Saturday, March 04, 2006

Michael Arcuri and Bruce Tytler Set to Lose Another 100 Dollars Each

I imagined the proposal as a test of campaign responsiveness, but I didn't imagine that the campaigns would be quite so unresponsive. Honestly, I was prepared to write two 500 dollar checks, one to the Bruce Tytler for Congress campaign, and one to the Michael Arcuri for Congress campaign.

Almost two weeks ago, in a fit of frustration at the slow pace of the Arcuri and Tytler campaigns, I made a promise. I promised each campaign that, if they could get their campaign web site up by the end of the week, I would write a check for a $500 donation. With the passing of each following week, the size of that donation would go down by 100 dollars until, eventually, it would be reduced to nothing. I made a $500 donation to the Les Roberts campaign for already having its campaign web site up and running.

Lucky, me, I'm not going to have to write two $500 checks to Arcuri and Tytler. In fact, unless Tytler and Arcuri manage to get their web sites up in the next 11 hours, the amount of my promised checks to each campaign will be reduced to $300.

Now, I never had the arrogance to imagine that the Arcuri for Congress and Tytler for Congress campaigns would get their web sites online just to get $500 from little old me. But, I guess I did have hopes that the little bit of drama in my challenge might provoke these two candidates to finally pick up their sluggish pace. Those hopes are diminishing with each passing week.

Honestly, I just don't understand how Michael Arcuri and Bruce Tytler can be so casual about their campaigns. As one of the readers of this blog has pointed out, a campaign for Congress is not the same as a campaign for District Attorney, or for the position of the mayor of a small city - especially not in a year like this, when congressional campaigns are drawing much more attention than usual.

News flash: Any time now, Sherwood Boehlert will be announcing whether or not he will be running for re-election this year. Either way, once that announcement is made, attention of voters will be riveted for a crucial time period. Whether a candidate has a campaign web site up during that time could make the difference that brings victory in the Democratic primary, and then, the general election. To be unprepared with a web site at such a time is unimaginable to me.

But that's me. In my imagination, nobody can afford to coast their way into winning a seat in the United States House of Representatives.

I've explained how little expense and how little time it would take for Bruce Tytler or Michael Arcuri to get a basic, solid campaign web site online. I found a web hosting company that charges just $6.95 per month to provide server space to a web site of the kind of size a congressional campaign needs. Since that time, I found another company that charges just $3.95 per month. Really, the costs of having a web page are lower than the costs of having an ordinary telephone line.

So, it's not just the lack of a web site in itself that bothers me about the Bruce Tytler and Michael Arcuri campaigns. The fact that these campaigns have been lacking in such a simple resource for so long makes me wonder what else they're missing. Until I can see a web site from these campaigns, I'll be wondering what's wrong with the Arcuri for Congress and Tytler for Congress campaigns, instead of talking about what's right.

Judging from reader comments here, I won't be the only one.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has it occured to you that, oh, I don't know, Micheal Arcuri and Bruce Tytler are getting ready to publish their websites?

24thIndependent said...

Look back through my posts, "anonymous". It's been weeks now since I've started speculating on when Bruce Tytler would get his web site up, and weeks longer since the speculation started about Michael Arcuri.

Has it "occured" to me? Come on. Michael Arcuri made it clear he would run for Congress back in December, and he still hasn't gotten around to even officially announcing his candidacy, much less getting online. I can give Bruce Tytler a little, just a little, more slack because he hasn't really been in the running for as long.

But really, now, how long do you think it takes to get a good web site up? A weekend of work with a small team from the campaign. That's it. Are you seriously telling me that Michael Arcuri needs THREE MONTHS to get his website ready? Both Arcuri and Tytler told me a month ago that they would have their web sites up "in a couple of weeks".

I've learned this much by covering this election. In campaign speak, "in a couple of weeks" means that they haven't even started it yet.

Part of the problem is that it seems that Tytler and Arcuri are campaigning ONLY on nights and weekends. They're not going to win against an incumbent like that. They need to make a choice. Are they in the race, or are they just going to play around?

A congressional race is not for procrastinators.

Has it "occured" to me that Tytler and Arcuri are getting ready to publish their web sites? Oh, yeah. You bet it has. It's also occured to me that, while they're busy getting ready to actually DO something, Les Roberts has been online since early January.

