Can you hear me knocking - Joe Robach
Much praise - very deservedly so– has been heaped on the Working Families Party. They delivered Greece. By that I simply mean they provided the additional effort required to ensure Beebe defeated Diraddo. I believe it would be incorrect to say the WFP alone won the race - it was a tough race and without either the Greece Dems or the WFP, Diraddo wins. Still - Check out the Democrat and Chronicle report today:
Eleven full-time canvassers — mostly younger people and laid-off workers from Delphi Corp. — were hired to walk door-to-door, said Eric Martin, chairman of the Finger Lakes chapter of the Working Families Party. The amount the party spent on the race was not available Friday.
So some “minor” party had resources and vision to hire 11 full-time canvassers in an attempt to flip the Monroe County Legislature? WOW. Doesn’t sound like a “minor party”, does it?
As you continue to read the article, let’s look to the 2008 election, now less than a year away, and towards Joe Robach’s state senate seat.
The state Senate is three seats away from Democratic control, and Democrats are looking to win back that house.
State Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Greece, doesn’t think Beebe’s win is a signal that his political future is in jeopardy. His district includes Greece, Parma, Brighton and most of the city of Rochester.
“I think that every election is a contest between two individuals,” said Robach. “More and more in today’s world, people vote for the person.”
Democrats are 45 percent of the voters in Robach’s 56th District, Republicans are 26 percent.
A former state assemblyman, Robach was a lifelong Democrat until he was elected to the Senate five years ago. He said Friday that he does not have plans to switch his affiliation from Republican to Democrat and that he is used to running in districts where party enrollment is not in his favor.
So - remember the three men in a Room? Spitzer, Bruno, Silver? Want to start to change NY away from status quo and back on to a path of promise and prosperity? Well, the balance of power needs to change. That means Joe Bruno and his slim 2 seat majority in the State seat - a majority purchased with member items - needs to go. That is why we elected Spitzer - to shake up Albany and that is what he is doing.
Joe Robach is a tremendous politician and he simply excels at constituent contact. He really does. Success in this area tends to obscure the conservative voting record and frankly I’d argue that low information voters simply don’t understand how the state government works.
So - the Beebe/Diraddio race proved that successful organizing can actually help swing a district that does not have favorable registration numbers.
I would argue that Robach’s district needs similar organization because even though there is a 45/26 split between Dems and Republicans, Robach’s record is obscured and your average voter upstate doesn’t “get” Albany and three guys in a room.
The question here is will Joe Morelle, assuming he is still MCDC chairman, have the stomach for going after one of his Albany colleagues when he will be in a reelection race himself, and will MCDC truly target Joe Robach to help flip the Senate and bring prosperity and promise back to upstate.
Inquiring minds want to know.
“I believe it would be incorrect to say the WFP alone won the race - it was a tough race and without either the Greece Dems or the WFP, Diraddo wins.”
Thank you for that comment. Dick’s victory was truly a joint effort and a result of the coming together of many factors. Most important to his win was Dick Beebe himself. He worked tirelessly and knocked on EVERY SINGLE door in the district. He is hard-working, dedicated and an experienced, down-to-earth leader. We in the Greece Democratic Committee couldn’t be prouder.
I’d very much like to know what the candidate pool looks like for that district. Hmmmm.
This is only for Beebe’s district - I omitted a handful of other parties with only a few registrants
LD-6 # reg voters %
Blanks 3461 24%
Con 391 3%
Dem 4569 31%
Ind 528 4%
Rep 5429 37%
Grand Total reg voters 14654
Boo Hiss
I couldn’t help but notice that Wade Norwood lives in the 56th Senate District.
Also important is to see how much money the Senate Campaign Committee and Spitzer are willing to dump into the race. These state seats are really hard to flip for a number of reasons, including the fact that some incumbents (especially Robach, conservative voting record) have such a substantial financial advantage. TV & radio cost mucho dineros.
More than MCDC can be expected to fork over, in the case of TV.
May as well just hand him his crown now. I can see how this one’s going to play out already. (Are we allowed to say that?)
That’s why a challenger should be identified now. Start building name recognition, work the roots. Nobody heard of Massa in his largely red district until he started walking and talking the circuit, and I don’t believe people thought he would be a credible challenger to Kuhl when he got started. Anybody read “Crashing the Gate”?
Oh, ye of little faith ….
I can understand why people are skeptical, but 2008 is different .. VERY different.
Really? Why?
I’ve been thinking about your comment, and I think it’s an atypical statement given the fact that you’re counting on the Presidential election to carry the line.
