Chris Lee

WNYMedia.net caught up with Erie County Democratic Chairman Len Lenihan to get his take on NY-26 race between Alice Kryzan and no show Candidate Chris Lee.

I met Alice Kryzan at the Octoberfest in Oakfield last night. I was impressed. She's an intelligent, well-spoken, sincere candidate. I think she does have the best interest of Western New York at heart.

And all along, I've liked the fact that she's tried to keep the campaign to issues, focused on what she will do and avoid negative attack ads.  Her spokeswoman, Anne Wadsworth, has said Alice doesn't like the nasty DCCC-sponsored ad running against Republican Chris Lee.

So, it's disappointing to check YouTube this morning and find the ad embedded below.

There are two charges in the video that do not withstand scrutiny. First, that Lee thinks "the guys who messed things up" should be able to take even more risks. Second, "Lee says keep doing what we're doing."

Here's what Lee told us a couple of weeks ago:

When I asked him about how Democrats blame deregulation, and Republicans say there are still too many regulations -- such as Sarbanes-Oxley, which did nothing to help matters -- Lee said, "We have all of these new exotic financial instruments, so we need updated regulations to ensure we have control."

"There have mistakes made, and I don't like to point fingers," said Lee, adding again that both Republicans and Democrats share the blame. "I don't care about any of that. I care about getting to a solution and protecting taxpayers."

Those word directly contradict the assertion that Lee wants to "protect the guys who messed things up" and that he wants to "keep doing what we're doing."

Alice, if you disagree Lee's policies -- not that we have too much information on what Lee's policies are -- say so, but don't make things up. It reflects worse on you than Lee.

P.S.: To whomever produces Alice's commercials, Kudos. From a production values stand point they're absolutely stunning.  I don't think I've seen a shoddy commercial from Kryzan's campaign yet.  Lee's campaign would do well to hire the same firm.

This week, thousands of voters across the 26th District received the 2008 AARP Voters' Guide, detailing the candidates' positions on a number of important issues.  Alice stands proudly with the AARP on protecting Social Security, improving the financial security of hardworking families, and making health care more affordable for all Americans.  Once again, Chris Lee takes no stand at all.

Lee refused to attend the AARP candidates' forum even though they tried to arrange a date around his schedule, and did not respond to the AARP's questions about his stand on health care, Medicare, and Social Security.  He continues to avoid taking positions on the issues important to the people of Western New York, hiding behind another lying attack ad released this week that derided people in the district as "extremist."

"While Alice stands with working families, Chris Lee only talks about more deregulation and more risk," said campaign spokesperson Anne Wadsworth. "He wants to continue the policies that led to this financial crisis, and he wants to make health care work like the financial industry. Those policies might help Chris Lee and his Wall Street friends, but they'll hurt the hardworking families of Western New York."

Alice has also been endorsed by the Alliance for Retired Americans. She will be a strong defender of Social Security in Congress, making sure that it will be there for all seniors. If people work hard and play by the rules, they should be able to earn a decent wage, provide for their families, and build a better future.

"We live in the greatest country in the world. We can and must have a society that works for all Americans," said Alice. "In Congress, I will be an independent voice for the hardworking families of this district, making sure that they achieve the security and prosperity they have worked so hard to earn."

The Republican Party has been taken over by a bunch of kooks"-Barry Goldwater.

Since I was a small child I remember watching with a certain awe the political audacity and committment to which Western New Yorkers, especially in my home county of Genesee, committed themselves to not only political candidates but their ideas as well. Everywhere I went growing up, whether it was in Dunkin Donuts or the grocery store everyone had an opinion around election time. No matter who you were for, you were for someone and you had an opinion on everyone.

Why then, is this predominantly Republican county now registering more Democrats than Republicans? Why are even Republicans coming in our small, rural county committee's office asking for Obama/Biden, Mesi and Kryzan signs?

Perhaps their just not falling for the same old tired talking points anymore, maybe they realize what an aged Barry Goldwater said during the rise of the Religious Right (see above quote)......

