I have been holding on to this article because I really wanted to comment on it in so many ways. With my recent rush trip to Mass I wasn’t able to until now, but I must comment because I think this is just the first of many articles that will be coming out with the purpose of bad mouthing Republicans in this race for County Executive and the Erie County Legislature by the Buffalo News.

Now a little line by line commenting, this is really the only way to do this.
disclaimer…. I have only met Chris Collins twice, once at the Grand Island Parade for 10 seconds and once two weeks ago for 10 seconds at an event.

Collins confronts ultimate ‘R’ word
‘Republican’ poses hurdle in race for county executive

Christopher C. Collins is now headlong into a campaign for county executive that trumpets his “three R’s” — reforming government, rebuilding the economy and reducing taxes.

But the fourth R — the one after his name labeling him a Republican — may pose his most daunting obstacle.

Though the Clarence businessman has money, organization and a message, the challenges facing the Republican Party on the national, state and local level already are defining the campaign.

First of all Republicans on the local level are only being dragged down by the constant reference to Republican Joel Giambra.. People seem to forget or intentionally leave out that Joel was a life long Democrat and changed later in his career. He ran as a Republican against Gorski and won. At that point there were 140,000 more D’s than R’s, seems to me that both sides had to vote to elect him.

State and federal level Republicans are having a hard time because of one major reason. They are elected as Republicans and govern like RINO’s. The D’s aren’t doing that well either, congressional approval ratings are lower than President Bush’s, last I saw it was in the teens. So to paint only the R’s as being on the down side is really disingenuous.

James P. Keane, the Democratic candidate, labels him “Republican Chris Collins” at every opportunity.

Challenges facing Collins as a Republican:

• Democrats outnumber Republicans by 120,000 voters in Erie County.

• He failed to secure a major minor party line that could attract Democrats and unaffiliated voters unwilling to pull the Republican lever.

Now that is laughable, it really is…. Who did secure the minor party lines? I didn’t and I was a registered Conservative for 13 years, the Independent Party has never endorsed me. Why? Easy, we are a threat to their way of life, the status quo and the pork and patronage jobs they want to protect. The words of the leader of the conservatives said, “we have to protect our people jobs”… Well they endorsed the very people that will do that for them. Almost every Democrat on the ballot this year got the endorsement from them. The only Republicans that did are sure to win their bid for re-election. Gerrymandered districts have re-elections just about guaranteed in most districts. They always want to pick a winner.

• The GOP is in a “down” cycle.
Where? On the national level? Just so happens that this is a regular theme, after a President spends two terms in office usually the other party wins in the next election. It is a trend that has gone on for years.

• Top national Republicans such as President Bush and locals such as incumbent County Executive Joel A. Giambra are unpopular.

Once again, Congress has a worse rating than Bush.
Here we go again tying every Republican to Joel Giambra. Can you name another local besides Giambra? Just curious?

As a result, Democrats are eagerly embracing their party label for the first time in generations, according to Joseph F. Crangle, former chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party, and other longtime politicos.

Really? That’s a surprise to me…. The Democrat primary turnout was abysmal, only the party faithful, government employees and committee people seemed to vote in this primary. I know people that went to vote and did not even pull one switch. 25% voted for Clark, 23% voted for Griffin so Keane took 53% of how many overall voters? What 4% of registered voters… Wow, that’s a victory and a mandate?

As Keane runs campaign ads linking Collins to top Republican figures like Vice President Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the strategy becomes obvious.

“You’re going to see more of it because of the Republican situation and Bush’s unpopularity,” Crangle said. “Democrats will be saying ‘I’m a Democrat’ and then pin the Republican label on the other guy. I don’t think you’ll hear anyone saying ‘vote Republican.’ ” Collins doesn’t stand on every plank of the Republican platform and seems to recognize that the Iraq War, with Bush’s low standing in the polls, has saddled his party with problems. “I’m very disappointed in George Bush,” Collins said in a recent interview.

I must ask, what in Gods name does Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld have to do with Erie County? How did Buffalo Mayor Tony Maisello treat the President when he visited town? He would not even respect the office and stayed away as the President spoke to the first responders. The president told our elected reps to fix the pot holes. What they need to fix is the holes in their heads. What a perfect opportunity for the mayor to speak to the president about issues concerning Buffalo. Instead he couldn’t even respect the office but we all surely remember when Clinton came to town. Is this some kind of party or what…

The candidate is not denying his Republican affiliation but emphasizes his priorities lie elsewhere. more–>

The Republican Party under the leadership of new Chairman Jim Domagalski has reached out to independent, free thinking, reform minded individuals to run for public office this year. Just look at who has the Republican endorsement in the county races and see where they come from. Most of us have a business background. Chris Collins has saved businesses here in WNY, he has created jobs that do not depend on the government for their income and benefits.

What I want to see from the Democrats is their plan… Stop the bad mouthing and politics of destruction and lay your plans for the future out. Or are you afraid to do that. Bad mouthing is a sign of desperation, lets see the beef.