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Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Leon Koziol Fails the Contact Test: From Take Back New York's About
24th
A collection of blogs dedicated to
taking back Congress from
I didn't want to write this article. I've waited for there to be Republican culture of corruption
something other for me to say. But, I've waited long enough, and
there isn't anything better I can say:
Contributors
Prospective Democratic candidate Leon Koziol has failed the
contact test. Bob Aubin
John Hall for Congress
me
Much was made at the end of 2005 about a possible campaign for
24thIndependent
the Democratic nomination in the 24th District by attorney Leon
take19
Koziol. Since then, there has been relative silence. A few name
recognition ads for Koziol have apparently run on television, but I
haven't been glued to the tube enough to catch them. Discussion
Links
of Koziol, in the newspapers and online, has dropped down to
practically nothing. 13 - NY 13
19 - Take 19
So, I was curious. Was Koziol still considering a run for Congress, 20 - 20 True Blue
or had he thought the better of it? I found the telephone number 23 - Bob Aubin
for Koziol's office on a PDF of a legal letter he had written for his 24 - Take Back New York's 24th
work with Upstate Citizens for Equality, and gave him a call.

When I got through to Mr. Koziol, he confirmed that he would be Previous

running for Congress. He said he was still crafting his
announcement speech, and would formally enter the race within Fossella attacks the President's
lack of strategy ...
the next two weeks (moving ahead now, that time frame would
Watch the Video James Walsh
be some time in the next week). He says he has a campaign
Wanted to Be Censored!...
committee, and is working on a web site. Revisiting Fossella's Illegal
Activities
Then, I asked him how he was different from the other Recapturing the Northeast
Democrats, how he planned to position himself as a candidate for Changing the Course of Our Nation
the Democratic nomination. He seemed stumped. "I guess I really With Bob Johnson...

ought to have an answer for that question," he told me. Vito Fossella and Bush are Best
Friends
Working Families Party Hustles for
I was floored. How could someone contemplate running for Michael Arcuri
Congress without considering how they would be different from Why is Democrat Bob Johnson on
the other candidates? How could someone seek the Democratic the No-Fly List?
nomination without knowing what kind of Democrat they are? New York - Republican's Waterloo
How could a candidate begin putting television ads on the air in 2006

without knowing what the theme of his campaign would be first? Bob Johnson second quarter
fundraising numbers

After a couple of minutes, Koziol recovered, and summoned up a

trial answer.
Archives

"I'm a moral traditionalist," he said. I asked him what that meant. January 2006
He talked to me about how he regards himself first and foremost February 2006

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as a conservative, family-oriented Democrat. He told me about March 2006

how America's traditional value system is eroding at a pace that April 2006

society cannot keep up with. He said he wants to work to bring May 2006
June 2006
back and preserve traditional moral values. He complained about
July 2006
the "very liberal viewpoint" that appears on television these days.
August 2006
September 2006
So it appears that Leon Koziol intends to be the Joseph
October 2006
Lieberman of the 24th District, running from the right. He's free
Current Posts
to make that choice, of course, but it may not be the best way to
clinch the Democratic nomination in a year when the Republican
Party and its right wing agenda are less popular than they have
been since the days just after Watergate.

A few minutes later, Koziol shifted his focus, and said that he
really ought to be regarded as "the most qualified public interest
advocate" among all the Democrats in the race. He talked about
how he has clients throughout the district, people that he has
helped, and would be working with their support during his
campaign.

Koziol distinguished himself from both Michael Arcuri and

Sherwood Boehlert, calling them "career politicians". In fact,
Koziol's attention seemed riveted by Arcuri in particular. He had
nothing but kind words for the other Democratic candidates,
calling Les Roberts "a scholar and a gentleman", and saying that
he was very glad that Jeff Miller and Bruce Tytler might be
considering joining the race. When it came to Michael Arcuri,
however, Koziol very pointedly said that he would not address
Arcuri "right now".

This was an interesting, if somewhat quirky, start, and I was

eager to provide readers here with more information about
Koziol's campaign. So, I asked him for a copy of one of his
television advertisements, and for a more extensive interview at
a later time. He agreed, and told me to get in touch with the
administrative assistant in his legal office, who is also running his
campaign.