We have two major competitive races in our county, one for State Senate and one for Congress. In our State Senate race we have a 20+ year incumbent Erie County legislator, a legislator who was also the biggest proponent of the policies of the Joel Giambra administration. These policies caused a bit of a crisis because Erie County, well, see, they ran out of money. He often quips that he "never voted for a tax increase,". The record shows this is true, however, he bullied those same policies through the Erie County Legislature that caused a fiscal collapse and constituted the need for massive tax increases. What Ranzenhofer is saying, in short, is this...."I caused the problem but I don't want a solution,". Nice, real nice.

On the other hand, in our Congressional race, we have Christopher J. Lee. A nice fellow and a businessman, it's true that his company does have some factories here in Western New York. Even so, his company did have manufacturing facilities in China, a fact that he tried to hide numerous times before being confronted on it during a debate, when finally being backed into a wall, Lee called it a "business policy" with something about assembling being done in China but not manufacturing. Disingenuous much? Politics of parsing on overdrive.

It finally seems that even in a deep red county like Genesee County, people are starting to pull the Democratic lever despite being traditionally Republican for years, that same opinionated attitude may very well be the downfall of a once very dominant rural Western New York Republican base.

Maybe its health care, maybe its education, maybe its the war in Iraq, maybe its the economy.

Or maybe, just maybe, the good and normally Republican voters in Genesee County have had it with the state of their party, because it's been "taken over by a bunch of kooks,"

It seems inconceivable to that Chris Lee, a well-funded, wealthy, hand-picked GOP candidate in a marginally Republican district, could lose the 26th congressional race.

I haven't seen any polls to suggest he could lose, but it seems Alice Kryzan, the Democrat's nominee, is putting up a good fight.

If Lee loses, it could come in part because of a GOP backlash over the war and the economy, but even in a relatively safe district like the 26th Lee probably couldn't lose to a progressive Democrat unless he did himself in.

Which is why, I suspect, his GOP handlers have him running a safe, cautious campaign.

But it is exactly such a campaign that could prove his undoing.

Lee's conduct of his campaign should also have us asking hard questions about his fitness to be a leader in Western New York.

It's difficult to tell at how much of Lee's campaign reflects the real Chris Lee, or whether his GOP handlers have him under such tight wraps that he can't stretch out and make bold moves.

Either way, Lee's conduct in this campaign should be of concern to WNY voters -- either he lacks the vision to take chances, or he lacks the leadership to throw off the shackles of party Plutocracy.

The last thing WNY needs is a congressional representative beholden to the party elite (of course, there's no guarantee we wouldn't get just such a rep in Alice Kryzan, either).

Lee is playing not-to-lose, rather than to win.  Sports teams that play cautious often find themselves on the wrong end of the score. I'm not rooting against Lee, just pointing out what I see as the glaring weakness of his campaign.

Consider, Lee has passed on debates with Kryzan, was slow to respond to the Wall Street meltdown, and declined a video interview with The Batavian, which doesn't hurt our feelings, but the reason given by his campaign manager speaks to the overly cautious nature of his campaign: Nick Longworthy was worried about how the opposition might use the video.

That's being too cautious and too calculating.  That's not how leaders behave.

Meanwhile, Kryzan has been out front on raising issues, such as her immediate (though wrongheaded) support of the bailout, and her push for green collar jobs in WNY (and more on her business plan here).

Lee's campaign has avoided specifics, spoken in platitudes (check this letter to the Democrat & Chronicle), and generally failed to articulate a clear message that sets him apart from a run-of-the-mill Republican.

When you compare Lee's campaign web site to Kryzan's site, you find that Kryzan's site is more dynamic, more frequently updated and a deeper source of information about the candidate and her take on the issues. Lee's site, reflecting the cautious nature of his campaign, is more of a paint-by-numbers brochure site with few specifics.  Look, for example, at his page on jobs. It has a scant three paragraphs of text.

The more information a candidate puts out, the more fodder for opponents to pick over. It's actually risky to open your mouth or write a policy statement.  The safe approach is to say as little as possible and avoid diving deep into significant issues.

On his own site, where Lee has his best chance at presenting an unfiltered message to voters, his brevity is revealing. Kryzan, on the other hand, floods site visitors with information.

Which is the more transparent way to campaign?

