News Copy, New York

Stealth Campaigning Begins: Democrats And Republicans Forming No-Name Blogs

There will be a lot of people "hiding behind the curtain" this year.

Anonymous and ghost-written blogs are already showing up.

Political consultants will have operatives and volunteers manning the Facebook and Twitter accounts for candidates.

Some blogs will pop up, seemingly out of the grass-roots, only to turn out to be run by some political consultant fabricating all the comments. 

Social networking has become the new "netroots" and so has blogging, some of it expected to be very nasty.

Some it will be very stealth.  Some it will be right in your face too.

Reboot NY caught my eye yesterday.

The New York Daily News fairly entitled Reboot "The Devil You Know"

A former Senate Democratic staffer is heading up a new political action committee that aims to remake the chamber by ousting between 10 and 15 incumbent lawmakers - both Democrats and Republicans.

The PAC, dubbed "RebootNY", has a Website that prominently displays photos of some of the senators reformers most love to hate - from ex-Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno to coup-starter Pedro Espada Jr. (who know has Bruno's old title) to Sen. Carl Kruger.

Rebootny.org was designed entirely to harass Republicans and Democrats who have worked with Republicans. 

It's run by the some of the same crew who fronted for John Hall in 2006.

Remember Take Back The 19th?  Take19?

Take19 -- TAKEN (nice picture of Hall with Pelosi, by the way).

Just check out the Democratic Underground for more information on Take 19.

They're not working for the people.  They're working for the Democrats, for specific candidates.  They constitute an in-kind donation to John Hall's campaign -- AND the campaigns of Democrats running for the State Senate.

It is run by Democrats, pretending to be populists pitching for reform.  Of course, last year a lot of Republicans and Democrats pretended to be reformers as they forged a deal with Three Amigos (previously Four Amigos) to grab back pseudo-Republican control of the State Senate.

A lot of us don't want to know any of the devils on either side of this internecine battle.

These are liberal Democrats looking to target and undermine specific Republicans and any Democrat who helped the Republicans last year.

Reboot NY is sneaky, though those behind its curtain are at least named.

Appalled At Hall is a different story.  Yeah, appalledathall.com.  Some good stuff there but why be so secretive?

No one wants to be accused of being negative.

It's obviously a Republican creation.  It's clearly on target with its criticism but it is also already taking its shots at people.  The only problem is that it was bought by someone who doesn't want to reveal his or her name.

Is passing negative information about an opponent that complicated?

Psst.  Don't drink the milk.  It's spoiled.  Pass it on.

Killing the messenger is becoming a dance of masks.

Politics is a blood sport but blogging has intensified the blind spot.  We don't always know where the knives are coming from.  Candidates do have to disclose their financial relationship with a blogger, the same way a poll or a political consultant cannot be hidden.

But the stealth campaigning has begun.  Democrats and Republicans will form no-name blogs at a record rate thing year, propping up ghost-written attacks behind technological curtains.

McFadden Campaign Takes Shape In 19th: Hayworth Silent On Abortion Questions

The candidate from Orange County previously described as most likely to exit the race against Democrat John Hall in New York's 19th Congressional District is running.

He also appears poised to establish a political beachhead in Westchester County.

Former Tuxedo Mayor David McFadden will formally announce his candidacy in Orange County Saturday morning at 11:00 in Tuxedo at the Duck Cedar Plaza.

The event will be held at a newly opened, yet largely unoccupied, retail space where McFadden will be joined by the project’s developer and other local business leaders to tour the site. 

“This may not be the setting ordinarily used to announce the launch of a campaign, but these aren’t ordinary times.  As the owner of a small business myself, I think it’s appropriate to use this occasion to highlight local business owners taking risks and struggling to see their dreams come to fruition even as they face the damaging Washington policies which continue to harm the biggest engine of our economy: small business, ” said McFadden.

He added, “If given the opportunity to represent this District, my number one priority will be local job creation.  And by protecting free enterprise and lessening the tax burden on our local families and small business owners, we will do just that.”

The ambiguity in McFadden's professional biography on his campaign website is noted.  Critics on both sides of the river claim the former mayor is besieged with legal and financial problems.  Neither Nan Hayworth's campaign nor anyone else has provide evidence of his notoriety -- though McFadden hasn't provided the names of the businesses he's run either.

Both Sides of The River

McFadden has been social networking a BIT the past month, Facebook "friending" anyone who isn't nailed down.  More impressive has been the outreach by this Orange County campaign across the river.  The Orange County businessman has secured support from operatives and media professionals in Westchester.