The administrative assistant was friendly, and said that she would
either email me a copy of the campaign video or send a tape to
me through the mail. She said she would be in touch with me
soon by telephone or by email to have a time for an interview
arranged.

So, the waiting began. The Koziol campaign never called back.
They never sent an email. They did not send me a copy of
Koziol's TV ad. I received no further contact at all.

Of course, I can't know the reason that Leon Koziol's campaign

fell silent. Maybe they're stiff-arming me. Maybe Koziol has
reconsidered his campaign. Perhaps Koziol's legal office is busy,
and just dropped the ball.

The thing is, none of these possibilities reflect positively on a

Koziol for Congress campaign. If Koziol's campaign is
disorganized at this point in the race, when there is relatively
little press coverage, and relatively slow procession of events,
how well would it fare when things get really hot, before the

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filing deadline, primary, and general election? If Koziol's

assistants can't be bothered to get back in touch with a
prospective constituent offering free publicity, how accessible
would he be as a member of Congress?

Leon Koziol failed the contact test. Although he may still make an
announcement that he is running for Congress, and may wage a
campaign of some sort, I wouldn't expect much more than a few
sporadic fits and starts.

-----

From Take Back the 24th

posted by 24thIndependent at Tuesday, January 31, 2006 | 3 comments
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We've Got Numbers!

And the Financial reports are officially in:

Palomma Capanna - raised $22,744, spent $2,373, Cash
on Hand $20,371
Dan Maffei - raised $100,403, spent $4,014, Cash on Hand
$96,388
Jim Walsh - raised $298,005, spent $253,187, Cash on
Hand $508,704
Ken Howland - report not available or none filed

Dan Maffei has raised an impressive sum for only being in the
race for a short while. Palomma Capanna will need to increase
her numbers next quarter if she expects to be competitive. Mr.
Walsh raised a lot, but he also spent a lot, he must be worried.
More later after I've had time to look through the reports.

Crossposted at The Walsh Watch.

posted by The Watcher at Tuesday, January 31, 2006 | 0 comments

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The Walsh Watch

I began my blog The Walsh Watch a few weeks ago in order to

hold Jim Walsh accountable. Mr. Walsh has lost touch with
Central New York and sold us out by voting with out of touch
special interest and the Republican Culture of Corruption first and
his constituents a distance second. I post there daily, sometimes
more, and I will be crossposting most of them at this blog as well.
So please check out my blog. Here are some blog entries that
may interest you:

Culture of Corruption Connection:

Jim Joins Team Corruption
Jim Hearts Tom
Can't Shake the Stank
The Hits Just Keep On Coming

And here are Jim Walsh's potential opponents:

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Dan Maffei
Palomma Cappana
Ken Howland
posted by The Watcher at Tuesday, January 31, 2006 | 0 comments
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Another Corrupt Lobbyist

This time it's a New York local. The Times Union's blog Capitol
Confidential has this to say:

More trouble is coming down the track for Cooperstown short-line

railroad head Walter Rich, whose fundraising and gift-giving are
under scrutiny by the state lobbying commission.

A book is about to be published by Richs former railroad police

chief, David K. Butler, called Railroaded in Cooperstown.' The book
will detail alleged safetycover-ups, corruption and fundraising
scandals led by Rich.

Of course, Mr. Walsh has accepted money from. It's time to give
back the dirty money, Jim.

Crossposted at The Walsh Watch.

posted by The Watcher at Tuesday, January 31, 2006 | 0 comments
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Take 19: Back to work....

Well, it's been six long weeks since Congress went out on recess.
But all good things have to come to an end eventually and Sue
Kelly and her colleagues are headed back to the hallowed halls of
Congress. What's on the agenda for the second session of the
109th Congress? Here's a brief look at two key votes:

--Sue gets another shot at voting to cut $40 billion from the
budget. This would cut $12.7 billion from federal student loan
programs -- the largest cut ever -- at a time that college costs
are rising sharply. Medicaid would be cut by $7 billion and
funding for Medicare and child support enforcement would also be
cut sharply. The House is voting on this again because the Senate
made several changes to an earlier budget bill. Sue's already
voted twice here and here in favor of these drastic cuts, so it's
unlikely she'll suddenly have a change of heart the third time
around.

