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LiberalBuffalo's avatar

Easier said than done. This district is massive and covers most of Northern NY. The media bases are Syracuse and Albany and while they aren't NYC, they aren't cheap either.

I'm out near Buffalo and I know upstate NY well.

According to what I've seen from financial reports, fundraising is a huge issue for Democrats up there.

It would take serious investment for a Democrat to 1) raise money and then 2) develop a brand and then 3) build name recognition.

The bench seems thin there.

It's possible to thread the needle in the right circumstances however it's also home to a lot of Michigan-like militia groups in the mountains that are very Trumpy.

Our best shot is if Hochul punts the special to the latest date possible in order to maximize our chances of Trump fatigue and give our candidate the longest time to raise money and momentum.

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Jonathan's avatar

Agreed with you on all counts; it's not actually winning the seat that matters; it's the final margins and the narrative that can send going forward

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rayspace's avatar

So tired of the "it's the symbolic victories that count" argument. This is how we stay in the minority. NY-21 may or may not be winnable, but we'll never know if we're playing for a close 2nd place.

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Tigercourse's avatar

What would be the difference between playing to win and playing for a close second place?

The worst Stefanik ever did was in Trump's midterm, when she only won by about 14 points.

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rayspace's avatar

Playing to win implies pulling out all the stops, while playing for a close second accepts defeat as a given.

Some of this district was won in a special in 2009 by Bill Owens, who held it until 2014. Special elections are quirky things, so we don't know who will show up and how the tariffs will hit upstate NY.

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Jonathan's avatar

No one suggested anywhere at anytime about playing for a close second; I am tired of your nonsense; you do it in every post you make; you create a rebuttal argument against something that was never posted by the original poster

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Jonathan's avatar

you are once again clueless; and making an argument against something I didn't post; re-read my post or go back to English 101and learn simple English

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Jonathan's avatar

I might add; the Democratic National Committee has an entirely new leadership, these special elections coming up will be a great trial run for that group; none of the races will be favored for the Democratic party, so imo we have nothing to lose by going all in

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the lurking ecologist's avatar

Re: Punting to latest possible date.

100%. But would she do that? She doesn't seem like a strong Democrat in terms of gamesmanship. Cuomolike in that regard.

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ArcticStones's avatar

I always thought of Andrew Cuomo as a strong and opportunistic, Republican-adjacent governor. Unlike his dad Mario, who I believe would have made an excellent president.

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Tigercourse's avatar

Andrew Cuomo is an abusive piece of shit. He also certainly played games to limit progressives during his tenure as Governor. At the same time, he passed more progressive legislation than pretty much any other major state Governor other than Brown. I don't think "Republican adjacent" was accurate. With the chip he now has on his shoulder, what he might do as mayor of NYC now is a different story...

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ArcticStones's avatar

Upvote for sharing information that was new to me.

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michaelflutist's avatar

The Syracuse and Albany markets are really expensive?

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