When it comes to Lee's commercials, they reflect the same play-it-safe approach. His "positive" commercials, the ones about himself, are filled with the same platitudes we get from him elsewhere, and his attack ads on Kryzan are filled with trite and hackneyed phrases like "liberal trial lawyer" -- the ads seem pulled from the same GOP playbook they've been using for two decades. At this point, Lee should be concerned that these predictable attacks have lost all meaning with voters.  They've heard it all before. These phrases ring hollow.

Regular readers have probably figured out that my politics lean more conservative than liberal, so you would think my inclination would be to support Lee.  Well, I'm not really taking sides here. I am concerned Kryzan is too liberal for my tastes, but really mistrust any candidate from either major party.

And, I've met Lee. I like him.  I don't buy into the attack ads from the DCCC and think he is at least minimally qualified for the job.  If he could maintain an independent mind, he might make a good freshman congressman. He strikes me as somebody with a solid human core who in the long run, if he avoids the pitfalls of power, could make WNY proud.

But, this lack of courage in his campaign is also a concern.  Is this a reflection of the true Chris Lee? Will we find ourselves saddled with a representative -- a representative likely to hold the seat through many terms -- who is kowtowed by his party leadership rather than stepping out on his own?

I just don't know.

Again, I'm not predicting a Lee loss. I'm not rooting against him. I'm not endorsing Kryzan. I'm not offering any suggestion on how you should vote.  I'm just raising a concern that has been on my mind for a few days. Make of it what you will.

Alice Kryzan

Alice Kryzan:

Alice Kryzan:

Chris Lee:

Chris Lee:

On the attack ads, Lee's against Kryzan is just a variation on a theme:

The "liberal trial lawyer" meme is so dated. And it's just ad hominem non-sense.

And the DCCC keeps hammering at Lee on the China issue.

Lee has offered a credible -- though hard for us to verify -- rebuttal to the "sent jobs overseas" charge, and the fact his company was sold to a firm that was supposedly caught up in some boneheaded activity with China is the same kind of "guilt by association" attack the GOP is using against Obama with Ayers.

This letter (below) from Jon Powers to his supporters came my way this morning. Powers has finally come out on the side of fellow Democrat Alice Kryzan for the 26th Congressional District. Kryzan will face Republican Chris Lee.

Powers had all but disappeared after losing the Democratic nod to Kryzan during the primary. His camp went silent, and all calls and messages left with his campaign spokesperson went unreturned. Not too long ago, we even heard that he moved out of the state.

I pass on his letter in its entirety. Do you think Powers makes a strong case for Kryzan? Against Lee? Does his endorsement even mean anything to a district that he seems to have abandoned?

Friends,

Over the last 18 months, together, we have worked to call attention to the many challenges Western New Yorkers face. I listened to families struggling because of our weakened economy, soldiers fighting in a war without the necessary equipment and returning without health care they have earned -- there is no question that our country is hurting because of Washington’s failed leadership. With just 18 days until Election Day, I write to urge you to vote for change. We have a chance to elect a new Member of Congress to represent the working men and women of Western New York and I hope you will join me in supporting Alice Kryzan for Congress.

Families in Western New York have a clear choice. As our youth are moving out of state to find jobs, do we want a representative who will continue to send our jobs overseas? Or do we want someone who will fight to grow good paying Green-collar and Green-tech jobs that will move Western New York into the 21st Century.

Do we want someone who will continue to fail our veterans and military families or someone who will work to restore honor to our fighting forces?

Do we want someone in Washington to continue the failed economic policies of the Bush Administration or do we want someone who will work toward relieving the tax burden on the Middle Class?

The choice between the two candidates campaigning for the 26th Congressional District is clear for Western New Yorkers, and that is why I am endorsing Alice Kryzan.

Alice will fight for the middle class and work to bring a new generation of jobs back to Western New York. She has signed on to the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq and will take care of our returning veterans.

Chris Lee talks about a new direction, but clearly supports the status quo. His website fails to even mention veterans or our brave men and women currently fighting in two wars. That, I believe, is proof of his lack of compassion he has for those who are defending our nation.

The choice between Alice Kryzan and Chris Lee could not be clearer for the working families of Western New York. Western New York deserves a representative in Congress who will fight for us.

You can learn more about Alice’s vision for our country at her website http://www.kryzanforcongress.com/

Please volunteer, spread the word, and help us bring real change to Washington by voting for Alice on November 4th.