--More tax cuts for the wealthy. The House will vote on extending
tax cuts on capital gains and dividends, even though those tax
cuts are not set to expire for another two years. Kelly voted to
approve this once before. There's no reason to believe she won't
do it again.

With these types of irresponsible votes, maybe we're all better off
when Sue is on vacation.
posted by take19 at Tuesday, January 31, 2006 | 0 comments links to
this post

Walter Rich to Become New York's Abramoff? - From Take Back

the 24th

It looks like the 24th District's congressman, incumbent

Republican Sherwood Boehlert, may soon be joining the likes of
Randy Cunningham, Bob Ney, and Tom DeLay - as a suspect in a
rapidly spreading corruption probe.

This corruption scandal does not have a direct connection to Jack

Abramoff - yet. In this case, the corrupt lobbyist under
investigation is Walter Rich, a railroad boss who is under
investigation by the by the New York State lobbying commission
on possible corruption charges.

The commission has asked Rich to turn over records of who

stayed and ate at his mansion and in other lodgings he arranged
around Cooperstown during a Baseball Hall of Fame event, and
got free tickets to local events. It is against New York State law
for lobbyists to give public officials gifts of over 75 dollars in
worth, as the lodgings, meals and tickets surely were. These
events will likely prove to be the New York State equivalent of
Jack Abramoff's golf vacations in Scotland given to public
servants.

It is widely expected that Sherwood Boehlert's name will be

among those who were given illegal gifts by Walter Rich.
Sherwood Boehlert is among those who are known to have held

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fundraisers in Rich's mansion.

These allegations come at the same time that David Butler, a

former railroad police chief who worked for Walter Rich, is
preparing to release a new book, Railroaded in Cooperstown.
Butler's book promises to reveal chronic safety violation
cover-ups, corruption, and illegal political fundraising
orchestrated by Rich.

It is alleged that Walter Rich required his employees to give

political donations to politicians, possibly including Sherwood
Boehlert. Was that kind of corruption the secret behind Sherwood
Boehlert's fundraising machine?

The commission will hold a public meeting Feb. 8. Look for more
information then.

Thanks to Capitol Confidential for the tip.

----

Postscript:

Republican political cannibals who are eager to profit from

Sherwood Boehlert's apparently imminent downfall might want to
look at the connnections their own prospective candidates. State
Senator James Seward, who has been named as a possible
Republican successor to Sherwood Boehlert, is also named in
David Butler's book, and may soon become the subject of a
corruption probe himself.

-----

From Take Back New York's 24th

posted by 24thIndependent at Tuesday, January 31, 2006 | 2 comments
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Monday, January 30, 2006

From Take Back the 24th: Sherwood Boehlert Rumored to Be

Pulling Out

Tom Grace of the Daily Star over in Oneonta dropped a bomb on

the 24th District congressional district this weekend with his
article suggesting that incumbent Republican Congressman
Sherwood Boehlert is likely to quit the race, and not seek
re-election in 2006. Sam Marchio, a spokesman for
Representative Boehlert, has said that there will be an
announcement sometime in March, when the House of
Representatives is in recess.

Grace cites Boehlert's strong challengers within the Republican

Party, and Boehlert's apparent difficulties gathering donations for
his campaign. With Boehlert losing the chairmanship of the House
Committee on Science, his ability to bring money into the district
is greatly diminished, and donors appear to doubt that Boehlert
has the clout necessary to gain another influential chairmanship.

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Republican Brad Jones, former mayor of Seneca Falls, is already

challenging Sherwood Boehlert for the Republican nomination,
and has raised about 90,000 dollars. Republicans who are
considering running for the GOP nomination, assuming Sherwood
Boehlert's retirement, are state senators James Seward and
Raymond Meier.

Whether or not Boehlert continues his re-election campaign, it

looks like the race is wide open on the Republican side. Chances
are increasing that the Republicans will nominate a right wing
ideologue, making it more difficult for the Republicans to hold
onto this seat in the general election.

From Take Back New York's 24th District

posted by 24thIndependent at Monday, January 30, 2006 | 0 comments
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From Take Back the 24th: Bruce Tytler Conspiracy?

