The Mess in CD 6

 

 

 

"Your Mother wears Army Boots too - and no backs!"

I have admired this about the Democrats for some time now. They eat their supper, no matter how bad the food tastes. In other words, which ever candidate becomes the torch bearer for the party, the troops may have to swallow hard, but they endorse the candidate. The Republican Party on the other hand, has in the recent years become overly concerned with purity tests. Not that a purity test is bad at the beginning of the process - it becomes destructive when the purity test goes on into November.

CD 6 is the most Republican district in the state. There are quite a few "red meat" eaters that live here. People work hard, they pay their taxes. They like honest people and honest talk. When our current Representative announced she would not be running for another term, three very capable people stepped up in the district to vie for her position. I have met all three of them. I know some better than others, and they are all good people, capable of keeping this district "red" for years to come.

However, there is a fly in the ointment. I am not seeing the love here. I know that politics is a dirty business. I know it can turn into mud wrestling. I also know this - if after the endorsing convention, the name calling, the mud wrestling persists, we could lose this seat. And if we lose it, in two years we will have a much harder job of unseating an Democrat incumbent.

I may have a favorite in this race, or I may not. I may think of them all as equally qualified. Oh, I have done my homework on each of them. There are no angels, nor are there any demons. Just people, some of whom have made a mistake or two in the past. Nothing I have seen would disqualify any of them from earning my vote in November. I have said in the past, I will fully and whole heartedly support the endorsed candidate. I expect the two who did not get the endorsement to follow suit.

However, that might not happen. CD 6, once the envy of much of the "red" nation, could implode due to pride and ego. We stand at the precipice of snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory. In 2010, the Democrats put up a very flawed candidate for governor. The Republicans put up a much better candidate. However, the Democrats swallowed hard and supported their guy. The Republicans continued the "purity test" on their guy until it resulted in the emergence of a third party candidate. Net, net - for the past four years, we have been on the outside looking in.

In all fairness, I have talked with some who believe it is better to lose that support a candidate you don't like. I am okay with that if you don't mind losing. I do mind. I want to win. I am not ready to concede the state to the "Uber Left". Let us have the debate, and then tomorrow have the vote. The same is true for Rochester in May. Have the debate, and then vote. I have very little time for sore losers. I have even less time for people who throw elections to the other side.

I am still hopeful that even though there has been tough talk and threats to primary, tomorrow we will come together as a district and start preparing for a November victory. That is the team I want to be on. Inclusion is preferable to fratricide.