(Will Dendis)
It is with no small measure of relief that we reach the end of the campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 19th Congressional District. For the better part of a year, the seven candidates — Jeff Beals, Dave Clegg, Erin Collier, Antonio Delgado, Brian Flynn, Gareth Rhodes and Pat Ryan — have criss-crossed the spacious 19th, appeared at more than 40 candidate forums and knocked on literally thousands of doors of potential primary voters, all leading up to Tuesday’s vote.
As far as their stances go, we join the chorus of locals who, after the better part of a year of candidate forums, mailers and news coverage, can’t discern all that much of a difference between them. They stress different things — Ryan gun control, Flynn workers issues and LGBTQ rights, Beals anti-corporatism, and not all of them have hopped on the Medicare For All train. But we expect any of them, if elected, will be progressive voices and solid Democratic votes in the House of Representatives.
It would be easy, and probably more politic, for this paper/website to shrug our shoulders and not endorse anyone. But voters can only fill in the box for one of them, so we think if we’re going to bring up the topic of endorsement at all, we have to pick just one, just like everybody else.
Our pick, then, is Dave Clegg. We think he’s the superior choice both in terms of track record and his chances to successfully unseat the incumbent Republican, John Faso.
To a greater or lesser degree, six of the candidates are running on their potential to serve our community. Dave Clegg is running on his record of serving our community. His work in helping to found Ulster’s Habitat for Humanity and the Darmstadt homeless shelter, as well as his service on the county Human Rights Commission, the board of the Caring Hands Soup Kitchen and as public defender stands head and shoulders above the local achievements of any other candidate.
We’re not knocking corporate lawyers, press aides for governors, people who make intelligence products for the military or CIA analysts turned diplomats. All of those, and agricultural economists and businessmen too, are necessary professions in this world. But Clegg’s resume, in both the law as a public defender and a civil rights litigator, plus his record of starting local organizations that help local people day after day after day, is just the kind of experience we need in D.C. to start to heal our sad and wounded land.
In a time when the need for a Constitutional check against the president’s abuse of power is just about at the level of a national emergency, we think Clegg has the best chance to beat the Republican incumbent. In the last two elections for this seat, the accusation of “carpetbagger” has been a silver bullet with a kryptonite core, lethal to the campaigns of Sean Eldridge and Zephyr Teachout. Clegg and Beals were the only two of the seven to be eligible to vote in this district’s 2016 Congressional election. The mention of the word “carpetbagger” has a tendency to annoy local Dems. However, it touches on a central question: How long does someone have to live here before they can legitimately ask to speak for our community before the nation in the House of Representatives? Their entire lives? That’s too much. Five years seems just barely enough. Anything less seems a dealbreaker.
While he wasn’t born here, Clegg has lived in this community for almost 40 years — comparable to the time Long Island native Faso has been in his community.
We agree with Bryan Stevenson, who famously said “each of us is more than the worst thing we have ever done.” Anyone getting into this race, especially the Democratic nominee, has to be prepared for the worst thing they’ve ever done being posted by Russian bots all over the 19th’s Facebook timelines.
But Clegg’s character and conduct is altogether fitting of a deacon in the United Methodist Church. Of the seven, he seems to us to be the least likely to have some kind of campaign-killing “kompromat” in his past. Also, we feel Clegg’s experience as a trial lawyer will serve him well to stand up to Faso in any debate which might actually take place between the two.
In closing, we’d like to commend all seven for their hard work and participation, and for keeping the debate, for the most part, about the issues and not one another. Only one of them is going to come away a winner next week. But the consolation prizes for places two through seven? They get to return to a normal life.
This endorsement was developed by Kingston Times editor Dan Barton, and Woodstock Times editor Brian Hollander, through weeks of conversation among Ulster Publishing editors and reporters.
Thanks for endorsing Clegg! He is a superior human being!
Clegg’s the one! Not sure if he’s the most gifted politician, but when you talk about representing this area, he fits the bill. Look it’s a fact that most ambitious people leave here in search of opportunity. I don’t blame them. But once you do that you do lose something. If you’re from here, OK, that is a really deep connection. But you’re out of touch if you didn’t make your life here. Maybe not in a mystic rootsy way but certainly in an adult, having connections and adult experiences and seeing what life is actually like for your constituents kind of way. You don’t get that if you fly the coop at 18, just when life starts getting serious.
Wow, you endorsed the real Progressive. Brave choice…I’d brace for Stephen Dunda’s cut n’paste rage, tho.
Thank-you for that endorsement. I like how you put it – the other candidates are running on their potential for service, while Dave is running on his long record of service – to this very community!
Smoothly written and very discerning conclusion!
Thank you for your cogent analysis and model way of endorsing a candidate without going negative on the others.
Most like Hinchy of all the crew. Take back the 19th from the corporate lobbist.
I agree completely with your endorsement. I have met Dave Clegg and liked him immediately. I like his record of service even more.
Your endorsement Of Dave Clegg was right on! Faso will exploit many issues concerning the other candidates. I hope that primary voters will be informed enough to be able to see through the smoke and mirrors of the television ad blitz that the other campaigns with big money are now focusing on.
Dave Clegg is the most genuine and transparent of all the candidates. His love and commitment to our area has been proven! Ask yourself, How many of the candidates will still be residing in the 19th district if they lose? His reputation in the legal arena among judges and his peers is as being a diligent relentless advocate for his clients. These are the traits and attributes needed to defeat Faso in a general election,
Dave Clegg is a great local choice but there has not been any comprehensive platform or operational intentions
presented by a lawyer whose business is to communicate a foundation to his political ideas and some discovery on what and how he intends to proceed with initiatives once in office. He’s a good man and we will see if the strength of a closed background activist history is enough to beat Faso. When standardized democratic issues are the only merits to convince insecure conservative voters to dump Faso, then business / corporate entrenchment has proven to promise security (however proven to be unfulfilled) among privately cynical conformists that are frankly skeptical about politics of change. Dave Clegg is certainly one of the two candidates savvy and experienced enough to serve us well in Congress both conscientiously and judiciously. Having said that, however, I would still tend to balance the accounts in favor of Brian Flynn who has a methodical program in mind to hit the ground running and an agenda that is employment targeted without simply running on the mantra of beating Faso as the mainspring of his campaign.
Dear Bruce :
Dave Clegg is the only candidate that has a past that Faso cannot exploit !!! Dave will be able to concentrate on debating the many road to hell policies that the republican party has adapted under our new President and which Faso supports or stays silent on. Policies that hurts everybody, no matter what political party one belongs to . All the other Candidates have issues that Faso will exploit!
In the Albany Times Union Newspaper, in a profile on Brian Flynn these issues were reported
carpetbagging issues concerning his residency and his company moving jobs out of state to North Carolina and the Dominican Republic
Faso will exploit these issues.
No matter how great Brian Flynn is, the chances of him winning against Faso are slim to none because of his outsourcing and residency issues. His efforts to find solutions for the district should be considered a resource by the winner, if it’s one of the others.