NY-SEN: What primary? The Presidential Primary? No?

The Buffalo News has a front page article about Hillary campaigning in the New York State heartland, and except for a guy in a chicken suit ……. you’d think from this article that there was no primary in New York State. That’s quite a gap in reality from how it appears on DailyKos from all the Tasini dairies and how people are claiming that New Yorkers are looking for an excuse to dump Hillary if just given the chance. But the Buffalo News is right. Essentially, Hillary has no primary. She barely has a general election, honestly, but since her potential Republican opponents are polling at 31% or 35% and Tasini is at 15%, what reason does she have to pay attention to him over the Republicans? Like it or not, progressives have to face reality. You are not getting Hillary’s attention. Try something else.

Now granted, this Buffalo News article is largely about Republicans who have shifted their opinions of Hillary since 2001, and that will probably give the Tasinistas another reason to lump her with Lieberman, but the reason they are doing so is because the primary is essentially over for her. The primary is not news. The only real story is whether she will run for President or not, not whether she’ll win the Senate seat back.

I think what progressives who wish to have an impact need to realize is that when you have a senator with a war chest of $22 million dollars cash on hand and $33 million raised, I think the biggest war chest of any Senator, Republican or Democrat, this ain’t going to cut it…..

Last week all across Central New York, she met adoring crowds and virtually no loud opposition, save for a person in a chicken suit carrying a sign saying that she was too “chicken” to debate Jonathan Tasini, her anti-war opponent in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary.

This is pathetic.

There is no substantial progressive movement with any real strategy or momentum to either impact Hillary Clinton’s record in any way or give her any sort of a run for her ginormous stacks of money, and anybody who thinks otherwise needs to check in at the front desk of Hotel Reality for a message. This is no way to build a progressive movement. This is how you make an ass of yourself.

“What about the Kiss Float?” you say. “Isn’t that the same kind of tactic?” Not even remotely. When you’re going up against Goliath, you need to aim for the sweet spot on the forehead or the temple, not aim for the shins or the fleshy behind. The Kiss Float was a perfect visual representation of Lieberman’s vulnerability – his smoochy lovey-dovey relationship to Bush, a great big rock to Lieberman’s forehead. Tasini focusing on whether or not Hillary will debate is first of all, standard underdog fare and not even remotely news or of importance to voters.

Tasini is barely a footnote to the 2008 Presidential Primary race, which is largely what the NY Senate race is going to be about. He’s at best a mosquito bite on the behind of Hillary Rodham Clinton. If you want to stop her run for President, Tasini is not your ticket to ride. Try Russ Feingold or something. (Personally, while I like Hillary okay as my Senator, I’m not wild about her for Prez….ahem, Gore, Clark, Edwards…)

Notice, by the way, that Hillary has raised all this money mostly from individuals, not PACs, and that she has gotten almost nothing from Party entities. Tasini has $11,000 cash on hand, raised $120,000 total, $30,000 of which was a candidate loan. Money is a strong indicator of real support for a candidate or a movement, and Tasini just ain’t got it.

So what to do? How do you cause a shift? Well, hate to tell y’all this, but it’s going to take long hard work. You have to elect more progressives to local and state office. You agitate on specific issues and legislation with Hillary, similar to this recent local action that encouraged Chuck Schumer to come out in favor of Net Neutrality. You have to organize for the long term, look for better candidates, raise more money, build more long term support. You have to deal with the reality of those who don’t support you and why, and find other tactics besides temper tantrums and guilt trips to persuade people. There was an actual indiginous progressive movement behind Ned Lamont that was being built for years and found a focus in the Lamont campaign.

None of this is to say that Tasini has no right to run or that people shouldn’t vote for him on Sept 12th. Knock yourself out. But don’t fool yourself into thinking you are having an impact on Hillary with your support for Tasini because you are not. If you are really committed to progressive change, think about focusing more energy on better candidates for 2008, on progressives for state and local office, and on NY candidates like Eric Massa or Kirsten Gillibrand who have a good chance of defeating Republican incumbents this November.

NY part of Regional Emissions Market

States continue to be ahead of the Federal curve on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

An ambitious plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Northeast by creating a market in which the right to pollute can be bought and sold has moved one step closer to realization. This month, the seven states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) agreed upon a model rule — the rules of the game, so to speak — in anticipation of the start of emissions trading in 2009.

