McNulty - a class act

I know I'm supposed to attack my opponent at every opportunity (see the Sweeney - Gillibrand race), but I can't do it. I'm running for the seat currently held by Mike McNulty. I disagree strongly with his voting record and his statements on some issues, but I can't attack him on a personal level.

When I say I'm running for Congress, people often ask me who I'm running against. I don't really like that question. I'm not running against him. I'm running to get people to know about me and my positions on the issues. I'm running for positive change in Congress and America. The notion that a challenger is running against the incumbent puts a negative cast on the challenger's campaign from the beginning. This relates to one of the best criticisms of today's Democratic Party. They're not really running for positive change. They're running against the Republicans, and that's all they've got.

Anyway, the thing about McNulty is that he's just a really nice guy. I'm not saying he's perfect. His voting history and rhetoric are hard-core socialist and he did funnel campaign money to his brother in the last election cycle. But socialists are everywhere in Washington and Albany and the campaign funds incident was minor compared to what we see from other politicians. One often sees elected officials accused of voting based on who gave them money. I've never seen a single incident where I thought McNulty's vote was influenced by anything other than his beliefs. He doesn't raise money like the other politicians either. McNulty typically raises $300K in a 2-year cycle, which is much less than one sees from so many others.

I've met him and spoken with him on a few occasions, and this is the situation where he really shines. He's just pleasant, a decent fellow. We debated twice in 2004, and chatted before and after each debate. He could have been rude and unpleasant, perhaps to intimidate me or because he might be offended at my campaign. Nope. He was just plain friendly. His staff, including Charlie Diamond, are the same way. I called Charlie about something a few weeks ago. He called me back and we spoke for a few minutes. They return phone calls and respond to e-mails, and are always polite. His family is also like this, as I've seen with his dad and his sister.

It all really stood out to me this past week. McNulty didn't show up for an event. I was told he had been injured and was going in for surgery. Since he's been such a nice guy in the past, and maybe because I have some decency in me, I sent an e-mail to his office wishing him and his family well. His office replied to the e-mail indicating that he was getting arthroscopic surgery for his knee, and thanking me for the message. But that's not all. McNulty himself actually called me to thank me for the message - as he was waiting for surgery.

So let me get this straight. You're a congressman. You're busy with so many things - in case people don't know, it's not that easy of a job. You've got the responsibilities of being in office, the campaign, helping other candidates, your family, etc. to deal with, plus you're about to have surgery, and you actually take time to call your opponent to thank him for an e-mail.

Mike McNulty - a class act.

So much easier to run "against" someone when you hate him. Yet another reason why I'm running "for" something (to stop wasting money).