Politics as Usual
Due to some typographical errors and other technicalities, Harold Suhr will not appear on the Democratic or Working Families lines this fall. Barring a miracle, the 139th New York State Assembly seat will be unopposed because of a protest signed by Ed Morgan, the Orleans County Republican Chair.
Morgan's protest effectively ends a long shot campaign against a popular incumbent. It also slaps every single person in the face who signed those petitions in good faith, because a campaign without at least two major party candidates isn't a campaign at all, it is not even the equivalent of a scrimmage game.
Morgan's actions is somewhat perplexing. Why knock a candidate of the ballot that is not a real threat? Unfortunately, Morgan's actions are all too typical of how the Republican Party has operated in this area under his leadership. His tactics, and the performance of Orleans County Republicans in county government, have created a new term around here, RINO's, Republicans in Name Only.
Neither Republican nor Democrat can exist without the other. Each party enters the arena and in the discourse that follows, new ideas emerge. I do not dislike Republicans; I simply hold opposing views on issues that are important to me. I enjoy legitimate debate and I hate dirty politics.
The only way the system will work is if there are leaders who respect the democratic process. Nobody that respects the process would knock out an opponent before they entered the ring. I would understand it if there was legitimate fraud, like forged signatures or filling slots with deceased voters. Knocking someone off the ballot for anything else may be legal, but it makes a mockery of the process and places a decision in the hands of a lawyer or a judge, instead of in the hands of the voter, where it belongs. Republican leaders surely knew this because they had the audacity to approach a Democratic chairman and ask him to file the protest so that they did not have to.
Morgan's latest action continues the backdoor dealings and avoidance of legitimate political discourse that are commonplace in this area. Steve Hawley is a respected incumbent, but no candidate should run unopposed due to a technicality. Harold Suhr and his supporters have done a great deal of work and deserve to have their candidate on the ballot.
Unfortunately, it seems in this county technicalities mean more than the words of the voter. Mr. Morgan slapped voters in the face and told the five hundred people who signed Harold's petitions that their signatures mean nothing to him. Every one of those signatures is as legitimate as the person that signed them in good faith.
We need party leaders who put the interests of the voters ahead of their own. As the leader of the majority party, Mr. Morgan was in a position to make a positive impact in the area and bring some integrity into the process. Instead, he chose to play dirty and knock out a candidate who was the only one willing to give Steve Hawley what every candidate needs, an opponent.
Morgan's protest effectively ends a long shot campaign against a popular incumbent. It also slaps every single person in the face who signed those petitions in good faith, because a campaign without at least two major party candidates isn't a campaign at all, it is not even the equivalent of a scrimmage game.
Morgan's actions is somewhat perplexing. Why knock a candidate of the ballot that is not a real threat? Unfortunately, Morgan's actions are all too typical of how the Republican Party has operated in this area under his leadership. His tactics, and the performance of Orleans County Republicans in county government, have created a new term around here, RINO's, Republicans in Name Only.
Neither Republican nor Democrat can exist without the other. Each party enters the arena and in the discourse that follows, new ideas emerge. I do not dislike Republicans; I simply hold opposing views on issues that are important to me. I enjoy legitimate debate and I hate dirty politics.
The only way the system will work is if there are leaders who respect the democratic process. Nobody that respects the process would knock out an opponent before they entered the ring. I would understand it if there was legitimate fraud, like forged signatures or filling slots with deceased voters. Knocking someone off the ballot for anything else may be legal, but it makes a mockery of the process and places a decision in the hands of a lawyer or a judge, instead of in the hands of the voter, where it belongs. Republican leaders surely knew this because they had the audacity to approach a Democratic chairman and ask him to file the protest so that they did not have to.
Morgan's latest action continues the backdoor dealings and avoidance of legitimate political discourse that are commonplace in this area. Steve Hawley is a respected incumbent, but no candidate should run unopposed due to a technicality. Harold Suhr and his supporters have done a great deal of work and deserve to have their candidate on the ballot.
Unfortunately, it seems in this county technicalities mean more than the words of the voter. Mr. Morgan slapped voters in the face and told the five hundred people who signed Harold's petitions that their signatures mean nothing to him. Every one of those signatures is as legitimate as the person that signed them in good faith.
We need party leaders who put the interests of the voters ahead of their own. As the leader of the majority party, Mr. Morgan was in a position to make a positive impact in the area and bring some integrity into the process. Instead, he chose to play dirty and knock out a candidate who was the only one willing to give Steve Hawley what every candidate needs, an opponent.
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