Eldridge, as smooth and on-issue as Gibson, was disarmingly anecdotal, hammering at the “disappointing and shameful” actions of “congressman Gibson, John Boehner and other Republicans,” terminology he used repeatedly. He said that “using the deficit as a political tool to force changes to the Affordable Care Act, a piece of legislation they don’t like” was wrong, and repeatedly noted “the real harm to our country” that could ensue from the current actions.
“We should go ahead and pay our bills, and then we can have a discussion about what improvements we can make to the legislation,” the former political director for the movement that resulted in marriage equality for New York State. “Yes, the rollout has been frustrating, and I’m frustrated that the website doesn’t work …. But I am hearing from small businesses, individuals and families from throughout this district who have been signing up how much they like about this law.”
Specifically, Eldridge — whose partner was one of the founders of the web giant Facebook — noted provisions for keeping young people on their parents’ insurance plans until 26, making it possible for people to find affordable insurance despite having pre-existing conditions, and the capping of insurance industry profits.
Extremes at both ends
Gibson, meanwhile, spoke about being frustrated by “the extremes at both ends taking us in a bad direction.” He said his party’s push “to delay Obamacare for a year was not reasonable” and seemed proud of being one of only two Republicans who had voted against the House GOP’s first CR bill that pushed the government towards shutdown on September 30.
He followed such discussion with talk about how the specifics of the ACA — or Obamacare, as he kept referring to the legislation —could and should be changed as part of the current impasse’s resolution. He brought up problems that had come up with subsidies for military families, issues raised by labor unions, and the “waiver authority” the executive branch used on behalf of the business community but not the general populace. He even pointed out how comedian Jon Stewart of The Daily Show seemed to have backed such arguments.
What bigger arguments are behind the current partisan battles? Congressman Gibson spoke about the lack of consistency in Democratic positions, from federal responsibility for nuclear waste to a host of “unilateral” presidential decisions. More importantly, he criticized “the growth of power for the executive branch” and what he termed “a real imperial presidency.”
“The president keeps asking us to forget recent history,” he said. “I think the left should be very concerned about this. I think that what’s most important are negotiated settlements. Everyone needs to be reasonable.”
Eldridge talked about the need for common sense in terms of the nation’s and congressional priorities. “I think the world is changing very rapidly,” he said. “It’s common sense that when you look at our need for roads and bridges, a widespread Internet, one sees that our infrastructure is not where it should be. It’s common sense that we should train young people for the new economy. I think if we focus less on party politics — as Chris Gibson, John Boehner and other Republicans are doing — and more on these common-sense roles that the government has played historically, and should play, we’d be in a much better place.”
Gibson, for his part, stressed No Labels again…and spoke about the redistricting that has made two-thirds of his chamber, the House of Representatives, less prone to taking moderate positions. He said he’d work towards a move away from gerrymandering. The shift in the nature of elected representation in Congress had put more power into the hands of the Senate and the presidency.
“We need leaders who treat everyone with respect,” he said. “Can we still be able to have a republic where we can reach accommodation?” But then he chastised the president for having “exacerbated the problem” and returned to his arguments against the ACA and the need to acknowledge such things in any compromise keeping the government open, or the debt ceiling raised.
“Unfortunately, American politics has become a blood sport,” he concluded. “Right now, I have to stay focused on service, and leave the next congressional race until next fall.”
“We have a lot of challenges right now, but we can face them and we can overcome them,” noted Eldridge in his final statement. “If we can get over these games …”
Personally, I don’t care what Eldridge’s positions are. He is the textbook definition of a carpet-bagger, having picked this area to live SPECIFICALLY so he could run for office in a district he thinks is weakly-held, and will come in and spend his husband’s riches to buy himself a political office.
Even if I agreed with his platform 100%, I couldn’t bring myself to reward that kind of behavior.
I am now in Chris Gibson’t district. Before that I was in Maurice Hinchey’s, a liberal Democrat. The districts were changed and I suddenly found myself in a Republican’s district.
The minute Eldridge announced that he was running someone in Chris Gibson’s office came out with the challenge that Eldridge was a carpetbagger and gave us the price of his house and accused him of trying to buy a seat in the house. I thought it was a bit early in the election to start slinging mud, but apparently Gibson and his supporters don’t have a whole lot to say about their positions nows that the government shutdown and the attempt to hold the payment of the government’s debts for blackmail has come to such a pitiful end. So now they are going to rely on their mud, but they don’t seem to have a lot of that, unless it’s that Eldridge is successful. I thought Republicans LIKED that. Apparently only when it is them!