This should come as no surprise, said local Obama coordinator Lisa Daly. “Local congressional races have their own dynamic, and deal with the local issues in the district,” she said. “The campaigns {Obama’s and Maffei’s} have no formal structural organizational ties, but are very friendly.” Daly herself began her political involvement working as a volunteer on the first Maffei campaign two years ago.
“This is not a battleground state,” added Daly. “So we don’t necessarily expect to see the presidential candidate. If Obama were to appear, you would suddenly see a great deal of activity and enthusiasm.” Local Democratic leaders have been active behind the scenes and at meetings, she said, although she could not name any who had been especially involved in the campaign.
Walsh himself concurred that congressional races are rarely tied to national races. He noted that in his 10 campaigns he had “never run as part of a ticket. I think for New York the trend has been to run your own campaign. The Republican Party doesn’t run presidential campaigns in New York state.”
According to Robert McClure, the Chapple Family Professor of Citizenship and Democracy at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, this is part of a decades-long trend. “Congressional candidates have mostly run on their own, detached from party as much as possible. They are running as individual political entrepreneurs,” said McClure. “In 2006, there was more of an organized party effort, especially by the Democrats. This year people are running against George W. Bush. That’s the surest likelihood of your message being well received. What’s really odd is that even the Republicans are running against George Bush. Party means less and less all the time.”
Sweetland said he has had “hardly any contact with the McCain campaign. I would enjoy the chance to talk to either McCain or {Sarah} Palin, but New York state isn’t seen as in play.” He indicated that he doesn’t expect McCain to visit Central New York. Nevertheless, he believes that McCain can win in the 25th District.
In a telephone interview en route to a campaign appearance in Wayne County, Sweetland said the addition of Alaska Gov. Palin to the GOP ticket is likely to boost turnout and has energized the Republican base. “Turnout is going to be higher,” said Sweetland. “McCain can win the district. Regardless of what people think, this is a Republican district.”
Going
mobile: In this high-tech era of political blogs and text-messaged vice
presidential announcements, it’s somehow reassuring that some local is
stumping for his candidate in the most American of ways, by pimping his
ride. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO
Then why not run with McCain/Palin/Sweetland signs? Why not emphasize that you’re a Republican? “This is a district that voted for Jim Walsh 10 times. It is also the district that voted for Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Al Gore and John Kerry,” Sweetland noted. “There’s a break between how people vote in national elections and how they vote in local elections. Many who are registered Republicans don’t necessarily pull the lever for Republican candidates.”
Sweetland said he has not been successful in soliciting assistance from the National Republican Congressional Committee. “They say they’re going to make their decisions based on where they have the best chance,” said Sweetland. “In Washington, D.C., they read that Dan Maffei has lots of money, and they don’t see what’s going on here.”
Maffei staffer Michael Whyland echoed Daly’s assertion that the local Obama and Maffei campaigns do coordinate actions, especially when it comes to voter turnout, but “with New York state not really in play, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense” to be campaigning as a ticket. “At the end of the day,” said Whyland, “it’s about our issues. As far as the message, what Obama is saying is pretty close to what we are talking about. But we are not taking our cues from them.”
Maffei himself said his campaign has not made a decision not to coordinate with the Obama campaign. He is hopeful that Obama’s presence on the ticket might raise turnout, particularly among young voters. “Presumably New York will go to Senator Obama, and with the electoral vote, it’s a winner-take-all system,” Maffei noted. “How Obama does in this district matters more to us than it does to Senator Obama.”
So, are we likely to see ads linking Obama with Maffei? “Probably not,” said Maffei. People in Central New York want someone who will be a voice for them, not for Barack Obama, or John McCain, or anyone else. Tip O’Neill was right when he said that ‘all politics is local.’”
McClure, himself a former House staffer, ventured that the public greatly overestimates the influence that presidential campaigns have on local congressional races. As a result, he said, “Presidents don’t have a whole lot of influence over individual members of Congress. That’s part of the reason for the gridlock. American politics is individual-centered—it’s a highly decentralized process. Everyone is his own man.”
—Ed Griffin-Nolan
Clarification
Writer Ed Griffin-Nolan reported that local Barack Obama campaign coordinator Lisa Daly could not name local Democratic party leaders who have been significantly involved in the Obama campaign. In her conversation with our reporter, Daly did mention one individual, County Legislator Tom Buckel, who has been very involved in meetings and other campaign efforts.