Sincerely,
Jon

I attended a candidates forum in Amherst tonight, it was well attended (I would say about 50 people or so) and featured many candidates, including those seeking to represent Genesee County in Congress and the State Senate. Here's the Rundown:

Alice Kryzan: Check

 Joe Mesi: Check

 Mike Ranzenhofer: Check

 Chris Lee: MIA

I can say that Chris Lee's absence did not play well among the crowd tonight. I overheard one woman, who said that she's a life-long Republican, say that she's voting for Kryzan because she felt that Lee didn't care about her vote enough to show up....ouch.....

 I give full credit to the rest of the candidates, even Mike Ranzenhofer (whom I've been very critical of) for at least showing up, without getting into the merits of their issues, they at least came to present themselves. Where in the world is Christopher Lee? *Crickets Chirp*

So I sat in front of the TV tonight watching WXXI trying like hell to figure out why either Chris Lee or Alice Kryzan is qualified to represent the 26th District in Congress.

And I sat here trying like hell to figure what what the real differences are between the two candidates.

And frankly, I'm stumped.

Both were tentative in their presentations and offered up little more than platitudes and facile analysis of the issues facing the country and the district (to be fair, the format sucked -- no more than a minute for any sustained statement from either candidate, and often less).

On the bailout: Both essentially support it.  Lee talks about updated regulations, Kryzan talks about new regulations, but neither questions whether the entire pretext for the bailout isn't just trumped up by the power elite in Washington.

(Though, I gotta say, Kryzan could have given a little stronger shoutout to The Batavian.  During the discussion, she noted that Lee had been silent on the bailout issue until this past Saturday. Well, the first place that had any solid information on Lee's position on the bailout was The Batavian -- come on, Alice, give us some credit! -- It wasn't the Daily News, nor the Buffalo News, nor the D&C that sought Lee out and tried to get him on the record on the topic -- it was The Batavian ... though, perhaps I brag too much).

On the war in Iraq, both agree the troops should come home, but neither addressed  troops in Iraq in context of the current financial conditions in the United States: How the frig can we justify even one more day of this expense?

Both candidates think we should get more militaristic in Afghanistan.

On taxes, both claim they will cut taxes, but neither address how the can do that in current economic conditions, and neither question the current state of the large and growing central government.

On education, both candidates say there needs to be reforms to "no child left behind," but neither question why education is a national government issue at all.

On the environment, both talk about being green and bringing green jobs to Western New York. Neither offer any concrete examples of how they might create green jobs in Genesee County.

if I have bones to pick with either candidate, it would be with Alice Kryzan.

First, Kryzan called herself a fiscal conservative, but the only example she could offer to support that claim is that she knows how to balance her family finances. Big whoopee do! Can't we all do that? That doesn't address the issue of federal taxation and spending when the government has the power to A) raise taxes or change tax codes as it likes; B) because of the fed, print money at will; C) borrow money from over seas lenders at will. 

I really want to know how Kryzan can qualify as a fiscal conservative? What taxes will she cut, specifically? What government spending will she cut, specifically? How will she reign in the Federal Reserve? How will she end deficit spending?  What federal programs will she end in these tight economic times?

Second, Kryzan accused Lee of lying when Lee said she has run negative ads against him. Kryzan is, she said, running a campaign on issues and she hasn't run a negative campaign. I have two words for Alice: Bull and shit. It may not be her campaign directly funding the attack ads on Lee (and I tend to believe Chris at this point that the ads are unfair and inaccurate, and I will believe that until somebody can prove Chris wrong), but I have enough experience in politics to know that if Alice really objected to those ads, they would not be running. (see this post updating this point).

I doubt many people watched this debate tonight, but if any undecided voters did, I can't imagine this debate helped them come to any sort of conclusion about who to vote for, and for the rest, all of the people who already decided that they will support  either the Republican or the Democrat, you probably believe your candidate won and the other candidate is an idiot.  That's the nature of these things, but really -- there isn't a hairs worth of difference between either Republicans or Democrats in any race.

Now, more than ever, this country could use some independent-minded voices calling for real change. We're just not getting it.

