TF29th has a great writeup of yesterday’s Massa/Kuhl “debate”, very fair and balanced. Heres’ my favorite of the several patented Rottenchester snarks, on the boilerplate speechifying that happened as a result of the Rotary Club’s insistence on civility:

Apple pie would have been mentioned, but time ran out.

I’m looking forward to a real debate, with actual back-and-forth. RC makes the point that some folks will be focusing a lot on the “Katrina gaffe”. Well, yeah. Regardless of how polished the spin was on his other points, this gaffe is one more example of a fundamental character flaw: on this administration’s two biggest, costliest, most egregious blunders, Iraq and Katrina, Kuhl is toeing and regurgitating the party line rather than the obvious truth. Either he believes what he says, or he doesn’t. If the former, he’s dangerously out of touch with reality. If the latter, he truly is a shill and a rubberstamp for Bush.

TF29 also does a great roundup and analysis of local news reporting on the debate.

One of Kuhl’s quotes from the D&C’s writeup caught my eye:

Kuhl said he considers his life experience as a New Yorker to be an asset to his constituents. He said he opted to run for Congress “to change the system. I didn’t go there to become one of them, I want to represent you.”

My wife and I had a discussion last night on whether politicians really believe these things they say. A friend of mine used to defend Bush’s statements by saying, with a half-smile, “It’s not a lie– if you believe it’s true.”Â

I guess I would have more respect for Kuhl if he just came out and said what he’s really about. Something like “I felt Amo Houghton was “a good man”, but he was way too out of step with what this district needs. He voted against the Iraq war, but I support it 100%, no matter what those pesky generals are saying. Our Great Leader may be pretty unpopular in these parts, but I want to represent you by ignoring that and voting with him 85% of the time. Oh, and, I do want to change the system, from this messy democracy-type thing to something more streamlined.”

And while I’m grooving on TF29th’s excellent posting, his response to Randy’s new ad about taxes makes a couple key points:

…I heard Bob [Lonsberry] say that when a politician promises a tax cut, the first thing we should ask is where the money’s coming from to finance the cut. Good question, Bob.

Whoa, good question indeed. It freaks me out a little when I agree with Bob Lonsberry twice in a short time (the other agreement was that WalMart should stay the heck outta Lima.) It’s like one of those “Pat Buchanan” moments: Don’t…want…to…agree…he’s…making…sense…for…once. Of course, conservatives will answer that the money should come from cutting spending on “waste”, waste being programs they don’t like, such as Social Security, Meals on Wheels, and Medicaid.

Kuhl has a track record of 24 years in the New York legislature, many of those years in leadership positions. New York’s tax burden is among the nation’s highest. There’s no evidence that Kuhl’s ever worked to lower taxes.

I have a feeling if someone wants to “change the system”, they’d have a better perspective if they were a “citizen legislator”, like Massa, vs. a career politician who’s spent over a quarter-century being part of “the system”.