This morning, someone calling himself of herself "Tytlerwatcher"

left the following message at the Take Back the 24th Blog:

"You should check out the speculation about Bruce Tytler at the
Syracuse.com Cortland County Forum. It appears he is destined to
run for Congress, gather donations, drop out of the race and give
the money to the Cortland County Democratic Committee that can't
raise money under Bill Wood.

Tytler was the one term Mayor of Cortland who spent his entire term
tied up by a battle with the Water Board and accomplished
nothing."

Rumor has it that Bruce Tytler is currently considering a

campaign for the Democratic nomination to oppose Republican
incumbent Representative Sherwood Boehlert in this year's
election. Rumor, apparently, also has a bit else to say about
Bruce Tytler.

I have seen this kind of idea discussed elsewhere on the web,

perhaps by the same person, perhaps by someone different. At
the discussion boards at Syracuse.com, for example, I found the
following comments:

"Rumors abound that Mr. Tytler running for congress is nothing

more then a ruse to raise money for the politcal party locally. The
rumor is that Mr. Wood and his reputation have reached the tipping
point where anything with his name on it can't garner any real
support. Political gamesmanship and his Pyric Democratic
Committee aside, he can't get the real party faithful to give him the
time of day muchless a monotary donation. The ruse is to have Mr.
Tytler "run" for this congressional seat but only go through the
motions, so as not to spend all the donations he has taken in.
Before the primary takes place it is rumored that he will bow out of
the race, finally realizing what any politcal student already knows, a
Democrat can't win this seat. With the money he has left in his
coffers, he can by law, legally donate that money back to the local

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Democratic Party i.e. one Mr. William Wood. The joke will be on all
of those who thought that Bruce was a candidate of substance and
principle and once again, Mr. Wood like a theif in the night thwart
all people of any decency. Remember, this is just a rumor however,
heard while dinning at a local eatery in the first block of Main St. at
the begining of the one-way section."

Is there any evidence for some kind of conspiracy by Bruce Tytler

to defraud campaign donors? I haven't seen any. What there is
evidence for is a coordinated, but underhanded, attack in the
style of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

This looks to me like a desperate maneuver by a supporter of one

of the other Democratic candidates who is afraid that a Bruce
Tytler candidacy would take away valuable attention. The attacks
are clearly coming from a resident of Cortland who has a grudge
against Democratic Committee chair Bill Wood.

To this attacker, I say: Whatever your agenda, this is not the way
to promote it. If Bruce Tytler is not fit to represent the 24th
District Democrats in the general congressional election this year,
we will find that out when he starts campaigning. If Bill Wood is
not to your liking, then gather up a group of Democrats who will
support you, and make a run for his position.

Democracy works best in the open, not under the veil of whisper
campaigns.

From Take Back New York's 24th

posted by 24thIndependent at Monday, January 30, 2006 | 0 comments
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Saturday, January 28, 2006

Take Back Congress - New York is Begun

The project of Take Back Congress is simple, but not easy: To

serve as a center for news about congressional campaigns to take
back the Congress from corrupt Republican rule across New York
State.

Take Back Congress - New York is not intended to be the work of

just one person, but rather, the cooperative project of otherwise
unassociated progressive bloggers across New York State. This
blog is not a replacement for those blogs, but instead to be a
place that helps those blogs that are dedicated to the electoral
struggles in particular congressional districts gain more
prominence.

This blog also is intended to serve as an easy to follow resource

for readers who are interested in the latest news about
congressional races across New York State, and the progressive
efforts across New York to be part of the nationwide effort to
replace the Republican majority in Congress with a more stable,
less corrupt alternative that can begin the long process of
bringing America back to its traditional place of liberty, justice,
and the rule of law for all - no matter how weak or how powerful.

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If you have a progressive or Democratic blog that is dedicated to

covering a congressional race going on somewhere in New York
State, or if you know of one that we ought to add, leave us a
note in the comments section, and we'll send you information
about how to become part of this collaboration.

Look to see the first content for Take Back Congress - New York
in just a few days from now.

It's going to be an exciting year.

posted by 24thIndependent at Saturday, January 28, 2006 | 0
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