It's clear McFadden won't be a stranger in Republican Nan Hayworth's home county.

It's as clear that McFadden won't be alone in his own county: with a pro-life conservative Republican from Orange -- with national tea party credentials -- expected to aggressively circulate within the next two weeks.

The 19th could get crowded.  Though Tom DeChiaro of Yorktown in Westchester and Neil DeCarlo of Southeast in Putnam County have been quiet in recent weeks, Nan Hayworth might be facing the resources of four well-funded pro-life campaigns by March 15th.  Of course, this could split the "true conservative" base and actually help Hayworth.

Abortion Questions

Hayworth keeps silent about questions surrounding the Mount Kisco Medical Group, where her husband as CEO has denied that the facility is an abortion clinic.

Sources have told News Copy that evidence exists proving that Dr. Hayworth does run an OB/GYN clinic that performs abortions.  The issue is not expected to go away anytime soon but no accountable claim by a candidate or organization has surfaced.  Perhaps McFadden himself could change that.

Saturday will be McFadden's day to make a noise like a Republican elephant and remind the rest of the Hudson Valley that Orange County is still in the game.

New York Congressman John Hall On Freedom of Speech: SHUT UP!!!

A liberal Democrat in New York's Hudson Valley wants a law to undermine a Supreme Court ruling allowing corporate involvement in elections.

New York Congressman John Hall wants to sidestep the recent high court ruling on free speech by discriminating against investors in American corporations.

"Foreign nationals who have partial ownership or management of American corporations do not have the right to use that control to swing American elections."

John Hall has no problem with Democrats socializing parts of the U.S. economy -- and letting its special interests donate in excess to the same Democrats -- but evil capitalists can't Constitutionally advocate a free market system?

The Freedom From Foreign-Based Manipulation in American Elections Act would block campaign advertising by any corporation with foreign nationals making up 5% or more of their shareholders, foreign nationals on its board of directors, or a foreign national employed as a senior executive. regulations.

Five percent?  Hall should check his own stock portfolio and donor list for foreign entanglements before he throws stones.  The truth is that Hall wants to penalize foreignors who believe in capitalism and America's form of government.  The two-term Democrat is just reaching for this xenophobic excuse to knock down American corporations.

He doesn't care one bit where the money comes from.

Next, Rep. Hall will start singing The Internationale ...

Scott Brown Victory Has New York Millionaire Mulling New York House Race

While Tea Party activists throughout the Hudson Valley wait for a true conservative Republican to challenge two term incumbent Democrat John Hall in the 19th Congressional District, another wealthy "moderate" from Westchester is considering a run.

Blogs are buzzing about the entry of winery owner Tom DeChiaro into what is sizing up to be a crowded primary for the Republican line in this five county House seat.  The 19th includes parts of Westchester, Dutchess and Rockland, most of Orange County and all of Putnam.

DeChiaro's background is compelling, as reported by The Journal News.  He took on town hall when he was unhappy with the bureaucracy in Yorktown over building permits,

Characterizing himself a "center right" candidate, DeChiaro still avoided any mention of social conservative issues and failed entirely to mention the second amendment or illegal immigration.

These issues mean something to voters in the Mid-Hudson Valley. 

But DeChiaro is not alone in playing it safe as a moderate, if that is what he is ...

Pro-life activists are already openly displeased with another Republican vying to challenge John Hall, Mount Kisco native Nan Hayworth.  Republicans and Conservatives alike remain unsure about Hayworth -- and would be open to an alternative.  Extremely well funded with her own money (she has loaned her campaign $400,000), Hayworth started raising money last March but has only raised $166,000 from individual donors.

Daily Kos, the liberal blog, listed DeChiaro's entry among the sea changes after Scott Brown's win.

Other names have been floated, including three lesser known candidates from Orange County and an openly pro-life candidate from Dutchess County, Neil Di Carlo.  Di Carlo's entry has also been a cautious one, with him declining to discuss specific policy differences between him and Hayworth. 

It's still not certain how many -- if any -- of these candidacies will materialize and be sustained through a September 14th Republican primary.  Former Tuxedo Park Mayor David McFadden, a well-funded Republican from Orange County, had been believed to still be a candidate but he has not been actively campaigning.

The wealthy DeChiaro's entry counters Hayworth's dollars but money can't buy either of them the Conservative line.  Money sure helps a candidate survive the grueling primary process.  Finally, a challenge to Hall is projected to cost over $2 million, so neither of these deep pockets will be taken for granted.