How sad, when candidates in 2007 where counting on the County Executive race to carry the line and there was NO CANDIDATE THERE.
As a result, grassroots needed to step up to bring true leadership where leadership of a party failed.
So how nice for those in 2008 to have such a luxury. How nice indeed. It doesn’t change one damned fact that there should have been a County Exec Candidate named by the Dems, and every single solitary office open should have had a candidate named.
Any town chair that failed to find candidates failed as well and I would suspect are from the Morelle “flock”…those who lack the skill to get the job done right the first time, instead of waiting for a Presidential race at a time of failed war policy to declare “victory”.
Gets old. Real old. Real fast.
I never said a WORD about it being a presidential year. I just have one question for you, did YOU run for office this year? If not, why? The only way leadership can find candidates is if people agree to run.
Yo GB -
First off cool your jets. You are right you didn’t have to say 2008 was a presidential year. I mean like it is all over the news with the Dem candidates in yet another debate tonight in Vegas.
Jiminy’s point was in 2008 there is a person in both parties at the head of the ticket.
Re running for office. Did you? So stop tossing stones though Jiminy I’m sure can take care of themself quite well. There multiple ways to contribute either on a campaign or as a candidate. Not everyone wants or has the desire to be an elected official. Yes I would argue that most everyone contributing to the this blog via comments and certainly the front pagers are active politically or enroute to becoming more active. (On both sides of the aisle I might add).
Lack of a candidate is more than someone simply choosing not to run after being asked by say the head of a party. It is about grooming potential candidates. It is strategic in identifying people early in the cycle and preparing for the one after that.
It is creating a bench, a deep bench that you can go for candidates.
If you wait until the last minute - well - you have holes in the ticket. Can’t win unless you run.
There were holes across the Dem ticket this go around. Exec, Henrietta, 3 County Leg seats immediately come to mind.
Where is the bench?
the district (or parts of it as it has gone though redistricting) have been democratic in the past and Joe, whatever his actual record is still perceived as a moderate. clearly it could be captured but it would tale effort. If the economic downturn many foresee and tax problems continue, Robach could be seen as part of the problem.
What’s this I hear? People here seem to be groaning:
“Take on Robach? Ohhhh, do we HAVE to? He’s like totally popular!”
Damn straight, take on Robach. Take him on with every thing we’ve got.
First of all, he’s one of the most vulnerable politicians in the State Senate, based on registrations, and it’s imperitive that we take the Senate back so we can finally take care of some business in this state. We Monroe County Democrats are the ones who are going to have to do the thankless grunt work, so quit bitching and start looking for a candidate.
That voting record has to come out. Joe Robach is one of the Top Ten conservatives in the Senate.
I can see the mailer now:
Don’t let a smile and a handshake fool you: he’s not like us.
Joe Robach is one of the TOP TEN Conservatives in the NY State Senate.
God help him if the Midtown $$ fall through.
Also - there are indirect benefits from running an early and noisy campaign. The more we can bring politics into the conversation, the more Republicans suffer. We don’t win elections by NOT running candidates. We win by fighting tooth and nail for every seat, and when that seat’s as important as this one we go nuclear.
He’s not the “nice” guy people think. I agree with you Itchy…blow the horn, start the battle cry - this one’s gonna get messy.
You sound like a great candidate. Get out there and start pounding the pavement. Robach’s stick-on smile would turn into a frown if you ran against him.
It’s NOT your father’s Robach anymore
What is this Morrelle “reelection race” you refer to? I can’t see the Republicans trying seriously to unseat him.
My point was that that Morelle will focus on being reelected.. Serious threat or not - that is the focus.
Maybe he can run his entire campaign on You Tube. Have it set in a 50’s style environment, with bad actors and an overinflated budget.
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Those videos totally won the race for Gumina. Kidding.
Only TWO (2) Seats and the 3 little pigs are sent packing - ROBACH - ALESI - BRUNO - the “PoRk EaRmArK KiNgS” of New York.
Imagine how many GOOD things will come to the deserving people of UPSTATE (yeah, we’re up here Joe-Joe and Jimbo) and some of the laws they have held hostage, and the funding they have used to do nothing more than feather their own political nest (or in the case of Jim “the one legged wonder” Alesi, his name on every building he’s ever walked into.
Such a shame the man never had a child. Instead he gave birth to hundreds of buildings that bear his name (of course that’s not counting the ones that had to buy his commercial washer/dryer combos to get a grant…
Yeah - our illustrious Senate trio - Joe-Joe and Jimbo - PORK - the “other” white meat!