Tomorrow, It Begins!

Tomorrow is the first day of 2008. Next year we will be inundated with campaign ads from presidential and congressional candidates alike. While we've already seen the beginning of the campaign season, what we will witness next year will only make the last several months look like pre-season scrimmages between Pop Warner football teams, i.e., completely irrelevant.

While most of the country will focus mainly on the presidential race, those of us in New York's 29th Congressional district will concentrate more on the congressional campaign. I started this blog three months ago with the express purpose of supporting Republicans who represent Ontario County, NY, and there is no question that the Dems will do anything in their power to unseat Randy Kuhl and try to expand their majority in Congress, making this the number one race in our area. Last year, despite the extreme unpopularity of the Iraq War at the time, and various scandals coming out against certain members of the GOP, Congressman Kuhl still beat a very tough challenger by a 2.9% margin. And even though he won in every county other than a bluish part of Monroe County, his margin of victory here in Ontario County was the slimiest in the district: 2.4%.

This year, though, with even leading Democrats admitting that the Iraq War surge is working, the Dems decided to focus their attention elsewhere to "kitchen table" issues, more specifically socialized medicine "health care." Back in October, when Congressman Kuhl was fighting against the Dem leadership's plan to expand SCHIP to idiotic levels, Massa told Time magazine that he was "now making SCHIP his No. 1 priority." Liberal 527s started airing attack ads around the clock demonizing our good Congressman, but his position ultimately prevailed, and as Rottenchester pointed out yesterday, Congressman Kuhl can still tell voters that "he 'voted for S-CHIP', and he has plenty of time before the 2008 campaign for voters to forget what happened this year" (Editor's note: Given that Gallup poll, I don't think Congressman Kuhl wants voters to forget that he fought against expanding this program to cover upper-income families, and because he and other Republicans stood up against the lies and deceptions that Dems and liberals threw at them, the program retained its intended purpose: to cover children from lower-income families, which is exactly where most people stand on the issue!).

So with the surge working in Iraq, with SCHIP (Massa's "no. 1 priority") no longer an issue, and with voters' approval of the Democrat-led Congress swirling in the toilet for months, where does Massa go from here? Honestly, I have no idea, but a lot can happen in eleven months, and I'm sure he'll campaign even more aggressively than he did in 2006. Therefore, if we are determined to keep Randy Kuhl in Congress, we must work even harder than we did last year. When over 45% of the voters in the 29th are either registered Republicans or Conservatives, our job is certainly much easier than Massa's, but rather than aim for a mere win, our goal needs to be an overwhelming, runaway victory (think more of what the Pats did to our Bills a few weeks ago rather than squeaking by the Giants on Saturday).

The biggest county up for grabs, of course, is Ontario County, and Massa's people know it! Even though nearly 46% of the voters in this part of the county are either registered Republicans or Conservatives, Congressman Kuhl only received 702 more votes here than Massa, despite the fact that the bluest area of our county, Geneva, is not even in the district! Fortunately, we have already begun to mobilize supporters here like never before. A new Young Republicans chapter was created here over the summer (to join, simply email ontarioyrs@gmail.com). This blog's viewership has more than tripled since October. And the Ontario County Republican Committee is committed to expanding its voter outreach to unprecedented levels next year.

According to the Cook Political Report, this race is listed as "Lean Republican." Let's surprise all of the pundits next year and win big. Congressman Kuhl deserves our full-fledged support, and we deserve to have him reelected next year. So with that, I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year!