We've seen it happen in Presidential elections over the years, and sometimes, too, in the Governor's race. When one party is in charge, the public will vote it out after a few years, and the cycle will repeat itself every so often.
We saw that 3 years ago, when, after George W. Bush was the most ridiculed President in modern times, America voted in Barack Obama, at the time a junior Senator from Illinois. Of course, we know what's happened since then. The GOP has its own Obama in Herman Cain, but he's already embroiled in scandal similar to that of golfer Tiger Woods, rather than questions about his birthplace. His chances of winning the Republican nomination next summer are growing slimmer by the day.
At home, the voters in Troy elected Rensselaer County Legislator Lou Rosamilia as the next Mayor on Tuesday over Republican Carmella Mantello. As was discussed here the other day, the GOP all but gift-wrapped the election by making a pair of critical mistakes that sabotaged an otherwise clean campaign.
The first was challenging a petition filed by independent candidate Jack Cox, Jr., whose family has had an acrimonius history with city government. While a local judge let the petition pass, the state Appellate Court upheld the challenge, citing a handful of fraudulent signatures on the petition. While Cox may or may not be rightfully held accountable for the lapse of due diligence, the Appellate Court's strict guidelines mandated that even one bad apple would spoil the whole petition. Cox initially stated he would wage a write-in campaign, but one week before the election, he withdrew, and pledged his support of Rosamilia.
Before the week was out, the GOP released a more traditional attack ad that was meant to question whether or not Rosamilia, a long-tenured teacher at Hudson Valley Community College, was worthy of being Mayor. As I wrote the other day, I didn't see the entire ad, just the last few seconds, but I was told by those who did that it was a slipshod, almost amateurish production, as if they were in a rush to get the ad out, a last, desperate bid to influence voters. Problem was, the voters had, in effect, already made their minds up, if the Gramercy polls sponsored by The Record were any indication. As of Sunday, Rosamilia's lead in the polls had swelled to almost 11 points. All that was left was the formality of the election itself.
Between 10 & 11 pm Tuesday night, it was over. Mantello conceded the election.
Rosamilia's rapid rise within the city Democratic party mirrors that of President Obama. Just two years ago, he was elected to the County Legislature in his first bid for public office. I believe Obama was elected to the Senate on his first try, as well, I'm not sure. The door opened for Rosamilia after Clement Campana, the long time City Council President, withdrew from the race in July, amidst the continuing voter fraud scandal that marred the 2009 elections. Said scandal had no bearing on the race for the Legislature that year, however, but the ramnifications were felt in this year's Council election, as restaurant owner Mike LoPorto, who was among those implicated in the scandal, was defeated in his reelection bid.
For more than 4 decades, Lou Rosamilia has been a teacher, first at LaSalle Institute, then at Hudson Valley. Come January 1, as Mayor of Troy, he will govern the largest class of them all.
No comments:
Post a Comment