Our votes are not on sale

Why be bribed into voting for Sweeney? I say that any congress person can bring funding to the district for projects that are worthwhile. Sweeney is throwing money in the coffers of his campaign supporters, his NMMA luxury yacht bill and the Congressional Winter Challenge are just two of many cases in point.

The recent NY Times article states that

...Republican incumbents, in New York and elsewhere, have been trying to shift the focus of the races away from hostility toward the Bush administration to more local concerns, like the potential loss of federal aid to their districts if they lose veteran congressmen.

Let's not let our vote go to the wrong side over pork. Any congress person will fight for his or her district.

It is time to send someone to congress who will change where we are going. Another 2 years with Sweeney means another two years of Bush deciding to leave our troops in Iraq indefinitely. Two more years of Sweeney means 2 more years of an America were terrorism issues are used to divide us not to unite us and to make us more secure at home. (Related, have you seen KO's 9/11 commentary yet?)

If we give 2 years to Gillibrand, she will work to turn this nation around. She will give us a nation that sees value in investing in renewable energy to help local farmers, families and businesses. She doesn't spend vacation time with lobbyists. She will give us representation that keeps us safe at home and abroad. She will bring home the bacon for projects that are worthy of tax support not those that are given away to campaign donors.

Gillibrand is the right leader at the right time. Let's not squander our vote for fear of losing a little pork. Let's buck the system and let's bring our friends out to vote for the values that matter to us all as Americans. Let's fight against a system designed to protect incompetent incumbents, the story goes on...

— the incumbents in New York are benefiting from being in legislative districts drawn to keep the Republican incumbents in place. ...

[On the bright side!] Ms. Gillibrand, a lawyer, has been a strong fund-raiser, taking in nearly as much money as Mr. Sweeney. And she and her advisers have run a tenacious campaign, generating headlines by exploiting some of Mr. Sweeney’s actions, including a $2,000-a-person “Skiing With Sweeney” weekend getaway he organized that was attended by lobbyists at a resort in Park City, Utah. Mr. Sweeney [yawn, as usual] denied doing anything improper. ...

The Sweeney-Gillibrand race shows how Republicans have deliberately focused on local circumstances and personalities rather than on national issues, at a time when President Bush continues to show weakness in the polls around the country. ...

“In the abstract, this is not an obvious race,” she said. “But I have made the case from the beginning that this race is winnable because of the changing nature of our district, the voting record of John Sweeney and the strength of our campaign.” ...

Democrats say there is plenty of time for challengers to close any gaps. To that end, one prominent liberal group, MoveOn.org Political Action, is running advertisements attacking Mr. Sweeney and John R. Kuhl Jr., a first-term Republican from the Corning area, as part of a national campaign to help Democratic challengers who are in so-called second-tier races: contests that have the potential to become competitive but are not considered competitive yet.

The seats that the Democrats had identified as enticing targets include those held by Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Kuhl, Mr. Walsh, Sue Kelly of Westchester, and Mr. Boehlert. State Senator Raymond A. Meier, a Republican, and his Democratic opponent, Michael A. Arcuri, the Oneida County district attorney, are fighting for the seat that Mr. Boehlert is vacating. ,,,