Laura Bush to campaign in Utica, NY (WHERE'S GEORGE??)

[Bluebear]

My, but Chimpolini isn't getting many campaign invites, is he?

===

UTICA, N.Y. First Lady Laura Bush is heading to Utica this week to help the Republican candidate in the race for the 24th congressional seat.

Bush will speak at the Hotel Utica for a 150-dollar-a-person event for Ray Meier. Photo opportunities will be available for 1-thousand dollars. :wow:

Meier is running against Oneida County District Attorney Michael Arcuri to fill the seat being vacated by retiring U-S Representative Sherwood Boehlert.

The first lady is just the latest national figure to campaign for Republican lawmakers in upstate New York. Vice President Dick Cheney was in Rochester Friday to campaign for Representative Randy Kuhl.

http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5450161&nav=2aKD

[shadowknows69]

1. I have it from a confidential source

that the Shrub himself will be coming to near my hometown for a major photo op. Classified. We could stage a preemptive protest and block the roads.B-)

[Swamp Rat]

2. Maybe they will test their new crowd control weapons...

... microwave pulse, and sonic and ultrasonic beam weapons.

Within the next two or three generations I predict humans will have mandatory ID and behavior mod chips implanted at birth.



Welcome to the New World Order... the Brave New World.

[shadowknows69]

17. Might be something to do with a windfarm

but you didn't hear that from me.

[Captain Hilts]

3. OH my god - UTICA????? What next? Will she go to the Forentine or...

Cafe Caruso?

They're both near the Republican headquarters...

If my buddy Majorie - the Belle of Rutger St. hadn't already died, THIS would have killed her.

[smirkymonkey]

13. I prefer the Florentine - better Italian pastries than I've had in NYC

or Boston. It's too bad that is such a dump of a city - I really can't imagine Pickles being there at all.

[H2O Man]

4. The Utica Club

Brewery Tour? Cleanest brewery in North America.

The congressional race is becoming mighty ugly. It comes on the heels of Sherry's retirement, which comes at a time when his reputation for being an "enviromentalist" is being exposed as a sham. He will likely be getting a cuddily deal with a power company looking to exploit Central New York, the same area that Sherry pretended to represent.

[Captain Hilts]

5. Boehlert really began to drink the kool-aid in recent years.

He wasn't a bad sort for a long time. I know folks that knew him.

But he's really bought into more of Bush's crap than he should have in recent years, so I'm glad to see him go.

LOVE the FX Matt Brewery tour. Laura should definitely do that, then promise to come back to shoot the starter's pistol at the Boilermaker

She should go to Utica on Tuesday so she can go to Joe's for the pork brijole...

[H2O Man]

6. When I was young

they made a brew called "Maximus Super." While in college in Herkimer, many of us found that the "tour" was an educational experience. My family had generations of railroaders from the central New York region, and they all drank Utica Club. Ah, the "good old days."

Sherry did do some good. I can't deny that. But I can document some of the bad that he participated in, even in the days when he was considered liberal within his party.He was always a lap dog for the military industrial complex, and an ass-kisser when it came to issues relating to Amphenol and Allied Signal.

[Retrograde]

11. Whatever happened to Schultz and Dooley?

I still get those stupid Utica Club jingles from the early 60s stuck in my head. Don't think I ever had the beer - my folks were Genny people (bleh!).

Back on topic: a lot of upstate New York is Republican for reasons I don't begin to understand. Given the generally rather bleak economic state of the region, I can't see why they would want to support a party whose policies further the decay.

I notice Miss Laura visits the smaller cities such as Utica and Saratoga - I wonder if she has plans to visit Buffalo or Rochester.

For what it's worth, my sister the election day worker says only 5% of the Republican voters in her predominantly GOP area turned out for the primary last week.

[Captain Hilts]

12. For S&D, check out the Utica Club/FX Matt website. You can still buy ...

the video of the ads. NO KIDDING.

AND Shultz and Dooley beer steins, etc. Even little Asian "Yu Cee" who reminds us there's a little bit of rice in the beer to keep it light...

[smirkymonkey]

15. Remember the Matt's Beer Ball?

The area is so depressed, whatever happened to General Dynamics, GE and Griffiths Air Force Base? I would have thought Boehlert would have put up a fight about it.

[never_get_over_it]

7. Who is the Dem candidate in this district

my sister and brother-in-law live in Utica and I have to start working on them to vote Dem....

[H2O Man]

8. The democrat is

Michael Arcuri. His opponent, republican state senator Ray Meier, is of real interest. It is generally republican territory, but Meier is so sleazy, that many believe Arcuri has a real chance of winning.

In recent days, the republican machine is calling Arcuri's campaign "ugly," because they have made an issue of Meier using $37,482 of campaign funds to buy new SUV. The DCCC has sent a mailing with an image of the SUV with a license plate that reads "SLEAZY." The flier quotes an editorial from the Utica Observer-Dispatch which used the word "disgraceful" to describe Meier's purchase of the vehicle, and noted that "if anything cries out for campaign reform, this does." (I believe the SUV was bought in 2004.)

The Arcuri campaign has also tied Meier to organized crime, by pointing out that Meier "improperly loaned $7,500 to a convicted felon."

Meier's camp has responded that it is wrong for Arcuri to make these charges. They note that Meier uses the SUV to drive to and from work.

The two are going to be debating in the Morris Hall at SUCO in Oneonta, on November 1 at 7pm. It is not clear if Green Party candidate Mary Jo Long, an attorney from Afton, NY, will be included in the debate. She refers to the contest between Arcuri and Meier as a choice between Pepsi and Coke.

[never_get_over_it]

9. THANKS for the info!

[H2O Man]

10. You are most welcome.

I hope that you can interest your sister and brother-in-law in the debate. It's a short trip from Utica south on Rt 8 to South New Berlin, then east on Rt 23 to Oneonta.

[never_get_over_it]

16. Don't think I can get them to the debate, but

I'm pretty sure I can get my sister to vote for the Dem - and I think my brother-in-law might be ok too - he was pretty pissed at the warrantless illegal wire tapping....his biggest problem is he is one of the ones who seems to have a problem with people welfare but hasn't caught on to the corporate welfare that is costing him a lot more than food stamps for poor kids.....

[bridgit]

14. prolly out having drinks with Waldo...

:shrug:

[greenbriar]

18. I would not pay one penny for a photo of pickles

not even to wipe my ass with

:puke:

[Imagevision]

19. Hey, Laura worked just fine in 04 election, Bush is losing it lately...