Jon Powers: Time to Call Alice Kryzan and call it a race - Updated
It has been a busy day today for me in my non-blog life, but this has been sticking with me. Will Jon Powers or won’t Jon Powers support Alice Kryzan - or will Jon Powers actively run on the WFP party line? I’m told there are meetings tomorrow where such things are decided.
Coupled with the post - written Wednesday 11:45 PM which says that Jon Powers has not even called to concede or congratulate Alice Kryzan. Um, when Massa did something similar in 2006 he was waiting for Absentee ballots to be counted, as I recall - He had a public explanation. Here, we have silence. This appears childish and, yes, this info is a day old, but I haven’t seen it change, have you?
[Update: according to The Hill, from an article written late Wednesday, Powers did concede:
Kryzan spokeswoman Anne Wadsworth said that Powers “did call Alice, and left a very gracious message.”
-btp]
Now it is about practicality. The DCCC just pulled support from Powers. The WFP party of NY supports Alice Kryzan even though Powers is on the ballot. Powers failed to win the large populous counties. He still is smarting from Jack Davis’ negative attacks. There is this solid post from swingstate project (which gave me the WFP link above). On the positive side, Powers has a bunch of money in the bank.
Even thinking about running on the WFP party is quite similar to Jack Davis attempting to form his own party just in case he lost the election. Is this, any party in a political storm? I should think not.
So here is the deal - in stlo’s opinion. Time to call it a day. Announce you are supporting Kryzan, pay off your campaign debt and transfer some of that money you received to Alice so we can help ensure someone who will caucus with the Democrats will have a chance at being elected. There is NO chance Christopher Lee will Caucus with the Dems.
Yes, I expect to be beat up in the comments over the, “give him a couple of days to grieve” bit, however it is past a couple of days. Also, after elections, opponents call each other. Sorry, this just doesn’t seem right.
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I agree completely!
Thanks for writing this. It needed to be said.
I agree as well. I was hoping for a Powers victory on Tuesday night, but for whatever reason, we didn’t get it. If he had won and Kryzan refused an endorsement, I would be flipping out right now. But now is not the time to lick wounds and apply double standards. Powers- and Davis for that matter- need to endorse Kryzan now. How about Unity, New Hampshire as a venue?
I wrote a few days ago that this race was already over. I am doing a complete 180 on that post: the NY-26 race has only just begun.
I think before anyone supports Alice, we need to know why she supported Tom Reynolds financially with a check for 250.00 in 2000.
While I agree, I think hell will freeze over before Jack Davis endorses anyone from the dems.
Does Kryzan really want the endorsement of those she referred to as Bush Republicans?
Jack Davis is out for himself and will not endorse or assist anyone here.
Good question. I’m sure there is an explanation that should be forthcoming. It is a question that should be asked, however, I can see a scenario where this is not a big deal.
[...] Matt at Sep 12th, 2008 Rochester Turning reportedly heard that meetings will be held today on whether or not Powers will continue his campaign, and appears to be concerned that Powers might [...]
When I wrote about her donations to Reynolds in July the campaign said it was an act of “reaching across the isle” and assured me that she had been a lifelong Democrat. They released this statement:
I don’t know if that will make Democrats feel better but juxtaposed with Davis & Powers, who were both lifelong Republicans, she does have a documented history of supporting Dems financially and in action.
That’s good. A little weird, but good. Did Reynolds have an opponent the year she gave the money? Did she give the money to Pataki in that same year? Just curious.
I don’t have a problem with people changing parties for personal experiences though. I hate it when people get elected as one party and then change after the election. But, if you’ve really had a change of heart based on your experiences or come to the realization that the party you belong to doesn’t represent your beliefs, you shouldn’t be thought of as a lesser member of your new party.
Heck, I was a Republican for a brief moment when I first registered to vote b/c both of my parents were life-long Republicans. I went to college, realized where my true thoughts were and changed. My parents, by the way, are both now Democrats as well - they’ve each changed parties within the last 8 years (used to vote for Democrats mostly anyway - strongly supported Gore). I finally convinced my Dad to change when I had him take an online test during the last election and his views came up closest to Dennis Kucinich. Now, that’s no Republican!
Jon Powers is being unfairly smeared again. He did call Kryzan on Wednesday, but her campaign seems not to have bothered to tell anyone until a Washington paper called (http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/powers-hints-he-might-pursue-third-party-bid-2008-09-11.html). The piece says Powers might pursue the WFP avenue, but it isn’t based on any new information. And it includes the new nugget of a quote from Kryzan’s spokesperson saying that Powers had left her a “gracious message” the day after the primary.
Yeah I don’t necessarily see a problem with a candidate who changed their party in the past. I personally went from Democrat to having no party and will probably stay neutral from this point on. Your experiences in life should change your beliefs. It might strengthen them, might weaken them, but you need to grow.
Where people have a problem and I can understand it to a degree is if people change simply for political gain. The whole point of having a party is because a group of people believe in a core set of ideas, policies etc. So to just jump ship for political expedience, I can see where that would bother people.
Thanks, HP. That’s good to know.
Smeared? It is about defining yourself. The original post I linked to, acknowledging that the info was old, was WHAM13 who reported that Powers has not officially conceded.
What hasn’t been seen is a public statement of support from Powers to the winner of the primary. Until that happens there are many conclusions that can be drawn.
Like this from Powers Web Site in a letter to supporters September 10th.
Thomas W. Pecoraro was Reynolds’ Democratic opponent in 2000. Couldn’t find much on him. However, the Kryzan response that Jeff got that they were “reaching across the aisle” is a bunch a hooey in my book. You reach out AFTER an election, until then a “lifelong” democrat should be supporting Dem candidates. Nice that she raised all that money for everyone else but did she stop and think that if she helped raise money for Pecoraro he might have won or had a shot. He lost 70-30%. And 2000 was a crucial election year for Dems since re-districting was about to occur not to mention the most important Presidential election in a century? The check for Reynolds was the only recorded contribution she made that year…yeah lifelong Democrat…
You could admit that the part in your piece about criticizing for not making a phone call was mistaken.
I’ll have to let Sean Carrol speak of Channel 13 for himself. I reused his words but with this new information - Something seems amiss.
The important part of this post is really coming out and acknowledging the reality of Kryzan’s victory and the silliness that would be a WFP run by Powers given the reality.
Smeared? It is about defining yourself.
Bingo.
[...] statement from Powers stating such and endorsing the Democratic winner, Alice Kryzan. Yes, I know and have said, it is a bitter dose of reality to swallow but needs to [...]