FOLLOW-UP ON THE BIG BUSH BACKFIRE

[trillian]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/26/16137/1889

Follow-up on the Big Bush Backfire: Randy Kuhl Stands by His Man:
Presidential Visit Gives Fighting Dem Eric Massa’s Campaign a Boost
by Eric Massa

Randy Kuhl Stands By His Man
While other upstate Republican Members of Congress kept their distance from “how-low-can-your-poll-numbers-go” President Bush, my opponent was once again by his side, this time at Randy Kuhl’s invitation no less. It seems the President and Kuhl are together so much these days we could brand them “G-randy.”

G-Randy Cozies Up in Presidential Limo

As a side trip from his recent Iraq promotional tour, the President recently came to our district to sell his Medicare Part D program that privatizes drug coverage for seniors and eligible disabled Americans. Notably, the last time he came upstate was just under a year ago to sell his failed plan to privatize Social Security. Kuhl at that time signed on to the McCreary Bill that would have funded private accounts – the only NY Delegation Member to do so. He reportedly took his name off the bill only after a public backlash. What gives? Do either of these men actually know or care to know who we are?

::

This area, like many others across the nation, continues to be decimated by Republican policies that pad corporate profits, while many Americans literally cannot afford to eat. Anyone who might still think that this is a political overstatement need only to read a local hunger report released this week in the Southern Tier region of our district that found that those seeking charitable emergency food assistance had to make some tough choices, reported the Star Gazette. The report found that 35% had to choose between feeding their families and paying for utilities or heating fuel; 25% between eating and paying their rent or mortgage; and 17% between food and medicine or medical care. The report also found that at least one-third of these families had at least one working adult (Most others were relying on Social Security or supplemental Social Security income.), but more than two-thirds lived below the federal poverty line. More than 80% had a high school education or higher.

How, Mr. President and Mr. Kuhl, are these people supposed to benefit from bankruptcy “reform” that forces them to pay bills instead of eat, CAFTA that sends their living wage jobs overseas, and tax cuts for the rich?

Reportedly, this most recent trip was almost cancelled because someone with loose lips let the President’s schedule get into the media’s hands before the White House was ready. An “enraged” Kuhl lashed out at them during a conference call and later on the evening newscasts, according to the Finger Lakes Times. But as blame trading ensued, the week’s notice allowed various groups to organize protests.

One of the several rallies that took place around Canandaigua before and after the President's visit was a morning gathering at the Bella Lago restaurant during which the crowd "got rowdy at times, breaking out in whoops and yells at various verbal barbs, even hissing at the mention of Rep. John “Randy” Kuhl, R-29 of Hammondsport," according to an article in the
”Finger Lakes Times, a local paper.

Ouch!

Even before the President’s recent visit, the media buzz revolved around the sub-plot for the President's visit. The official on-the-record reason for the visit was to sell the Administration's beleaguered Medicare Part D drug prescription plan, but even Republicans suspected there may have been another motivation - a vulnerable Republican incumbent. Jay Dutcher, Ontario County GOP chairman, told the <i>Rochester Democrat & Chronicle</i>: “It seems unusual for us in upstate New York to have two visits from the president in less than a year after being neglected in the past.” Eric blogged about this two week’s ago. To read his comments, click here

During the President's remarks at Canandaigua Academy, he unabashedly stumped for Kuhl: "Congressman Randy Kuhl asked me to come and so I did. It shows how influential
he is," he told the invitation only crowd.

So during this lightly veiled campaign event, the Massa for Congress Campaign joined local labor leaders and advocacy groups to bring attention to the failures of the Bush Administration and Republican-led Congress, including the disastrous Medicare Part D drug prescription program. The preemptive press attack, on the eve of President Bush's visit to our 29th Congressional District, reached a number of media outlets in the 29th District Click here to read more about the press event.

Many Canandaigua-area residents were also upset that the President sidestepped the issue of the Veterans Administration center, which had been targeted for closing by the Bush Administration and saved only after public outcry. I called the President's failure to visit the VA "an incredible slap in the face to every veteran in the region," reported the Associated Press.

