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Thursday, July 27, 2006

NY-03: Peter King's Clueless Vote Against Stem Cells

Posted by DavidNYC

Dave Mejias, running to unseat Rep. Peter King on Long Island, points out something that I can hardly believe: Last week, Peter King voted against expanding stem cell research. Yes, against it. Now, those of you who know how I feel about this issue know that few things can make me as crazy in the head as the issue of stem cell research. My fiancee has Type I diabetes, and one of my closest friends and mentors is a paraplegic. When reactionary obscurantists like Peter King vote to privilege undifferentiated clumps of cells over my loved ones, I can make the Incredible Hulk look like Emily Post.

But today, that isn't my point. Oh, yes, I am in disbelief, but not concerning the merits of the legislation. Rather, it's the optics of this vote that have me brain-boggled. I can't believe that a Republican in a blue-trending swing district in an extremely blue state headed toward an extremely blue landslide this fall would vote against this. And did I mention that, by the way, over 80% of New Yorkers support stem cell research? I am sure that King has an explanation for what he will undoubtedly call his "principled" vote on his House website, though, right? Wrong. What about his campaign website? Asking you to go look for it would be as cruel as sending kids Easter egg hunt without hiding any Easter eggs first. In other words, his campaign site is about as real as the Easter Bunny.

And that little fact, just like his vote on stem cells, suggests that Peter King really is badly out of touch. What kind of 21st century campaign, less than four months from election day, doesn't have a functioning campaign website where you can make donations? One that's either stupid, arrogant or clueless. I think King is, sooner or later, going to pay a price for being this out-of-step with his constituents.

Speaking of which, I think Mejias could really gain some traction on King's stem cell vote. This is an uphill battle no matter what - it always is, when you go up against an incumbent, especially in the most expensive media market known to man. But this race is right in my back yard, so I can hardly ignore it. And Mejias did manage to raise over $200K in a very short period last quarter (he got a late start), which indicates he might have some pop in his bat. (Extra scratch is always welcome.) His task, as I see it, is to give Long Islanders a reason to stop liking (or tolerating) Peter King. In other words, he's got to drive up King's negatives. And King just handed Dave a great weapon to do that with.

Posted at 10:53 AM in 2006 Elections - House, New York | Technorati

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Comments

Is there some reason why King and Fossella haven't gotten decent challenges anytime recently? I mean, Gore won both districts by a decent margin (although Kerry lost them both by similar margins, most likely due to 9/11).

Posted by: DemocraticLuntz at July 27, 2006 01:23 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

We need to unseat that reactionary King. What an embarrasment to Notre Dame and his New York constituents. And he calls himself an Irishman-ha!

Posted by: kentuckydave at July 27, 2006 06:11 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Although 80% of New Yorkers are in favour of stem cell research, what is the percentage of new yorkers who are in favour of stem cell research in King's district?

Secondly, I understand your rage and I wholeheartedly agree to expand funding for stem cell research. But just like you said, take heart in knowing that King just gave Mejias a huge shot in the arm. Let King vote according to his own interests, he will just keep adding fuel to the fire.

Posted by: CanadianDem at July 27, 2006 08:41 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

CanadianDem--where are you from?

Posted by: James L. at July 27, 2006 08:48 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

While I don't know the percentage support for stem cell research in NY-03, I can tell you this: Support is higher downstate, somewhat lower upstate. Hence, there's little chance that NY-03 is any lower than the statewide average. Even if it is, the amount would be de minimis.

Posted by: DavidNYC at July 28, 2006 09:43 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

James L,

I'm from Toronto.

Posted by: CanadianDem at July 28, 2006 11:55 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Nice! Well, I won't hold that against you, but I'm from Edmonton.

Posted by: James L. at July 28, 2006 12:07 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

A democrat from Alberta??????????? You're my hero!

Posted by: CanadianDem at July 28, 2006 04:23 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I'm not even a Democrat! I'm a Canadian-Canadian. I'm the rarest of all breeds: a Liberal Albertan! (Although I do know several Albertan Democrats--my neighbor is an Edmonton organizer for Democrats Abroad.)

Posted by: James L. at July 28, 2006 04:28 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

As a member of the district I would say support for Stem cell research is on par with the state average.

The GOP does have a registration advantage in the district and Bush did win the district in 04, howver bush won in 04 because of the 9/11 impact (which has worn off completley) and the registration advantage doesn't mean much. Its basically the opposie of the south, here Republicans tend to be much more likely to crossover than Dems are and Indpendnets tend to lean Democratic. Keep in mind Gore won this district by a decent margin, he won by over 13 points, though its more like 9 under the current lines. Despite the gOP advntage in registration, the district is not a hotbed for conservatism and not even remotley socially conservative (though not as far left as some of the lI districts, its no question left of center on social issues. King's vote against the expnaion of Embryonic Stem Cell resarch along with Bush's veto and King's vote against overriding the eto sow how completley out of touch King is with his consituents (as do a number of other things, King's unflenching support for Bush's handeling of Iraq for one). But a campaign by Mejias that really drills King on Embryonic Stem Cell research could really put a hurting on King and turn this into a very competitive race.

Posted by: Smash255 at July 29, 2006 04:24 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Wow. WTF was King thinking. LI is not Christian right territory. This could be a huge screw-up on his front. One of my friends works with King's sister and says he is worried about the race. I have mixed feelings since I think it would be probably be easier to sneak up on guy like King than having him realize he has a race and run hard.

I don't live in NY-3 but as I have posted before stems cells is an important issue to me since my dad suffers from Parkinsons. Go Mejias.

Posted by: John Mills at July 30, 2006 06:56 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Don’t they believe that Stem Cells could have an impact on cancer research?

I did a study on NY politics a while back, and you don’t go into politics in Long Island unless you are going to be passionate about funding everything possible that might cure cancer. Yet King opposes this????

Posted by: kdeliee at July 31, 2006 09:22 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

This race has seemed to be below many radars, from the start I felt it could be competitive, but with Mejias's late entry and the lack of any cohesion from the pundits, I was begining to worry about how competitive this could be.. But now with Mejias raising over 200k in a little over 5 weeks, and a monumental mistake by King, by voting against something that not only the majority, but basically super majority of hs consituents not only support, but strongly support makes this a no doubt competitive race.

Posted by: Smash255 at August 1, 2006 02:53 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment