive many new voters out and increase the likely votes for the next race down the ticket, this Congressional race. The impact in terms of new Democratic voters on the north shore alone should be significant.

Bob from Manhattan's ethics problems

via the NYTimes we get this great statement from June O'Neill, who regardless of if Bob has heard of her hits him pretty hard on issues that have plagued Fossella;

In a blistering statement on Thursday, June O’Neill, the chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, questioned Mr. Straniere’s leadership ability “in light of accusations that he lied to employers, stole from his clients and business partners and used company money for personal expenses.”

Specifically, Ms. O’Neill referred to a suit in 1982 against Mr. Straniere from his former law partner. The partner accused the former Assemblyman of using nearly $40,000 in the law firm’s money to pay of personal debts, including country club dues, New York Jets season tickers and other expenses.

“It is impossible to believe that Mr. Straniere, whose behavior has led him to be fired from numerous positions, is qualified to serve as a member of the United States Congress,” Ms. O’Neill said, in a statement. “New Yorkers in the 13th district deserve a leader with more integrity someone they can trust to stand up for them.”

Remember Monilari has already called out Bob Straniere for his ethical lapses;

"Two words that strike me: Ethics and morality," said Molinari. "There have been so many questions raised about ethics in government over the last few months, the last thing we could have expected is to see someone put up for office with serious ethical concerns. That's mystifying."

Bob from Manhattan talks offshore drilling

No clue if anyone listened and or cared but Bob Straniere announced his 'plan' for our energy crisis;

GOP congressional candidate Robert Straniere yesterday called upon Democrats to return to Washington, D.C., to solve the nation's energy woes, and offered his own plan for energy independence, including deep-water exploration for oil and natural gas.

For the record the House had a vote last week to open the strategic oil reserves and Fossella voted against the measure. Bob from Manhattan said nothing about that. Instead he pushed the Republican meme, boo on Democrats for recessing for the summer as planned.

Straniere said he supports "a comprehensive energy approach," including deep-water exploration, tax incentives for energy efficiency, relaxed production regulations and stepped-up development of alternative energy sources.

"America must use every means at its disposal to increase the supply of the oil and gas we use today and to create the energy sources for tomorrow," said Straniere.

Why doesn't he just come out and say "we should find more oil!" Straniere manages to say a whole lot without saying a whole lot. He calls offshore drilling "deep-water exploration." This "exploration", not actually finding mind you, just exploring, is suppose to magically ease our energy crisis now? This is exactly why we should not give into these word games and cave on offshore drilling. It is not a solution to our immediate problems. Call out Bob for his hypocrisy and extremely lacking "plan." And "campaign" while you are at it.