Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Leon Koziol's Weird Marriage Response

Why don't I consider Leon Koziol a serious Democratic candidate? Oh, there are so many reasons. There's the FEC reason, for one. In spite of Leon Koziol's supporters telling us six days ago that a problematic FEC filing for the Koziol for Congress campaign was being redone that day, there still is no filing on record with the FEC for the Koziol campaign.

Then there's the constantly pending Koziol for Congress web site, which is reminiscent of Ray Meier's "Hello, world" and "Coming Soon" little Internet campaign speeches. Leon Koziol's campaign has been saying that it will have a web site up in the next couple of weeks for over three months now.

But, my new favorite is Leon Koziol's response to the same-sex marriage question in the Utica Observer-Dispatch's survey. Our three geuine Democratic candidates each gave coherent and appropriate responses to the question:

Michael Arcuri said, "I oppose unwarranted government interference in the private lives of consenting adults, and I support laws that provide equal benefits for all citizens, to health and life insurance, inheritance and other basic rights like hospital visitation."

Bruce Tytler said, "If there are two people of the same sex who have a long, stable relationship, they should have the same rights others have. I don't have a problem with same-sex marriage, but there are a lot of different ways we could approach that."

Les Roberts said, "The federal government should play no role in who gets married or in the definition of marriage."

Good on you, guys.

Leon Koziol's response, on the other hand, missed the target by a mile. Koziol only responded, "I have two children from a marriage based upon the traditional value systems which I continue to support."

What are we supposed to make of that statement? Whether Koziol has children or not doesn't have much bearing on whether he is qualified to serve as a member of the House of Representatives. Neither does his personal support for one set of values or another.

What Leon Koziol seems to be trying to do with this statement is to attack the right of all Americans to receive equal protection under marriage laws - but to be fuzzy enough to avoid scrutiny on the matter. That's a scummy way to deal with this issue.

Last summer, a really fantastic lesbian couple moved down the street from me. They've got an adorable little daughter, of whom both women are legally mothers of. They hope to have a second child soon, and I have hopes that our children will play together for years to come. This couple has been together for years, they want to get married, and they deserve to be able to do so. To deny that family equal benefits under the law just because it doesn't meet the requirements set by right wing Christians is absurd and cruel. It's also blatantly unconstitutional, violating the 1st amendment ban on government establishment of religion as well as the equal protection clause.

Leon Koziol ought to be ashamed to stand with those religious zealots who are trying to reduce the institution of marriage down to a withered, corrupt remnant of what it should be. Marriage should be defined by love, not by hate.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rudy Guliani had a couple of traditional marriages too. He married his cousin and he divorced two wives, one after a very public affair. What was Leon's point again?

Anonymous said...

Leon's point is this...These questions are not reflective of the issues facing the 24th district, period. If they want to try to trap him into an issue they could use against him in the primary, this is the response to expect.

The majority of America is AGAINST Gay "Marriage". This does not mean that Koziol doesn't support civil unions and regularly permitted benefits for the significant other. To suggest otherwise is purely irresponsible of you.

Anonymous said...

Why do you fail to mention his other responses? You have been calling him "pro-life" for months now, and this certainly shows he is not. His answers were well in line with other democrats' answers, with exception of the gay marriage issue.

Your credibility is taking a big hit right now. We get the point...You don't like Koziol, and I'm sure will not be voting for him, but don't go attacking him just for the sake of it.

Who are you Jon? Are you a big shot? This race is between Arcuri and Koziol, so continue to push Roberts, but don't forget who the media's attention is on, Arcuri vs. Koziol. Roberts is a nice guy, and has some great qualifications, but the fact is this, NO ONE KNOWS HIM. And that my friend, is politics.

Anonymous said...

11:47 am - I'm from the western part of the district and nobody here knows Koziol or Arcuri.

With Tytler out of the race, Roberts is in a much better position.

Koziol is too reactionary for the primary voters. Arcuri is going to have as little time as Tytler and that means a problem raising adequate money outside his union pops.

Insulting the blog host isn't making you look like anything but a parochial fool.

Anonymous said...

"Arcuri is going to have as little time as Tytler and that means a problem raising adequate money outside his union pops."

