I'll be the first to admit that Reason #18 to vote for Michael Arcuri is not a blockbuster. In fact, the difference between Arcuri and Meier in this regard is less than I expected it to be. Nonetheless, the difference is there.
Between April and June, while Ray Meier's campaign got barely over one-third of its dollars from individual donors, Michael Arcuri's campaign got nearly half of its money from individuals. Ray Meier's campaign relied more on big money donors from outside the district than Arcuri did.
In the last quarter, Ray Meier's campaign for Congress received 39.9% of its money from individuals. The rest came from political action committees run by corporations and right wing special interest groups. Michael Aruri's campaign received 47.6% from individuals.
Both campaigns are failing to reach out to voters here in the 24th district. Both candidates have been too aloof from the people they'll need to be working for them to win the election.
Still, Arcuri can say that more of his effort has been focused locally, as opposed to with national power brokers. Ray Meier's campaign seems to regard the people of the 24th District as of secondary importance.
It is a difference that counts. We need a representative who is coherent and articulate in national issues, but hears the voice of local voters. As Ray Meier's campaign is more dependent upon the national sources of Republican power, so would his work in Congress be. Our representative ought to have his roots in our district. Michael Arcuri could do better in this respect, but he is clearly preferable to distant and distracted Ray Meier.
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13 comments:
Where did the last post go? Too complimentary to Arcuri?
Michael Arcuri and the 2nd Quarter Money, Blog Political: Take Back New York's 24th, July 17, 2006
Well, you're right. It's a long way from a blockbuster. The difference between "barely over one-third" and "nearly half" is about 16 percentage points. So, thank you for including the numbers showing that the difference between Arcuri and Meier is actually 8 percentage points.
On the plus side, I met Arcuri tonight. I did an hour and a half of door-to-door with him in Freeville. Why Freeville? I don't know. I'm still underwhelmed by his position statements. But he's smart and personable and he seemed to take my suggestions seriously.
Door-to-door? Is he running for DA?
Yeah why go door to door to meet the dirty little minions right? Ray Meier would never stoop so low. He knows his place and he thinks its above everybody else. Did it ever occur to you that door to door is personal and having a Dick Cheney fund raiser isn't?Isn't it about time????? Are we so dulled and convinced that we are subordinates that we can't handle a candidate treating like we matter personally?
7:04--The average population of a Congressional district is 650,000. The population of Freeville is 505. I don't think that taking an hour and a half to visit less than 0.08% of the district (most of whom vote Republican) is a valuable use of a candidate's time. I'd rather see him take that hour and a half to redo his palm card. But that's just me.
Ha, thank you anonymous 7:04pm. You posted almost exactly what I was thinking when I read that.
Curious is right to some degree. I wouldn't have chosen Freeville for that hour and a half, except that it fit neatly into a block of time between a meeting at TC3 in Dryden and an appointment in Lansing and Fundraiser with the Tompkins County Democratic Committee. I planned his time to cover an area that included 36% Democrats, 26% Republicans 15% Independents and 23% blanks. His palm card certainly isn't very good. But he should staff that out and use his own time to get his face out in public.
My biggest problem with this campaign is not Arcuri, it's the campaign itself - or lack thereof. We want this seat in Congress. But nobody's going to hand it to us. We have a presentable candidate. Now somebody's going to have to step up and support him. (Wow, I can't believe I said that.) Arcuri's still a full time DA. It's going to take some staff or volunteer time to redesign his palm card and website, write some policy statements, get some press coverage. Curious, I'm pretty sure you have some of those skills.
It's good to see some other people from the district starting to pick up some of the load. We all need to donate our time and our money to make this thing happen. If we don't step up to the plate no one else will.
If only Arcuri were as willing to put time into the campaign... oh, sigh.
Instead of criticizing Arcuri why don't you do something productive? Sign up to volunteer or go to ActBlue and donate. If we want to win we have to put out a lot more effort in terms of time and money. Mike is busy and it's up to us to pick up the slack, especially the people in the outlying areas.
Arcuri is busy, so we should get out get busy for him? He's busy with OTHER things than running for Congress, you mean.
Arcuri should have started working harder a long time ago, and quit his day job. Now all Democrats are paying the price for his laziness.
The man has a family to support. It's not our place to judge how he does that. Instead of turning our backs we should be extending a helping hand. If Mike Arcuri loses it's going to be our fault it happened.
Of course. It's never the candidate's fault if he loses. right?
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