Democratic Congressional Candidate Attacks Liberal Fringe
As I’ve mentioned before, the 24th congressional district, in Upstate New York, is shaping up to be one of the truly hot races for this year. It’s not just hot because there’s an open seat in a swing district, however. More than that, the 24th district congressional race is hot because there are some truly remarkable characters.
There’s Les Roberts, the progressive Democrat who smuggled himself into Iraq to research, firsthand, the impact of the war upon Iraqi civilians. There’s Leon Koziol, a harshly conservative Democrat who says that one of the biggest problems that the 24th District in New York has is Hollywood… yes, Hollywood in California.
Then there’s Michael Arcuri, the well-connected District Attorney for Oneida County, who seems to plan on just coasting to victory based on knowing all powerful Democrats in Oneida’s city of Utica. Where does Michael Arcuri stand on the issues – with progressive Les Roberts or with right winger Leon Koziol?
Unfortunately, it seems that Mike Arcuri is ideologically more close to right wing Koziol than to progressive Les Roberts. Arcuri appears to be playing the old game of trying to win an election as a Democrat by embracing the Republican point of view. Arcuri goes out of his way to say that he won’t stand with other Democrats in the Senate on the most important, controversial issues of the day.
On Tuesday, Michael Arcuri took his attacks against progressive Democratic grassroots activists a step further, attacking what he called the “liberal fringes” of the Democratic Party.
Michael Arcuri has made it pretty clear where he’s going to stand. As a member of Congress, Michael Arcuri would stand with the Joseph Liebermans of the Democratic Party, and we cannot have another weak-willed, milquetoast, rightward leaning Democrat in that Congress.
For the Democratic primary in New York’s 24th District, the choice for progressive Democrats is clear: Anybody But Arcuri. Vote for one of Arcuri’s more progressive rivals.
What a shame it is that the national Democratic Party seems determined to ram Michael Arcuri through the 24th District’s primary, no matter what the actual Democratic voters of the 24th District want. Let’s hope that Arcuri’s two serious rivals, Les Roberts and Bruce Tytler, have the strength to stay in the race until the primary, without dropping out under pressure from Party insiders more interested in victory than in staying true to the ideals Democratic voters hold dear.
Date: March 23, 2006
Categories: democrats, election 2006, general, politics
(742 votes, average: 2.94 out of 5)
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