Arcuri has already raised over $130,000. That is way more than Roberts, and Roberts started his campaign long before Arcuri or Koziol. Koziol has been feature on 60 Minutes, the front page of the NY Times, CNN, and many other national news sources. Roberts is, once again, a nice guy, but does not have the name recognition in the areas that count, PERIOD.

Anonymous said...

"in the areas that count, PERIOD."

Ah, like Oneida County?

$130,000 is chump change fella. I wouldn't be so certain that is way more than Roberts.

Mike Arcuri couldn't raise the $8,000 to $10,000 dollars that Bruce Tytler raised in Cortland County. I doubt his fundraising in the other counties in the district would be any better.

He need to do what Roberts is and go to NYC, DC, LA and the other big money place to get the million to a million and a half minimum he needs. That won't go over with a full time job as DA.

Plus, you guys from Oneida haven't convinced me you are smart enough to figure it out yet.

The only reason this race could be a nailbiter is over the question of when the other candidates do what Bruce Tytler did and wake up one morning and realize this is the big leagues.

Quit embarrassing yourself.

Anonymous said...

if anyone thinks this race is between arcuri and koziol they are nuts, this race is between arcuri and roberts and that is it.

Anonymous said...

"if anyone thinks this race is between arcuri and koziol they are nuts, this race is between arcuri and roberts and that is it."

The polls show otherwise, so I guess someone is in for a surprise in September.

Anonymous said...

not for nothing, but before you start smacking around Oneida County people, you should know that one of Roberts biggest supporters is from Oneida County. The divisiveness found in this district and in this party is ridiculous.

Tytler is out now, that narrows the field. Hopefully, Koziol will eventually realize that running on the I hate mike arcuri ticket will not work and that running to the right of Ray Meier and Brad Jones will not work, so he will drop out. But at what point do we start talking about the issues that we face in this district: health care, jobs, appalachia (just kidding).

Anonymous said...

Arcuri and Koziol? Who is this writer. Do a google news search on the race. If you still think that the media is focusing on Arcuri and Koziol, you need to learn how to count again. I can see why you are happy to post anonymously, though. I just googled Roberts - he has been in the NYT (front page), Washington Post (front page), Boston Globe (found an editorial there) and almost every paper in the district. I also found hits on him for CNN, BBC and a couple of local tv stations.

Arcuri is clearly better known in Oneida County. That is easy to surmise from this blog and other sources. Roberts is clearly better known in the western part of the district, and I would suspect Cortland County since his office is there. Koziol doesn't seem to be known anywhere and has no website to learn about him from what I can find.

Talk facts - do some research before you write online or anywhere. These postings are a bit ridiculous and clearly driven by the various campaigns.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about Roberts...he is a thorn in Dem's side, and not that well known in the Western half of the district. He wanted to run as a Green a couple years ago, and then realized that he didn't have a chance, so switched. He's been at this for a while. He came to me as a committee person and asked for my vote (if anyone cares I refused because I have no use for lefty upstarts).
Track his money, it's interesting.

24thIndependent said...

A thorn in the side of Democrats?

Ah, dear anonymous reader, the question that other imtelligent readers will ask in response to your comment is this: Which Democrats?

Which Democrats is Les Roberts a thorn in the side of? Ia Les Roberts a thorn in the side of grumpy Democratic county committee member who complains about "lefty upstarts"?

I hope so. I don't want a candidate who earns the eager appreciation of such a nasty, conservative prune. An endorsement from such a Democrat is a liability, not an asset.

thingwarbler said...

Anonymous @ 7.09: "I have no use for lefty upstarts" -- well, that sort of depends on what you're trying to accomplish, doesn't it? If you'd like to maybe shake things up and right some wrongs, that might be just what's called for.

A thorn in the Democrats' left side is sorely needed if we're to fix all that's been broken by wimpy Democrats selling out core democratic values and instead pandering to the Bush Lite crowd for the past many years (and I'm including the Clinton era here).

Oh, and what exactly is your problem with Robert's money?

Anonymous said...

"The majority of America is AGAINST Gay "Marriage"."

Perhaps you miss the point. It's getting so that a majority of young Americans are against marriage at all. It's a dying institution.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Leon needs to give Dick Cheney a call and see how the cookie crumbles when it comes to products of traditional marriages.