So, G-Randy, you’re doing a heck of a job. Keep it up.

This backfire of the visit by President Bush may be a preview of things to come. Although congressional elections usually depend on local issues, there is good reason to believe that this year congressional elections will turn on national issues even more than in 1994. If this trend continues, Bush will be a liability to the GOP this election season if others cling to him the way Randy Kuhl is doing (See Donkey Rising). Here is a key paragraph comparing the current environment with that of 2002:

On the liability issue, the poll shows that, by 37-20, voters are seeing their vote as a signal of opposition to, not support for, Bush. That compares to 31-19 the other way in October of 2002.

Likewise some polls are indicating that the views of democrats and independents are converging, creating a potentially formidable force against a continued Republican majority. (More on that here and here.) (Incidentally, our district (NY-29) has a very high level of blank voters – registered voters who do not formally affiliate with either party.) If Democratic candidates can reach out to independents who voted for Bush in previous elections, we have a chance to win in unexpected places. I think this is especially true for Veteran candidates if we can find the necessary funds. More on that in a future post.


Clink on the hyperlinks below for more coverage (full articles) of the Big Bush Backfire:

Press Event, Protests Point out Bush Administration Failures

Local Democrats call new ”prescription plan a failure


Democrat & Chronicle Points Out Kuhl's Vulnerability

OPINION: Mr. President - Area residents have lots of ”serious questionsfor you
Battle lines drawn in Monroe

Media Notes Political Undertones of Bush Visit

Bush visit ”reveals strategy for both parties

Bush's return to area a puzzler

Canandaigua prepping for a presidential visit, could ”pay dividends for Congressman Randy Kuhl

Despite Pleas, President Skips VA

Invitation only for President's speech


Other Coverage of the President's Visit

Scores of protesters brave snow, icy winds

Bush Defends Troubled Medicare Benefit

President visits Upstate today

Group ready to make case on Medicare

[patrice]

1. People will have to decide soon about Civil Dis-Obedience and, hence,

Arrest, because that is the only thing this administration can't ignore. It is also the only recourse the people have; there is no leadership on their Issues.

[Doorknob]

7. I agree. n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. Kuhl and Bush seem real cozy with each other?

Why is my gaydar going off?

[patrice]

3. G-randy? - or - W-randy!!!

Buddies.

[UncleNoel]

4. Bobbsie Twins or Siamese Twins

Connected at the shoulder.

Can they shoulder their crimes?

[xkenx]

5. Interesting Eric Massa-Wes Clark Connection

THIS WAS FROM A NEW HAMPSHIRE NEWSPAPER DURING THE PRIMARIES FOR '04

Clark supporter feels called to duty

General made believer of wary aide
Thursday, November 27, 2003

By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff


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As a junior Navy officer, Eric Massa had no choice the first time he went to work for Gen. Wesley Clark in 1996, as Clark's assistant in Panama. The Navy set up the interview, and Massa hoped to mangle it with blunt honesty.

"I didn't want the job, and I told him so," said Massa. "I was afraid of working for a pompous moron, of which there are several wearing stars. I had worked for senior officers who didn't care about people, and I didn't want to do that again."

It turned out Massa and Clark had something in common there, and Massa spent the next four years attached to Clark, first in Panama and then in Europe, during Clark's stint as supreme allied commander in Europe.

When Massa left Clark in 1999 it was under protest and only because Massa had been diagnosed with advanced cancer. Now, years later, Massa - recovered and retired from the Navy - is working for Clark's army again, this time as a campaign staffer trying to get Clark elected to the White House.

Massa wasn't looking for the job this time, either. Clark asked him to come on board after learning a month ago that Massa had "involuntarily resigned" from his government job at the urging of Republican bosses. They were upset that Massa had visited Clark at a Democratic campaign event.

"They said I was a political liability and that if I liked Wes Clark so much I should go work for him," Massa said. A lifelong Republican, Massa just re-registered as a Democrat. Massa is the son of a Navy man, and as such grew up outside America and with a respect for the military. The family came to the United States when Massa was 16, and after graduating from high school in Louisiana, Massa attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

In all, Massa spent 25 years in the Navy, 16 of them on sea duty. In the mid-1990s, Massa's commanding officer told him it was time to decide how he wanted to fulfill his joint duty, a requirement for officers to spend part of their service with another branch of the military.

