“I’m not trying to kid anyone,” King said in a prepared statement. “I wanted to be able to run for the Senate.” […]
“The reality is that a statewide Democratic candidate starts the race with a voter registration edge of almost 3 million. To overcome such a large margin, there would have to be intensive media coverage of the race and I would need to raise at least $30 million.”
“That is why I would have run if Caroline Kennedy were the Democratic candidate. Her candidacy would have generated the media coverage and financial contributions necessary for me to run a competitive race. That’s all I would have hoped for. Once the race became competitive, it would have been up to me to win it by contrasting my blue collar conservatism with her Manhattan liberalism.”
“That race was not to be. Senator Gillibrand generates neither strong support nor opposition. This makes it virtually impossible for me to raise the campaign funds I would need to overcome the built-in Democratic registration advantage and the countless millions of dollars which the Democrats will make available to Senator Gillibrand.”
While this is hardly a surprise at all, I can’t think of a more mopey, sorry-for-yourself press release in recent history. Good grief.
RaceTracker Wiki: NY-Sen-B
as soon as Maloney dropped out that Gillibrand just wasn’t going to have any race to speak of.
If Paterson drops out of the race, she’s got completely smooth sailing.
Or a more honest one. Seriously, there was no reason for that level of candor. You don’t need to say that you didn’t run because you couldn’t win; you can just say you don’t want to run.
Weird.
But refreshing given how most politicos give the same old “my heart’s not in it,” “I need to be with my family” or “I’ll serve my constituents best in my current position” crap (pick an excuse from above). He also laid out a pretty intensive strategy to win that, on paper, could have made him a player in the race. I may not respect King as a politician but he seems like a smart campaigner who is never delusional about his chances or where he stands.
Yeah, this press release from Congressman King makes him sound like a cowardly loser who backed out at the last minute. But for me reading between the lines, he’s being brutally honest. King’s basically admitting 1.) he can’t raise enough money 2.) Caroline Kennedy is a very powerful name despite people not knowing much about her besides being JFK’s daughter and 3.) There are more Democrats than Republicans in New York state (which I guess is obvious, but still hearing a Republican admit that is shocking).
It kind of reminds me of when Arlen Specter switched parties. At his press conference he basically said, “I can’t win the GOP primary, and I’m not about to have my career judged by a bunch of right wing wackos.”
So Congressman King, Loser yes, but Realist, definitely yes.
I was hoping he would leave NY-3, get crushed in the Senate race, and we would recruit a solid candidate and win NY-3. I still hope we can recruit a solid candidate and give King a run for his money.
I thought King’s message was in line with the “woe is me” approach to rationalization.
Run now. I realize this is a non-race now, but King has basically admitted a Republican can’t win in NY and if we want to use as liberal an interpretation as possible for his rationale, this same logic could be applied to the governor’s race.
Just curious, do you see Pete King being more weak now for his 2010 re-election in his congressional district?
Does anyone know if Tom Suozzi lives in the district or not?
Actually, scratch that…more like, politician talks honestly and candidly about electoral chances.
he sounds like the unpopular dorky girl in high school that nobody liked whining to her diary about how nobody likes her. Throw in a couple of unoriginal Poe-inspired metaphors about the death of his ego, and he could probably make some money off of that at open mic night in Greenwich Village.
but did he have to sound so mopey? I would expect to hear this talk from a grade schooler, high school student, or maybe an undergrad, but not from a multi-term congressman. Though, perhaps this is proof that he’s lapsing into his second childhood.
It’s one thing to openly acknowledge that the demographics of a state are not in your favor. It’s a whole different thing to whine about it.