Chris Lee, GOP nominee for the 26th Congressional District,  made a campaign appearance in Lockport and again knocked the bailout bill for being loaded with pork. He also said he'll push for the line-item veto if elected.

“The way things are now ... for the greater good we’re forced to accept the warts as well. A line-item veto is one of the first things I would fight for in Congress,” Lee said. “I hope most of these guys get voted out. If you saw me doing the same thing two years from now, I hope you’d vote me out, too.”

The problem with the line-item veto is it invests too much power in the executive branch, and in an age of imperial presidencies, that's going in the wrong direction. Congress needs to wrest some power back from the executive, not add to it. If Lee wants to portray himself as a conservative, he should give this position a little more consideration.

I wonder if Lee has a position on signing statements?

The Democrats paid for this attack ad on behalf of Alice Kryzan:

The Chris Lee campaign has this ad out now:

Shame on both camps.

Republican congressional candidate Chris Lee told me this afternoon that Congress should have passed the "stabilization package" (he doesn't like the word "bailout") on Monday.

He said what Congress passed Friday, with it's millions of dollars in pork spending, demonstrated that some members are "more concerned with saving their seats than with doing the right thing for the country."

When I asked him about how Democrats blame deregulation, and Republicans say there are still too many regulations -- such as Sarbanes-Oxley, which did nothing to help matters -- Lee said, "We have all of these new exotic financial instruments, so we need updated regulations to ensure we have control."

"There have mistakes made, and I don't like to point fingers," said Lee, adding again that both Republicans and Democrats share the blame. "I don't care about any of that. I care about getting to a solution and protecting taxpayers."

In the middle of our talk, Lee changed subjects to the Democrats attacking him for sending jobs to China.

"We run a business today that employs people from more than 300 families in Western New York," he said. "The comment that we export jobs to China is as far from the truth as possible."

He added that his company exports parts to China, made in Western New York, and those pieces are then assembled in China to build products that are sold to Chinese.

The reason to do that, he said, is so the competition does not create those products in China for export to the United States to compete with his company. "It's very smart," he said.

So, here I am, in our Batavia office on a Saturday afternoon. My wife isn't too happy with me because I should be home cutting the lawn and now rain clouds are gathering. But this morning when I heard that Lee was in Batavia today, I wanted to talk with him about the bailout issue.  It's been hard for anybody to get much of an answer out of him on the topic.

I brought my video camera and wanted to get his answer on video. This is an important issue, and I thought it would be a fairer bit of journalism to let Lee answer it in as an unfiltered way as possible. To me, it's for Lee's own good to speak right to the voters  and say what he wants to say.

Lee's campaign manager Nick Longworthy did not want me video taping the interview. I pushed the issue a little bit with Lee, but he wanted to go along with his campaign manager's advice, and I'm not here to be a jerk and insist on having my way.  I'm not Mike Wallace playing "gotcha journalism." Also, I get Nick's concern. It would be very easy for the opposition to take a quote out of context and use it in a negative ad.

The 26th District is close, but a reasonably safe GOP district. I'm sure Lee's advisers are continually counseling him to be cautious and not do or say anything that could turn the district against him.  I get that. But I also believe that it is during an open-seat election that voters have their best chance to get inside the head of the man or women who might represent them for many years.  Once the winner is safely in office, they often retreat behind press releases and sound bites.  Now is the time to get as much unvarnished information from them as possible.

I did use my little Flip camera to get a bit of quick video from the GOP open house, just to capture the scene a bit.  I'll post that shortly.

BTW: If Chris Lee, Nick Longworthy or anybody else from the Lee campaign wishes to clarify or amplify on anything I wrote, you're welcome to post in the comments, or in a new blog post.  Nick is also welcome to post the audio tape that he captured of the interview.

Here's the quick video.  NOTE: Flip batteries went dead just as Lee started to speak (after Tom Reynolds).  I did hear what Lee said, because I immediately ran to my car to get my other video camera, but Lee's statement had to be pretty short. My car wasn't far away at all. (Disappointing, too, because it wasn't that long ago that I put new batteries in the flip).

UPDATE: Here's a short Buffalo News story on the GOP HQ grand opening.

