Signs of the Times

Something is different during this election season. Two years ago, we saw Duke & Company signs in yards all over Town. We saw Democrats actually picketing Supervisor Duke's opponent's place of business. We saw support for Pam Duke and her running mates.

That year was also a year when Democrats swept to power all over the County. They were successful in blaming Republicans for the jail scandal even though every Democrat in the Legislature voted for the jail project while several Republicans voted against it. They were able to convince us that the Republicans were to blame for the 39% tax increase when, in fact, the County Administrator assembled the budget that year. The County Democrats had coattails that brought Democrats into power in areas no one would have imagined a few months before.

This year, however, is different. Very, very different.

The Democrats in the Legislature are in disarray, fighting amongst themselves in what seems to an extension of the power struggle between County Democratic Chair John Parete and the ultra-Liberal faction of the Party apparently led by Legislator Susan Zimet. The Democratic vote for DA appears to be headed for a split between Party nominee Jonathan Sennett and the son of the late Judge Bradley, Vincent Bradley, Jr., who has registered as a Democrat but will not actually become one until after the election. Such a split will all but guarantee a win for Republican Holley Carnright. Even in the City of Kingston, which conventional wisdom calls a Democratic stronghold, there is a good chance of a Republican victory in both the Mayor's race and the election for Alderman-at-Large. The public employee's union has endorsed the Republican challenger, leaving Mayor James Sottile without a critical piece of support while Republicans Richard Cahill and Leonard Walker are picking up endorsements and donations left and right.

In our Legislative District, if we vote for only three candidates and leave the other slot empty, we will not only re-elect Sue Cummings, who has served us so well for so long, but possibly give her another Republican-Conservative from this District.

The weakening of the County Democratic momentum from two years ago means that Democrats in local races throughout the County cannot count on the extra votes they had in 2005. They will have to work for each and every vote personally.

Here in the Town of Rochester, we're seeing very few Duke & Company signs in people's yards. The ones we see are on public property and in front of empty businesses like the former carpet store and the defunct barbecue restaurant. This is important because it means people who once supported Pam Duke are ashamed to do so this year.

Many people have publicly declared that, even though they voted for the Supervisor in previous elections, they will not be doing so this year. Many who had Duke signs in their yards in the past cannot justify doing so this year, unable to face their neighbors to explain how they could possibly support someone who holds the people of Rochester in such disdain. Which is not to say that they are secretly supporting the Supervisor. If you ask them, they will willingly tell you just how disgusted they are with the Board.

This isn't about Parties anymore. It's about those who love our Town and those who hate what we are so much, they would do anything to change it. You see, the Town is not mountains and rocks and deer and trees. The Town is the People, pure and simple. If you hate us, you hate the Town. Our Democratic neighbors are just as sickened by the behavior of the Board as the rest of us are.

To stem the bloodletting, Democrats are handing out pamphlets claiming their candidates stand for unity, progress, rural character and Open Government when everyone knows just how untrue those claims are. They are taking telephone "polls" and using the opportunity to attack Carl Chipman when the respondent indicates that he or she will be voting United Rochester. Their mailings and statements claim that the Supervisor and Board have stood for values which they trampled underfoot, that they will stand for principles in the future which we find important but upon which we have seen the Board spit. In typical Party machine fashion, they promise everything under the sun, most of which was promised before and which the Board failed to deliver.

They were terrified of giving their own Party's rank and file a real choice in whom they wanted to nominate.

On several online forums, their supporters have launched a series of vile, highly personal attacks on many of the leaders of the opposition. It seems they're getting desperate.

On the other side of the equation, people are not only proudly displaying Conservative-Republican-United Rochester signs, they are making their own, hand drawn and otherwise. Private citizens are having signs printed at their own expense. A few of our neighbors spent days making the giant United Rochester sign across from the entrance to Boice Mill Road. People are volunteering their own time to call their neighbors and encourage them to vote for the United Rochester ticket on November 6.

Only ten days to go. We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We're about to take our Town back from those who are steering us on a course to destruction. The only thing we need to make it happen is you.

We need you to vote Row B or D on Election Day. We need you to call everyone you know and encourage them to vote for Carl Chipman and the United Rochester Team, your Team. If they are unaware of how their rights are being stolen from them by the Duke Regime, tell them. Make them aware of the issues. Point them to this blog or the Republican website. Let them read about the issues and see how the other side uses personal attacks to respond to issue oriented criticisms of the Board.

We need you to find out if anyone you know needs a ride to the polls on Election Day. If they do, take them to vote. we need you to convince others to do all these things, as well.

Above all, we need you to pray for our Freedoms. Never underestimate the power of prayer.

We need you to take ownership of this Election and this Town.

This is Our Town. Town Hall is Our House. The Supervisor and Board are Our Employees.

Ours. Yours and mine and all our neighbors'.

Together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.

Together. We need you. You need you.