Letter to Editor from an RPI student
In response to my request for letters to editors, an RPI student submitted a letter, which follows. Please note that many newspapers will not print something this long. Ideally letters should be less than 300 words, and should be submitted along with a phone number where they can call you to confirm you wrote it. Thanks to Matt Newman for writing the letter.
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Ignoring McNulty
I'm a graduate student at RPI and have been living in this area all my life. I keep myself as aware if not more than the average person on the local political scene and yet until recently I did not know that there was anyone challenging Mike McNulty. I finally found the campaign site of Warren Redlich from a political webpage I frequent; until that point, I thought McNulty was going unchallenged this season and, frankly, I didn't have a clue as to why.
Since first elected in 1988, McNulty's Congressional seat has been relatively safe. He has been primaried twice, in 1996 and this year from a candidate who received no press coverage. Why is McNulty's seat so safe and why does the press tend to ignore his opposition? Looking at McNulty's record, it's hard to find a real reason to strongly support him. He has not written much in the way of legislation since the early 90s and certainly none that has passed through Congress. Much of his recent legislation are direct copies of bills that were previously sitting in the Senate. In the past year, the few new bills written by McNulty include a bill to tell people how to display a flag properly on a one-way street (HR2897); a resolution to have Congress discuss who they feel is the appropriate author of Yankee Doodle (H.CON.RES.51); an expired bill with no cosponsors discussing hydroelectric power (HR4375); and a bill to force certain arsenals to start work on projects before payment of the money they may very well need (HR570). McNulty claims to have brought a great deal of money into the district. I pose one question for you – the last time federal money was brought into the Capital District, who was the person who all over the news discussing the groundbreaking new legislation which they wrote bringing money to the area? Was it McNulty? It wasn't for me, because more often than not I see Senators Clinton and Schumer standing alongside Congressman John Sweeney; interesting considering that Sweeney's district barely covers any of the Capital District. Now after thinking about all of this, one question remains -- has McNulty, once referred to by Congressional Quarterly as the “Chair of the Obscurity Caucus,” done anything to help or represent our region? I think the answer to that is fairly simple.
This brings me back to my original point – Mike McNulty has a challenger. This challenger comes from a man named Warren Redlich. In late September I was able to meet Redlich when he stopped by a College Republican meeting at RPI. He impressed the room filled with undergraduate students discussing issues we really cared about, from the economy to as simply as how much money our government wastes yearly. He participated in our meeting, Redlich honestly cared enough about us as potential voters and as his constituents to take time out of his schedule to sit, talk about the issues, and just listen to the banter of college students. That's something you don't see everyday – that's something I've never seen from Mike McNulty.
So, McNulty has a challenger; a real challenger who is ready to get out there and talk to the people of this district. What's the problem? No one is talking about him. I have yet to see any of the local newspapers discuss Warren Redlich. Where's the coverage in the Times Union or the Troy Record? Where's the coverage on our local ABC, Fox, and NBC affiliates? Where's the coverage in any of the local news outlets? You can't turn on the television without hearing about how Sweeney's district is competitive and how Gillibrand is closing in on him. That race is all across the news, despite the fact that every poll coming out of that district show Gillibrand losing to Sweeney with anywhere from a 7 to 20 point margin. Why does she get all the press? Does he need to be a Democrat? That can't be the case since Thomas Raleigh, the Democrat who primaried McNulty, received less press than Redlich. Does Redlich need to get MoveOn.org to begin funding his campaign in order for the press to honestly take a look at his candidacy?
All I know is this – I want to see fair and adequate coverage for all campaigns in the area. I want the press to begin discussing the exciting Comptroller's race. I want the press to discuss all of the Statewide races and not merely describe them as a crowning of the Democratic ticket. I want my local media to discuss my local race for Congress. It's disappointing to see how dismissive media has been to the campaigns of the honest men and women looking to serve their community.
-Matt Newman
----------------
Ignoring McNulty
I'm a graduate student at RPI and have been living in this area all my life. I keep myself as aware if not more than the average person on the local political scene and yet until recently I did not know that there was anyone challenging Mike McNulty. I finally found the campaign site of Warren Redlich from a political webpage I frequent; until that point, I thought McNulty was going unchallenged this season and, frankly, I didn't have a clue as to why.
Since first elected in 1988, McNulty's Congressional seat has been relatively safe. He has been primaried twice, in 1996 and this year from a candidate who received no press coverage. Why is McNulty's seat so safe and why does the press tend to ignore his opposition? Looking at McNulty's record, it's hard to find a real reason to strongly support him. He has not written much in the way of legislation since the early 90s and certainly none that has passed through Congress. Much of his recent legislation are direct copies of bills that were previously sitting in the Senate. In the past year, the few new bills written by McNulty include a bill to tell people how to display a flag properly on a one-way street (HR2897); a resolution to have Congress discuss who they feel is the appropriate author of Yankee Doodle (H.CON.RES.51); an expired bill with no cosponsors discussing hydroelectric power (HR4375); and a bill to force certain arsenals to start work on projects before payment of the money they may very well need (HR570). McNulty claims to have brought a great deal of money into the district. I pose one question for you – the last time federal money was brought into the Capital District, who was the person who all over the news discussing the groundbreaking new legislation which they wrote bringing money to the area? Was it McNulty? It wasn't for me, because more often than not I see Senators Clinton and Schumer standing alongside Congressman John Sweeney; interesting considering that Sweeney's district barely covers any of the Capital District. Now after thinking about all of this, one question remains -- has McNulty, once referred to by Congressional Quarterly as the “Chair of the Obscurity Caucus,” done anything to help or represent our region? I think the answer to that is fairly simple.
This brings me back to my original point – Mike McNulty has a challenger. This challenger comes from a man named Warren Redlich. In late September I was able to meet Redlich when he stopped by a College Republican meeting at RPI. He impressed the room filled with undergraduate students discussing issues we really cared about, from the economy to as simply as how much money our government wastes yearly. He participated in our meeting, Redlich honestly cared enough about us as potential voters and as his constituents to take time out of his schedule to sit, talk about the issues, and just listen to the banter of college students. That's something you don't see everyday – that's something I've never seen from Mike McNulty.
So, McNulty has a challenger; a real challenger who is ready to get out there and talk to the people of this district. What's the problem? No one is talking about him. I have yet to see any of the local newspapers discuss Warren Redlich. Where's the coverage in the Times Union or the Troy Record? Where's the coverage on our local ABC, Fox, and NBC affiliates? Where's the coverage in any of the local news outlets? You can't turn on the television without hearing about how Sweeney's district is competitive and how Gillibrand is closing in on him. That race is all across the news, despite the fact that every poll coming out of that district show Gillibrand losing to Sweeney with anywhere from a 7 to 20 point margin. Why does she get all the press? Does he need to be a Democrat? That can't be the case since Thomas Raleigh, the Democrat who primaried McNulty, received less press than Redlich. Does Redlich need to get MoveOn.org to begin funding his campaign in order for the press to honestly take a look at his candidacy?
All I know is this – I want to see fair and adequate coverage for all campaigns in the area. I want the press to begin discussing the exciting Comptroller's race. I want the press to discuss all of the Statewide races and not merely describe them as a crowning of the Democratic ticket. I want my local media to discuss my local race for Congress. It's disappointing to see how dismissive media has been to the campaigns of the honest men and women looking to serve their community.
-Matt Newman
posted by Albany Lawyer at 10:49 PM
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