WHY CAN’T CHRIS LEE TELL THE TRUTH?
Lee hides behind lies and attack ads, won’t talk about issues

October 3, 2008                                                                                               

Amherst, NY – Unable to explain why he supports failed policies that have led to the worse financial crisis in a generation, Chris Lee is now hiding behind lying attack ads. He has refused to explain his positions, is hiding from debates with his opponent, and now, in an act of desperation, is refusing to even tell the truth.

Realizing that he can’t win on the issues, Lee is using the millions he made from creating jobs in China instead of Western New York to distort Alice’s support of middle class tax cuts. The last thing the people of Western New York want is another Bush Republican giving more tax cuts to millionaires and more profits to Wall Street CEOs, insurance companies and Big Oil.

“Chris Lee said he was going to talk about the issues, not that he was going to lie about them,” said spokesperson Anne Wadsworth. “Lee is hiding from the press, hiding from the voters, and hiding from the truth. People want someone they can trust, not someone who will spend millions of dollars to lie to their face.”

While Lee keeps trying the same tired old attack politics, Alice is out in the district talking with voters and explaining how she’ll help our struggling middle class. Alice will bring good paying alternative energy jobs to the district, support tax cuts for our hardworking families, provide affordable health care to all, and end the War in Iraq safely and securely.

Chris Lee, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to want to talk about the issues. He refuses to say where he stands on the financial crisis, on job creation, on outsourcing or on healthcare.

Maybe Lee thinks those issues aren’t important, but voters in the 26^th district are tired of millionaires who think they can buy an election while ignoring the real life concerns of the people of Western New York. Lee just doesn’t get it. He needs to stop distorting Alice’s position on tax cuts, and start focusing on explaining his own stand on the issues.

“I’m very disappointed by my opponent’s shameful actions,” said Alice. “He owes the voters of this district an apology for avoiding their questions and then lying to them. We don’t need this kind of attack style politics in our part of New York. Lee’s lies won’t create one new job, fix our broken health care system, or change our energy policy. The voters of this district deserve a representative they can be proud of, and Chris Lee has shown he clearly isn’t it.”

Will Chris Lee continue to hide behind false political ads or finally make himself available to the voters?

###

Paid for and Authorized by Kryzan for Congress

www.kryzanforcongress.com

GOP candidate for the 26th Congressional District has been surprisingly silent on the Wall Street financial crisis and the bailout plan.

I just came across this comment on WROC, which remains the only statement I've seen from him so far.

... "we need to stop the finger pointing and work together to restore taxpayer trust and confidence in the economy. We need a bipartisan solution that will bring liquidity and stability to our financial markets now."

I now see the D&C quotes a shorter version of the same statement. Evan Dawson at WHAM has more.

Does that offer enough specifics for you? Does it tell you anything about the sort of fisical policies he will pursue?

Meanwhile, I just spotted this comment from Brian Hartz on a previous post. It sort of puts a human face on how the financial crisis is effecting Western New Yorkers.

I am one of those that can't get financial aid because my grades were not real great. Last year I got an alternative loan to pay for school, but this year the bank I went through stopped offering the loans. I had to borrow money from my grandparents to pay for tuition.

I don't mean overly harsh on Mr. Lee; after all, my politics are probably closer to his than Alice Kryzan's. I just don't get why he's avoiding talking about, in detail, the most significant domestic policy issue of my and his lifetime.

UPDATE: In case you missed it: Of course, after I posted this, I went to an event that I knew Chris Lee would be at and asked him to clarify his position.  That post is here.

Submission from Jay Grasso:

All are welcome to attend the grand opening of the Genesee County Republican Headquarters.  The new headquarters will open today at noon and is located at the corner of Rt.5 and Lewiston Road (former Georgie Porgies).

Meet Congressional candidate Chris Lee, State Senate candidate Mike Ranzenhofer, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, Assemblyman Dan Burling, and State Supreme Court Candidate Jeff Voelkl.

Lame duck Rep. Tom Reynolds has not yet posted any news release to his web site explaining his vote yesterday in favor of the Bush-requested, Democratic-sponsored $700 billion bailout for Wall Street banks.

The following passage from the Buffalo News contains a brief quote from Reynolds explaining his position:

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said the bill would have put the nation “on the slippery slope to socialism. If you lose your ability to fail, soon you will lose your ability to succeed.”

