Deciding to stand side-by-side rather than across the table from one another in 2012, Republicans, Conservatives, and Tea Party members flocked to Riverhead's last week to stand behind Randy Altschuler, their choice to run a rematch against Rep. Tim Bishop, D-Southampton, this fall.
The showing marked a stark contrast with 2010, the year Suffolk County GOP Chair John Jay LaValle called Altschuler a "flawed candidate" and Suffolk 9-12, an East End Tea Party group, threw their support behind Chris Cox, the son of the New York State GOP Committee Chairman Ed Cox.
Amidst that division, by just under 600 votes.
The State Chair was on hand last week supporting Altschuler at the Suffolk 9-12-sponsored event. While the mainstream GOP and conservative wings stand united behind Altschuler, Mary Meyer - who co-founded Suffolk 9-12 along with her husband Bob - stated that unity amongst the different groups should be illustrated in the candidate they all support. And that's a work in progress.
"We want to win. That’s what it’s about," said Meyer, whose group is supporting Altschuler this time around. "There is to some degree a meeting point that has to be made and I think that we’re all working toward that."
Altschuler, who lives in St. James, has returned a more confident candidate than last time around, openly admitting how he "let Tim Bishop run all over [me]" in 2012.
The former businessman took wide criticism two years ago for starting a company which specializes in securing overseas jobs for American companies, Office Tiger. But this time Altschuler has his own point of attack, labeling five-term congressman a career politician who has lost site of what's important.
"It’s a sad state in this country when have to apologize for being successful," he said. "When we have to apologize for living the American Dream. When people like Tim Bishop, who have gotten rich on the backs of the taxpayers ... is somebody we honor, while Americans who are working every day, living the American Dream, are the ones that we vilify. That’s not the kind of America I want to live in," Altschuler said.
But before the businessman hears from Bishop he'll have to best another former opponent.
George Demos, a former Securities and Exchange Commissions lawyer from Ronkonkoma, took 30 percent of the Republican primary vote in 2010. And this time, with Chris Cox out of the picture, Demos believes he can score the conservative base that gave Cox 25 percent of the vote in 2010. The primary is set for June 26.
"Party bosses don't control the will of the voters. Surprisingly, most people didn't get that last time," Demos said this week. "And Randy Altschuler lost in a year when Republicans couldn't lose. The reason Randy can't win is simple: the outsourcing issue. I don't care what party you're from or what beliefs you have. You can't go to the voters saying you made a living specializing in outsorucing, and then say 'I want to be your congressman.'"
Altschuler supporters say being a more seasoned candidate will help him win over more voters this time around. Others have pointed to the amount Altschuler can donate to fund his own campaign – he donated $2.9 million in 2010.
Demos spent $500,000 to run his primary campaign. His campaign committee has nearly $90,000 on hand, according to disclosure reports, compared to Altschuler's $580,000.
AMERICAN CARS being built HERE IN AMERICA use JAPANESE & GERMAN parts. Virtually every FOREIGN AUTO MANUFACTURER has factories building full lines HERE IN AMERICA with AMERICAN LABOR. Here's just a few... Honda / Acura - Marysville & East Liberty, OH & Lincoln AL. BMW - Spartanburg, AL Mercedes Benz - Vance, AL Mazda - Flat Rock, MI, Minneapolis, MN & Kansas City, MO Hyundai - Montgomery, AL Mitsubishi - Normal, IL Nissan - Smyrna, TN & Canton, MS Subaru - Lafayette, IN Toyota - Georgetown, KT, Princedon, IN & Fremont, CA
now we have drive by's.
Even after the Civil War, this country was able to pull itself back together and move forward "as a team", so to speak. But the moment we started confusing differences of opinion with morality (i.e. you are a good person if you believe in global warming, bad if you don't), we were lost. I don't believe we can save ourselves this time, and like all great civilizations of the past, America is doomed to destroy itself because it betrayed its own identity. Sad, but inevitable.
What would be the most American car based on where it is built, U.S. content, etc.? Ford F-Series pickup built in Dearborn Michigan? Nope, not even close. But it depends on who you ask. Cars.com compiles an annual American-Made Index and lists the Toyota Camry as the #1 car for U.S. content and assembly. Honda Accord is #2. The first U.S. brand on the list is the Ford Escape at #3, followed by the Ford Focus at #4. But the Focus could well drop off in the next survey because Ford is now building the Focus for global consumption and has broadened the parts procurement for the car globally. The F Series didn't even make the most recent top-ten list.
On a entirely different topic from the study that found stupidity to correlate positively with conservative political ideology, another study by Dr. Paul Babiak found that psychopaths were four times as prevalent in the corporate hierarchy as in the population generally. Of course, since you dismiss psychology wholesale as do those other deep thinkers, the Scientologists, this is of no import to you. However, it is interesting that similar predilections have NOT been shown among Liberals or government employees. Rather explains the mutual admiration of Altschuler and Wilkinson.
I just found the references; I didn't do the studies. They were published by respected academics and based on objective data. Whether you choose to believe them or not is up to you. However, they are NOT impressionistic observations such as those which you (robkoz) cite in rebuttal.
Altschuler repeatedly sd he's a very special person living the American dream however many lazy people have lost theirs. Living the American dream, he became a rich man, a leader who deserves our gratitude; a success who's brought himself up by his own boot straps. He can use his money to legally deminish our democracy & undermine one man one vote, unless you believe that money has no influence, no value, no power in our elections. He wants to be elected to help us see that equality is not dependent on how wealthy a person is & is just as much a member of society as is an unemployed, homeless man, who has free speech too. He's worth his weight in gold & deserves our vote not because he's truly vain, but because he's inspiring us all!
Me? Since I have 2 Cadillacs, I will get to vote for Obama two times.
My grandfather used to say, "Discussing politics & religion will turn the best of friends into mortal enemies faster than a war..."
That you're a self-righteous pretentious old bat who has a bad habit of instigating where she don't belong?