Anonymous said...

Campaigning on weekends? Mr. Tytler was spotted at the Democratic Rural Conference this weekend. He was apparently soaking up the aura of being an observer there. No campaigning was getting done as I hear it.

Anonymous said...

Yet Les Roberts and Mike Arcuri snubs the delegates at the straw poll, and only go to the hob-nob at the dinner.
So much for weekend campaigning too...Les Roberts snubbed the Oneida county executive committee Thursday and sent his errand boy, yet claims to be going for this 24-7. He is treating the biggest county in the district as inconsequential. Who is this Les Roberts anyway? What has he done for this district? At least Mike and Bruce live in the district and are leaders in their communities. Roberts only claim to fame is that he wrote a study, a good one, but that's it. He claims his preparedness for leadership in the House lies within helping his wife with her budget for the Sidney library. He also says that we need more medical officials in Congress...what, is he going to go into the well of the house and diagnose a brain dead woman based on a video, too? Maybe first he should form a huge medical conglomerate then run for office, and then he can have some experience screwing people with their pants on.
We need proven leadership and consensus building...not the slave to wealthy doctors pushing for tort reform on malpractice suits. Roberts can go back to the Ivy League where he belongs and run for chair of a department and let people who are serious handle this.

Anonymous said...

LOL - Tytler sat in the audience like a bump on a log. No handshaking, nobody to take him around and introduce him. Bill Wood apparently avoided him or he avoided Bill like one had a case of bird flu.

Anonymous said...

Where the heck were you? I was there with one of the state campaigns and you couldn't be more wrong. Bruce was being taken around by well placed Dems, being introduced and caught the eye of the higher ups, having a lengthy discussion with Andrew Cuomo. Being that he was the only candidate who stayed for the straw polls he obviously gained the respect of those who were really there.

Anonymous said...

8:16 PM, You have no idea what you're talking about. Bruce and Bill were laughing and talking all weekend. I think the only time Bill wasn't hanging around Bruce was when Bill nominated an attorney general candidate.

Anonymous said...

Whoever this is, have you been on the Les Roberts site??? I have to admit, anyone can put up a web site like his with the only area fully completed being MAKE A CONTRIBUTION. I'm sure if either of the other two candidates wanted to just beg for money on the web they would have done it by now.

Maybe they actually want to have some content other than "coming soon", and are out talking with people about the issues rather than bragging about the six months of campaign dollars they've raised and declaring themselves the front runner. Apparently "coming soon" could be his campaign slogan - and a failing one.

As far as campaigning nights and weekends against the incumbant, they aren't running against Boehlert yet; they're trying to win the primary.

24thIndependent said...

"anonymous", There are many, many more completed sections to that web site other than just accepting donations. Your characterization is not accurate.

The Les Roberts campaign definitely does need to work on its issues pages. It shouldn't be too hard for someone who's been paying attention to the issues. And, they need to keep updating their blog more regularly to provide a sense of connection - again, it's not hard to do, with 5 minutes of effort a day.

However, the Les Roberts campaign has a way to take donations online, to have volunteers show up online, to share information about its activities, and to frame the ideas of the campaign. They're doing all that with the web site, and Bruce Tytler and Michael Arcuri aren't.

Your comment purposefully trivializes this difference.

maimun said...

Heir2theFramers76 said...
Yet Les Roberts and Mike Arcuri snubs the delegates at the straw poll, and only go to the hob-nob at the dinner.

Since I accompanied Mike Arcuri to the screening by the 11 County Chairs of the 24th CD, I know that we DID meet with the Chairs but were unable to stay for the dinner.
Maimun Khan

Anonymous said...

This is kind of interesting. There in the first picture, on the right of Les Roberts are Bill Wood and Mary Leonard. What were they doing with Les? Are they switching their support from Tytler?

http://www.lesroberts2006.com/gallery_rural.html

Anonymous said...

someone should make sure they don't need permission to reproduce pictures like that...especially since the Spitzer ones were obvious set ups, and anyone who was at that conference was able to get a picture with clinton...it wasn't hard.

Anonymous said...

mainmun, I was referring to the straw poll that followed on saturday.