While federal legislation is nowhere on the horizon, even moderate Republican Governors like Pataki and Schwarzenegger are on board with, yes, admittedly limited steps, but steps nonetheless.

New York’s Gov. George Pataki pushed for creation of a regional cap and trade program, and as the largest state, New York has been a de facto leader in the cooperative effort to develop RGGI.

The RGGI includes New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware. (Massachusetts?? WTF??)

Environmentalists and power producers alike worry about the fact that RGGI will be limited to a handful of states, which also happen to already have some of the highest electric rates in the nation. Given the option, industries may choose to purchase cheaper, dirtier electricity from non-RGGI states such as neighboring Pennsylvania or Ohio, a phenomenon known as “leakage” that will dog the program so long as it remains regional.

“We would prefer, in any case, that this goes national. It should be a national program,” Meir said.

Schumer on Net Neutrality

The rallies being organized around the country for Net Neutrality worked locally to motivate Chuck Schumer to come out in favor of Net Neutrality. Two days before the event took place, Schumer released a strong statement in support of Net Neutrality.

“I believe the Internet has the power to enhance one of the most fundamental values of our democracy: freedom of speech. That’s why I support the free flow of information on the Internet and enforceable network neutrality. I will oppose the flawed and limiting provisions in Senator Stevens’ bill, S. 2686, which do not prevent providers from discriminating against Internet traffic from competitors. If the Stevens bill is not changed to protect network neutrality, I will oppose it. Network neutrality has allowed the Internet to be an engine of economic innovation, democratic participation, and free speech. Eliminating it would be a serious mistake.”

WNY Media reports on the rally:

Thanks to everyone who showed up to Support Net Neutrality and to show our thanks to Senator Schumer for listening to his constituents. On behalf of the savetheinternet.com Coalition, we delivered more than 47,953 signatures this afternoon to Sen. Schumer’s office in Buffalo.

That’s a LOT of signatures! Impressive local action. And goodonya, Chuck!

Schumer in Elmira

Chuck Schumer spoke to a group of Corning Business and Government leaders on Wednesday and spoke about trade, jobs and Iraq.

“We have trade policies that motivate companies to move to other countries for cheap labor,” said Schumer during an open forum at City Hall. “We need to level the playing field.” The Central American Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement and trade policies with China are unfair pacts, he said.“We need better trade rules,” Schumer said. “We must pass better trade laws so our companies here have a fighting chance.”

This is consistent with Schumer’s votes on trade agreements, but I also think to a degree that ranting about NAFTA/CAFTA is more rhetoric than reality at this point when it comes to economic development and upstate NY, and it’s probably true in other regions as well. Manufacturing jobs were exiting the area long before those trade agreements. Yes, we do need better international trade agreements and I applaud the Senator for voting no on CAFTA (he wasn’t around for NAFTA), but we need smarter economic development in the state more than anything else. (I’ll blog more about that eventually…)

Also on Schumer’s agenda:

Securing funding to complete upgrades to Interstate Highway 86 and several other key infrastructure projects.

Creating incentives for the development of ethanol plants throughout the state. The plans will help the country wean its dependence on natural gas.

Weak reporting by the Corning Leader. Would have been nice to have a little more substance to this article about what was discussed….

Oh Bucky….

Good lord. What the hell is up with this guy and why can’t we catch him?

2 troopers shot in Bucky search

Two state troopers trying to serve a search warrant were shot Thursday evening in Chautauqua County, where the search for escaped convict Ralph “Bucky” Phillips has been centered.

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Shortly after the shootings, state police converged on a Bachelor Hill Road residence in Chautauqua County, some 40 miles southwest of Buffalo, in connection with the search for Phillips, who has been on the run since escaping from the Erie County Correctional Facility in April.

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Since his escape, Phillips has woven his way around Western New York, evading police and helping himself to food, clothes and guns in unattended homes and hunting cabins, leaving a telltale trail of stolen vehicles along the way.

Most recently, Phillips was suspected of stealing 41 guns from a Chautauqua County gun shop last weekend and a nearby car, state police said.

He seems to be leaving quite the trail of evidence and misdeeds, but clearly none sufficient to nail the guy….or at least none sufficient for New York State law enforcement….