Saturday, June 6, 2009

STATE AND NATIONAL ATTENTION & THREATS OF A LAWSUIT

Draft Dede Effort Gains Major Traction In Two Stories
We told you it was gun'na be HUGE.

Okay so about half of our traffic stops to our unofficial Draft DeDe As a Democrat for Congress site yesterday were from these two major stories (see them below) speculating on whether or not Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava would run as a Democrat in the NY-23rd to replace Representative John McHugh. The Democratic National Committee even made a visit to our site and stayed for awhile. Hopefully they are going to consider some of the solid arguments we have made in why they should aggressively recruit DeDe to run with our party for this election. Now one of the most interesting things about this endeavor is that you learn a lot of new things along the way. For example, one of the stories that picked up on our effort provided some other interesting details on Scozzafava's husband. Apparently he is some kind of big union guy with the AFL-CIO (on a side note that made me wonder if Scozzafava supports Obama's card-check legislation and whether they could be a big fundraising base for her along with Planned Parenthood). Did anyone else know that? Maybe she is more solid on our economic issues than we thought as well (more on that later).

Anyways, we regret to admit that we have not yet gotten Scozzafava completely on our side yet, but she still might and we have hope. According to some staffers in Albany we have been in contact with, the news of this political development just hit and is still fresh. There are a lot of people speculating on a lot of different things going on in the State House so we might just have to sit tight and see how some things play out.

On a positive note Scozzafava has not yet released a statement denying that she would run as a Democrat so our guess is that she is still seriously considering it, especially since
the Democratic field has just thinned a little more as the Syracuse Post-Standard reported today that Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida announced he would not be getting into the race to replace McHugh. And until DeDe asks us to stop our efforts we will continue to push our grassroots out to her, encouraging her to come over to the side where she can really make a difference and survive redistricting in 2012. It seems to us that each day Scozzafava waits before announcing which party she would run with, it is another good day for us because it means she is frustrating the Republican Party just that much longer. Only time will tell, but the clock is ticking and it is in our favor.

Now back to the major stories that are driving this story in the North Country.

Here is the first from the biggest political news site in New York State called Politickerny.com.

Jimmy Vielkind writes in his piece, Scozzafava as a Democrat for Congress? that, "Certain factions of the Republican party think Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava is too liberal to run for the congressional seat being vacated by John McHugh. But what about running as a member of the other party? As one well-connected Democrat argued to me, 'It's an obvious way to go. She's a moderate, well-liked and known person. It will be interesting to see what the Republicans do with her.' She has not, in the past, been approved by the Republican Party. In 2008, she sought to run for the State Senate seat vacated by Jim Wright, but party elders backed her more conservative colleague Will Barclay, who eventually lost to then-assemblyman Darrell Aubertine. Now, all three are once again mentioned as replacements for McHugh. Barely an hour had passed before Jim Kelly, a conservative campaign consultant who lives on the edge of the district, sent along an email with 'the liberal crap' about Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava. It made reference to her vote to legalize same-sex marriage and a 2005 pledge to 'insure the rights of all women in New York State to control their own reproductive lives, including the right to safe, legal abortion.' All of which would be fine, presumably, with the Democratic Party. Someone has gone to the trouble of setting up a a web site encouraging party leaders to '
draft Dede.' Given some of her positions and strong ties to labor--her husband, Ron McDougall, is the president of the local Central Labor Council--it's not so far-fetched that she would run as a Democrat, particularly if Aubertine opts not to. (He's officially still weighing his options.) Scozzafava did not immediately return calls seeking comment."

And
here is the second from a major national political news site called the National Journal.

The Journal reports in Don't Go Out Without Your DeDe? that, "While it's still very early in the process, the name that pops out of the large GOP field is Assemb. DeDe Scozzafava (R). Her legislative district lies completely within the boundaries of the CD, and she ran unopposed in '08 after trouncing a Dem opponent in '06. Still, she may have a few problems among the GOP faithful. Scozzafava's a moderate that voted for the recent gay marriage bill that came through the legislature. In fact, she's one of the few GOPers in NY that's also been endorsed by the liberal Working Families Party (she earned their line in '08). Some Dems have even begun a campaign to draft [that is us and it is awesome they picked up on us somehow] her to run as a Dem. All of this would certainly help her grab moderate support, but it would also jeopardize the right flank, too. Do you think the Conservative Party would endorse her? If not, she'd face the likelihood of facing that party's candidate in the general as well."

By the way, kudos to McHugh for testing the waters on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." What an important item for the Obama Administration to get done this year. I know we should be able to get that done with bipartisan support in the Administration and with a Democratic Congress.

We thought those pieces were great, along with the news of McHugh's consideration on DADT. We look forward to more discussion about NY-23 online and in the print/TV/radio media. We want our friends and foes alike to know that this draft effort is really our honest intention to have a robust and open debate about the future of our district without the nuts in the right wing Conservative Party and the southern Republicans interfering too much. Rumor has it that they are trying to talk Dede into filing a lawsuit against our coalition if she is going to get their support (it's the kind of quid-pro-quo dealings that you normally see in Chicago not the North Country). We mean what ever happened to freedom of speech anyways? Maybe that can be a post for another blog on another day -- is the GOP trying to stifle and undermine free speech?