When Massa said he wanted to do something out of the ordinary, he was told an Army general by the name of Wes Clark was looking for a Navy aide. All he knew about Clark was that he had stars on his Army uniform, and that didn't carry much weight with Massa.

Their 50-minute interview, however, convinced Massa to withhold judgment.

"He had questions I didn't expect from a military man," Massa said. "He asked me if I was familiar with Greek literature, if I read Homer, what I thought about the Illiad.

"And the last 20 minutes were devoted to people questions," Massa said. "He asked me what I would do if a young soldier came to me and told me his wife had died. Or a homosexual soldier told me he was being harassed. His whole thing was treating people with dignity and respect."

Three hours later, Massa was on a plane with Clark to Panama, where Clark was commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command. Massa described his job as Clark's executive assistant and deputy chief of staff.

Once there, Massa asked Clark what the Homer question was about. Massa remembers the answer: "He said he was looking for someone who was well-rounded enough to talk about issues beyond military terms."

For about 13 months, Massa shadowed Clark, keeping notes of his meetings and drafting follow-up letters to the people Clark had met. Massa said Clark forbade his staff to begin any of his correspondence with "I" because Clark wanted the emphasis on the recipient, not himself.

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A show of support
When Clark was promoted to supreme allied commander in Europe in 1997, he asked Massa to stay on and be his advance man. Massa agreed and moved his wife and kids, who had been waiting for him back in San Diego, to Brussels, Belgium. After Clark arrived, Massa was again a close assistant and became one of Clark's main liaisons to Washington, D.C.

Massa had every intention of staying in Europe as Clark's assistant until he got sick in late 1999. He hadn't recovered from running a half-marathon but chalked it up to the flu. He blew off a doctor's appointment his wife had made for him, thinking he'd work it off.

On Nov. 9, 1999, Massa looked up from his desk to find Clark standing there. Clark told Massa that his wife had called worried about his health.

Clark had arranged another doctor's appointment for Massa, and when Massa protested, Clark gave him the only direct order Massa recalls receiving in four years. "I think we have lost the fundamental relationship between a four-star general and a Navy commander," Clark told him. "You will go to the doctor."

The doctor diagnosed Massa, who had never smoked, with advanced lung cancer and gave him four months to live. Clark cut through red tape to get Massa and his family back to the United States for treatment.

Just before Massa left, Clark convened the staff and tearfully awarded Massa the Legion of Merit medal for his work. Clark had received the same medal in the 1970s when he was a speech writer for the then-supreme allied commander.

It's one of the few times Massa saw Clark cry.

"Everyone thought that was goodbye, that I was dying," Massa said.

Back home in San Diego, doctors were more optimistic and diagnosed Massa with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, not lung cancer, and began aggressive treatment.

Unknown to Massa, Clark had a soldier tracking Massa's surgery. As soon as Massa came to in recovery, staff told him he had a call. It was Clark. At the time, he was overseeing the bombing of Kosovo.

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A different kind of service
Massa retired about three years ago; he waited so that the last thing he did in uniform was attend Clark's retirement. Now he's living in a hotel in Manchester, trying to avoid a fast-food diet and bringing his family in from New York when he can.

He talks wistfully about the job he lost to get here. Massa was in Washington overseeing part of the Navy budget as a member of the House Armed Services Committee. His departure was reported by the press and has since become fodder for online political sites.

But he doesn't regret where it got him. On the trail, Massa is helping get Clark the veteran vote - and whatever else needs doing.

"If Wes Clark asked me to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, I'd ask him if he wanted it done in the summer or the winter," Massa said.

[IndyOp]

6. Warn Eric Massa - anyone this chummy with W - has stolen the election

already -- the candidate has gotten a promise from W (and friends) that they WILL win -- so they are happy to pose with the guy.

[Doctor_J]

8. Go Eric! Go Fighting Dems!

Go Smirk!