Some Democrats indicated that the consequences of refusing to act had been exaggerated. “Like the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, this bill is fueled on fear and hinges on haste,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.

Reynolds and Higgins disagreed.

“This is one of the last votes I will cast on behalf of the people of Western New York, and it may be the most important one,” Reynolds said.

Acknowledging that he wished he could support a more cost-effective alternative, Reynolds said: “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my over three decades in public service, it’s that you cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Too many jobs, too many homes, too many 401(k)s, too many college educations, too many community banks are on the line to risk further inaction.”

In contrast, Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-29), issued a statement immediately after the vote.  He's also posted an alternate plan. Blogger Rottenchester says the plan is hardly serious.

As for the positions of the two candidates for the 26th district on what to do in regard to current economic conditions, still no word from Republican Chris Lee. Several days prior to yesterday's vote, Alice Kryzan issued this statement.

UPDATE: Via the 26th District blog, we get an updated statement from Kryzan.  Kryzan talks about the importance of consumer protection and oversight, but the plan rejected yesterday was weak in both those areas. Also, the blog contains this quote:

“Chris Lee has made deregulating our economy a centerpiece of his campaign,” said spokesperson Anne Wadsworth. “Now that we’ve seen the disastrous result of continuing Bush’s failed policies, he has nothing to say. The people of this district need answers, not knee-jerk deregulation rhetoric.”

The problem with the statement is there is already no lack of regulation in place -- such as the job-killing Sarbanes-Oxley Act -- and none of it  prevented the current situation. The housing bubble has a lot more to do with Clinton-era policies, which Bush neglected to address, and with the Fed manipulating interest rates (which Bush doesn't control at all).  I'm not defending Bush here by any stretch, just trying to keep the record straight.  If you want to blame Bush for anything, blame him for trying to shove this "rush to bailout" down the throats of Americans, which House Democrats (except for 95 brave souls) seemed quite willing buy into hook, line and sinker.

Alan Bedenko reports that Republican Chris Lee has canceled two debates and has yet to commit to four others. His campaign seems to be showing a disinterest in answering questions.

Of seven proposed debates, Lee has pulled out of two debates he had previously committed to and seems unwilling or unable to fit another four into his schedule. Lee has dodged debates at SUNY Geneseo, RNews and a candidate forum sponsored by the AARP, which has over 100,000 members in the district.

Question for Alan: You say seven, but list that he's canceled two and not committed to four. That's six. What about the seventh? Also, you list three events above (if I read your sentence correctly) that Lee has either avoided or declined (not clear on which). Can you clarify, please?

Lee also appears unwilling to explain his positions to voters who have contacted him directly. Recently a non-partisan group was unable to get answers from Lee on important issues such as trade, health care and jobs despite repeated requests by phone, e-mail and a personal visit to his campaign headquarters.

“For someone who claims to want to make this campaign about the issues, he’s fallen short,” said spokesperson Anne Wadsworth. “Few policy positions, few statements, few debates. It’s hard for voters to have any idea what Chris Lee stands for.”

When The Batavian contacted Lee's campaign for his position on the Wall Street bail outs, we did not get a response. Still haven't.

Chris Lee, pulling language from the 1990s-era GOP play book, says up front, he approved this attack ad, which claims Kryzan wants to raise taxes $2,800.  I wonder where he gets those numbers?

I fairness, the Democrats already had an attack ad out.

So much for a campaign on the issues.

Instead of attacking each other, why don't they tell us how they're going to enable New York businesses to grow and create jobs, to improve living conditions and standards, to promote peace and stability?  I don't care if they don't like each other, or each other's parties. I want to know what they stand for, not against. Anybody can tear down. It takes a leader to build up. Instead of inciting fear, how about promoting hope?

Three weeks ago, we sent out three questions to the candidates running for congress and state senate in our local districts (the 26th and 61st, respectively). Our questions were simple, straightforward, and we hoped they would be enough to paint a bit more of a detailed picture of the candidates striving to represent the people of Genesee County.

Those questions went out to every candidate running in the Democratic primaries for those races, plus the Republican candidates. We forgot to send them out to the Independents, but we rectified that this morning and sent the questions out to Michael Ranzenhofer, candidate for the 61st Senate District.

One problem. No one wrote back.