But we have to reiterate it again for those out there who don't understand, "We are still a free country that allows free speech so 'Thank Goodness for the Freedom of Speech.'" But honestly, who could ever try to deny such a fundamental thing in our great country? We know for one that DeDe would never try to stifle a fair, open, and honest debate. After all, she is going to be on our team. We look forward to your e-mails to draftdede@gmail.com and twitter comments @draftdedeny. Thanks team and stay true to our worthy cause!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

From a twitter conversation...

kevinLtorres@DraftDedeNY Ya know, we talked to DeDe yesterday and she's very upset about your twitter pg/blog. Talking about a lawsuit against u folks.

Is that true? Dede would try to stifle free speech??? Now that's a story... talking to a reporter and having that reporter intimidate a democratic coalition. Isn't there such a thing as freedom of assembly and freedom of speech in this country?

Anonymous said...

I don't think this site is making anything up. It sounds like they are just rehashing news articles, DeDe's own words, etc.

Torres should be fired for trying to intimidate someone from speaking their mind. It is a free country and people can say what they want.

Anonymous said...

Oh the power of the pen. You guys & gals are funny.

Anonymous said...

Isn't Torres a weekend anchor for WWNY-TV Channel 7 in Watertown?

What is he doing in the middle of this mess? Isn't he just supposed to be a reporter.

Anonymous said...

Dede has to run as a Democrat. If Obama starts calling into these Democratic households and sending mail for the Dem. candidate Dede will never get the support from them that she used to. Their loyalty to the President cannot be underestimated.

My guess is that Dede is scared to switch parties, but is willing to entertain the idea. Perhaps a call from the President or Rahm Emanuel, or any other big Democrat leader could do it. Afterall, she is right on their issues.

If she runs as a Republican she loses the Working Family Party and the Conservative Party. Heck, if the candidate on the Dem side is conservative he/she might even get the endorsement of the Conservatives for retribution for Dede being a liberal all these years.

She is in a touch spot, but either way she should release a statement and settle the waters one way or another. The media is going to eat her alive if she doesn't make a clear decision and people think she is waviering.

Anonymous said...

Did DeDe go to see Sarah Palin today? She could have gotten her endorsement and won the seat on the spot if she wanted to. That would have been it!

Danny M. Francis (Eyepublius) said...

* June 6, 2009 - the Anniversary of that same day in 1944:

“The Longest Day.”

Back then it was when the free world (led by the U.S. and other allied forces) invaded Europe to free it for freedom's sake from the clutches of Nazism.

Today some of those same freedoms
"might be in jeopardy” based upon a maybe / perhaps “lawsuit” about a parody loaded with political facts?

How ironic is that?

It brings tears to my eyes: tears of joy, not tears of sadness!

Anonymous said...

Kevin Torrez took down his inappropriate comment from Twitter. Some folks got it off of google cache though. Do you want us to e-mail it to you Draft Dee As a D?

DRAFT DEDE said...

That won't be necessary anon. We were glad to see Torrez take it down. Not sure he was trying to intimidate our free speech (just an innocent mistake we assume).

Scozzafava would never file a lawsuit either. We talked to some of her people today that said they were just caught off guard with our effort and are trying to decide how to make their official announcement.

I guess Dede is torn on whether she wants to run as a D or an R. She wants to see if the Democratic field thins out some more and she also wants to see what R's officially get in. Her people said that if Will Barclay gets in she knows it would be difficult for her to win, same with Griffo but to a lesser extent.

Anonymous said...

Dont pick on Kevin Torres his own twitter makes fun of Aubertine. He is on our side...

@kevinLtorres If Aubertine decides to run for congress, I wonder if he'll start discussing his feelings on the issues he tends to dodge...

Thats some post for a reporter at a TV station to make, huh?

DRAFT DEDE said...

Lets all keep it to the task at hand -- getting Dede Scozzafava to announce for Congress as a Demcorat. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

She should leave the GOP in her dust...after throwing her under the bus in lieu of Little Lord Barclay last year. Listen...there is no doubt that a truck load of money and big name supporters will come her way if she jumps camp. DO NOT be surprised to see the Commander-in-Chief somewhere in the North Country giving an endorsement regarding this special election. How about a well timed visit to Drum with the new Army Secretary, along with new Dem DeDe, welcoming home some troops? Just call me Nostradamus! Regarding her (marital) ties to organized labor and the WFP...anyone who has their ear to the ground knows about that! You must be a newcomer to these parts! On that note: Welcome to the North Country, neighbor...oh, and by the way...it is NOT your daddy's political North Country anymore.

Anonymous said...

Imagine that - Barack Obama, our president, endorsing Dede Scozzafava at Fort Drum.

The rest of the world would have a hard time remembering the other candidates name if that happened. The GOP is toast!

Anonymous said...

Yall have way too much crap on this site for it to be a joke. Therefore, because the idea is clever I am voting for Dede to run as a Democrat. Good luck!

Slacker said...

I'd rather run a real Dem than have to run a flipped Repub. I mean, there ARE actual real-live Dems in the 23rd. We shouldn't have to beg a Repub to run for us...

Anonymous said...

But Dede is the best on the policy. She lines up perfectly with the Democratic National Committee platform and with her we could REALLY win it!