American Maggie

New York’s 20^th Congressional District occupies a fair portion of enchantingly beautiful and richly historic real estate in northern New York.  Referred to by some as the “Cradle of Democracy,” not far from where I sit on this cool Adirondack evening, a group of colonial Americans, mostly farmers with hearts enflamed for the cause of American freedom, faced the British Forces at Saratoga and emerged victorious in a battle that became known as the turning point of the American Revolution.  That was in the autumn of 1777.  And, pointing the dial in any direction from this compass, you will locate countless signs and symbols dotting the countryside, marking the sacrifices and achievements of those brave men and women who, over the decades, were born and bred on American freedom and kept it secure for posterity.

How ironic that on this very same territory in less than one year, the citizens of NY-20 have lost the Congressional seat not once, but twice to liberal Democrats.   First, in November 2008 to now Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who’s clever cooing into her constituents’ ears drew many into the false belief that she is a “conservative” Democrat, (if Senator Gillibrand is a conservative of any stripe, then I am the reincarnation of Cleopatra!), and again in the March 2009 special election to fill the seat vacated by then Congresswoman Gillibrand.  Scott Murphy, a most liberal Democrat, won the seat and rapidly established himself as the “Pelosi-Reid-Obama” rubber stamp that many recognized him to be during the campaign.  

In his vision for a “better tomorrow”, Congressman Scott Murphy lost no time and voted for HR 1409, the “Employee Free Choice Act”.   Sounds nice but the fact is that this Act does not allow free choice for workers, it gives  Big Labor the freedom to choose IF they want to allow a secret ballot election to occur, or not!   What a hoot!   The Obama U.S. Department of Labor Secretary appointee, Hilda Solis, (a prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America) has got to love this one!   But there’s more, like the gift that keeps on giving, Congressman Murphy also supports Cap and Trade.   He voted for the cap and trade legislation that, if passed, will blast up the price of your electrical bill, your fuel bill, and anything else in this country that we may want to do, or to use, or to buy that uses energy.  Think of it!  Thanks a lot, Scott!

How did we get here?  I can only offer you my personal perspective.  Having volunteered extensively on both referenced campaigns for the Republican candidates, I found many interested and positive people.  But as well, I found a daunting number of those who were complacent, or who actually felt that campaign activities posed an effrontery to their tranquility and those who want something for nothing in which case, the Democrat candidate made more sense to them.

As a volunteer, I have also turned my gaze to my own Warren County Republican Committee.  I am aware that they raise funds for the candidates.  However, I can honestly say that I saw none of the 129 committee members out on any of those door-to-door walks that I, and a dedicated group of about ten others, made day after day in that cold March weather.  I actually inquired on election evening by asking the manager of our local campaign office and he affirmed what I had thought to be true, that out of the core of about ten volunteers who appeared regularly, none of them were from the Warren County Republican Committee.

I am convinced that if even the majority of those 129 committee people had joined us on each of those March weekends, that we would have had a far better chance of winning that last election which was a painfully close shave – our candidate conceded at the difference of 300 votes.  Multiply that by the other nine counties in NY-20!

Again, I can only speak about the county in which I live, but if the county party separates itself from the grassroots population for any reason whatsoever, we will continue to spiral downward. It does not bode well for our political hopes if our own county committee is dysfunctional, like a steel trap with no one coming out to help and no one being allowed to enter it.   What good is a committee whose members treat it as a private club enjoying the prestige of membership, but not working at the basic level to get our candidates elected?  They should be thrown out and the positions given to others who will do a better job for the candidates and for the constituents.

If you research your own regional “tea party” groups, you will no doubt see how organized the Democrats are at the grassroots level!  They send volunteers, ACORN and labor union representatives to counter the pro-freedom tea party protesters.  When the opposition saw our small tea party in Saratoga protesting Obama health care recently, we found their website enthusiastically urging their followers to activate themselves and to each go out and get 25 signatures for their petitions! 

What I have been hopefully illustrating is what I see as the ‘perfect storm’ swirling above the political inertia typified by the Republican party of today which has and is currently propelling Democrats into a leadership which has subsequently slashed our freedoms one by one.

President Obama has named Congressman John McHugh of NY-23 to be the civilian head of the US Army.  There will be a special election to fill that seat and let us hope that our counterparts in Central New York don’t make the same mistakes that we have.   This Democrat cherry picking has gone on far enough – we don’t need it to become a cherry harvest, or our collective “Cradle for Democracy” will be rolling in it’s grave.

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Nadine Battaglia is the mother of a special needs child and is engaged in local politics in Upstate New York.

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