We didn't get a response from a single campaign, until this weekend. It came from Republican Chris Lee who is trying to win the seat for the 26th Congressional District.

He got us these answers:

What is your favorite thing to do in Genesee County?

Taking my son Johnathan to the Genesee Country Village & Museum.

When you meet a person who has never been to Western New York, what is the first thing you tell him or her about the region?

I normally brag about what a wonderful place Western New York is to raise a family and how friendly the people and our warm winters.

What is your favorite book about Western New York?

Window on Congress: A Congressional Biography of Barber Conable. Conable was a Republican Congressman from Western New York and President of the World Bank. This book illustrates how Conable was able to bring people together to accomplish some great things for Western New York. The book served as an insight on how to be a leader in Congress who constituents trust and admire.

A win in the Democrat primary by Alice Kryzan yesterday played up across the media last night and this morning as a "shock" and an "upset victory" has hit especially hard here in Genesee County. Whatever reasons you want to give for the win—that people were just fed up with the tooth-and-nail battles between Jack Davis and Jon Powers is getting the most cred in the papers and blogs today—the end result is the same: voters said no to the bigger names and yes to the lesser known.

Buffalo Pundit has this to say:

Because Powers and Davis spent so much time bashing each other, 2/3 of Kryzan’s job was done for her without her having to spend a dime. She needed one thing to stand out, and the “boys, take it somewhere else” ad was just the ticket. She comes out of this relatively unscathed, so Republican Chris Lee doesn’t have a lot of negative ammunition to use against her. Hopefully Kryzan is able to capitalize on the desire for change in Washington and take the seat away from the Republicans.

Nor is the Pundit alone in finding solace in the loss of his favored candidate—Powers—in the train wreck conclusion to the political career of one of the Democrats least favorite representatives: Jack Davis. And least favorite representative is a euphemism wrapped in a pink bow compared to what I've heard from many Democrats about Davis. So many of them outright detest the man.

But what does it all mean for Genesee County? Jon Powers was the favored candidate here by nearly a hundred votes over Kryzan and another fifty over Davis. I haven't heard anything from the Powers crew since the loss, and I have to imagine that they are somewhere dark and cool nursing the shell shock of a campaign that went from the little engine that could to a primetime fight to: Hey, we've got a real chance to win this thing, only to crash and burn amidst the collateral damage of the negative campaigning.

So I turned to Charlie Mallow, who, for one more week anyway, is the chairman of the Genesee County Democrats. He put it pretty simply and straight out.

I think we have been left with a candidate that we know very little about. Alice’s win was surprising and not the will of the voters in our county. There is going to be a period were people will come to their own conclusions about who they will support in November. All of the active Democrats in our district were behind Powers and whole party infrastructure was setup to support him. It’s going to take a lot for Alice to turn the ship around and develop the support she is going to need in November. Alice has been to Genesee County, her record defending chemical companies in lawsuits against people who suffered due to their neglect of the environment isn’t sitting well with me and it didn’t sit well with the core of our committee when we were vetting candidates. District wid, it’s clear this vote was about supporting someone who wasn’t Jack Davis or Jon Powers. Jack Davis ran the most despicable campaign that I can ever remember. His baseless attacks on Jon Powers turned the voters off. I believe Powers was stuck in a tough a position defending himself from Davis and it was felt that he hit back too hard and dirtied himself.

Ouch. There's some real hurt in the county this morning. Charlie's right, if not a little bit exaggerated, in his statement that the endorsement of Alice by the Democrats was not the will of the voters in this county. Powers pulled 621 votes. Kryzan took in 524.

So what does it mean for the future of the party? What does it mean going into the general election in November? I asked Charlie what would happen and if Democrats in the county might turn away from Kryzan, for whatever reason.

He wrote back to me:

Some will seek other options but, the vast majority will sooner or later support her before Election Day. We are Democrats; we have an ideology that puts us more in line with Kryzan than Lee.

Lee is Chris Lee, the Republican that will be running against Kryzan in the 26th Congressional District. His television ads were already running as the primary results were coming in last night. I guess that's game on.

What are your thoughts, whether you're a Democrat or Republican? Will you support Kryzan? Were you a Powers supporter who will not back Kryzan? Why do you think she ended up getting the nod?