The DCCC's role after the primary

I see lots of speculation about what the DCCC's role is in this race. Will they get involved with their ad buys in the primary? Will they not support Harrison if he wins? Pushing these questions often is bad reporting;

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has pledged more than $2 million in advertising money for the general election if McMahon beats Steve Harrison, a Bay Ridge lawyer who lost to Fossella in 2006, in the September primary.

I have yet to see an actual quote saying the DCCC will only help McMahon and not Harrison, should he win the primary. There is no source to that in the article anywhere. When you think it through I have a hard time understanding how that quote above can be true at all. The DCCC's essential mission is electing as many Democrats to Congress as possible. They rarely get involved in ideology, they just strive to have as many members of Congress voting with the party on core issues starting with choosing the Speaker of the House and going down the list from there. Should Harrison beat McMahon this September what is the logic behind thinking the DCCC would take their ball and go home? Clearly they want this seat and have shown they will do what ever it takes to flip it, so why then if the person they think is the strongest candidate gets beaten, one can assume the winner then is an even stronger candidate, they will walk away from the race? 2006 has shown us two prime examples of an activist candidate with a much smaller war chest knocking off two DCCC backed candidates and then went on to knock off the Republican incumbents, Rep. Jerry McNerney and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. The DCCC is aware of these races and is helping both of them win their re-election. There is a track record, even if brief that shows if you are able to beat a DCCC endorsed candidate in a primary that you can go on to flip a Republican seat. So I ask if you think the DCCC would walk away from this race if Harrison won, like the Brooklyn Paper does, what evidence is there to support that and better what logic would be behind that?

Vito Fossella Resignation Watch, Part 2

Today we have several editorials calling for Fossella to resign.

NYPost under the title Time to go, Vito;

Vito Fossella needs to just go away.

Now.

via the Staten Island Advance, Mr. Fossella, resign;

In wake of the widening scandal surrounding Rep. Vito Fossella, the Staten Island Advance today called on the congressman to resign from office.

"Far too much damage has been done to his personal reputation and credibility at this point for him to recover and be an effective public servant," the paper wrote in an editorial today. "And there is too much potential for pointless and endlessly embarrassing digressions into this scandal if he chooses to stay in public life."

Brooklyn Paper calls for resignation;

But the congressman needs to take the logical final step: he must resign sooner, rather than later.

Regardless of the outcome of Fossella’s legal and personal struggles, voters in Bay Ridge and Staten Island will simply not be served during the final six months of Fossella’s current term unless the six-term congressman resigns immediately.

h/t to the Albany Project

Even more coverage of the Fossella and Cheney fund raiser

* Cheney stumps for Vito — yet he still leads!, The Brooklyn Paper;

The widely unpopular veep endorsed Fossella (R–Bay Ridge) at an Upper East Side fete on April 21, but opponents were more than pleased that Fossella had called in a man described by his critics as a “Prince of Darkness” to fill the coffers.

“Who is Vito Fossella going to be beholden to if he is elected?” Democratic candidate Steve Harrison asked a crowd of protestors outside the 71st Street home of billionaire industrialist David Koch, who hosted the fundraiser. “It will be Dick Cheney.

“These are not people from whom you [should] accept campaign contributions — these are the people to whom you give campaign contributions back when you find out who they are,” added Harrison, who got 43 percent of the vote against the cash-rich Fossella in 2006.

see also:

* Steve Harrison on Fossella and Cheney fundraiser

* More coverage of Dick Cheney and Vito Fossella fundraiser

Harrison picks up another endorsement

Steve Harrison has picked up the endorsement of the Democratic Organization of Richmond County. via Dana at the Brooklyn paper;

[Steve Harrison] won the endorsement of the Democratic Organization of Richmond County in a landslide 22–3 vote over Democratic rival, Councilman Domenic Recchia, on Monday night.

snip

The Staten Island Democratic Association is an important progressive political club in a key portion of the conservative 13th congressional district, which encompasses Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and all of Staten Island.

This is the third major club/organizational endorsement for Harrison;
* Democratic Organization of Richmond County
* 13th Congressional District PDA
* Staten Island Democratic Association, SIDA

Stephen Harrison supporting the NYPD

Matthew Lysiak writing for the Brooklyn Paper covers a story about Stephen Harrison's recent participation and speech at an anti-war rally. I covered the story in two posts, here and here, but Matthew focuses on a different aspect, Harrison's praise of the local police;

But when one of the organizers of the protest berated two police officers, Harrison couldn't hold his tongue.

"Those police officers, I know them personally, and I don't want this group to alienate them," said a visibly angry Harrison. "Everything they have ever done in this community is appropriate and what they deserve is a thank you."

Matthew goes on to compare this to a Bill Clinton moment.

But it was Harrison's "Sister Souljah moment" that stood out. A reach? Perhaps, but unlike Clinton's attack on the rapper, at least Harrison's "moment" wasn't pre-scripted. And that made it even more effective, because it showed that Harrison is a stand-up guy.

I find it to be a good strategy to reach out to these groups of constituents. Vito Fossella continues to try and own them through his tough rhetoric and fear car, yet it is Democrats who are leading efforts to support them. We saw that Rep. Jerry Nadler has long led the fight for treatment of illnesses related to September 11th while Fossella postured in the publicity. We know that Fossella is backing a presidential candidate who is reviled by our own Fire Fighters. Time and time again Fossella terrorism and fear as a means to have photo ops yet it is the Democrats who are fighting for the unions these men and women belong to, for the pensions, health care and public education systems they come to rely on for them and their families.