Primary Prep
On his blog, Sam Pratt shares his thoughts about the two men vying to become the Democrats' candidate to challenge Chris Gibson in November to represent of the 19th Congressional District: "Tyner has earned his place in Valley politics."
Here's a local note to this piece:
ReplyDeleteNot a single donation to Schreibman from anyone living in the City of Hudson shows up in Federal Election Commission records.
In fact, there is only one donation on record from anyone with a 12534 ZIP code -- from a friend of mine in Greenport.
Likewise, the number of donations to Schreibman originating from all Columbia County ZIP codes can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
That speaks pretty clearly to the (lack of) impact and credibility that local and county party endorsements carry.
(Meanwhile, college friends with no connection to Columbia County who were at Yale with me and Schreibman in the early 90s are getting fundraising calls from his campaign in Connecticut and Brooklyn.)
Schreibman is using those funds to blanket the area with messages from call centers and mass-mailed flyers; I've even received several at my address for someone who does not live here. So there is every reason to expect that he will win the primary based on spending. Tyner has few funds for such arms-length appeals, relying just on grassroots volunteers.
And here we thought Democrats were the party that wanted money out of politics.
--S.