Editorial
Great Choice, Governor
[Editor’s note: This week’s edition goes to press just as the news about Rep. Delgado is breaking; we offer here a brief analysis of the situation as it stands on the morning of May 3.]
For Otsego County, Governor Kathy Hochul’s May 3 announcement appointing Rep. Antonio Delgado as her new second-in-command in Albany is nothing short of politically seismic — a move that could send aftershocks throughout the entire state and even into Washington, D.C.
Certainly Rep. Delgado was a Washington up-and-comer, an important part of the Democratic Party’s hopes to keep its majority in the 2022 mid-term elections. That he was pitted against a popular Republican challenger, Marc Molinaro, in an electoral district whose boundaries hang in the balance of a federal mediator, might have had something to do with his decision to take the offer.
Political machinations notwithstanding, Governor Hochul’s choice is a wise one. Rep. Delgado has proven himself to be a tireless and energetic voice for Otsego County and his district as a whole. Smart, approachable, and affable, when he shows up at an event or to tour a business, he shows up with good questions and displays a genuine interest in the issues at hand.
Surprised as we were to read the announcement on May 3, on reflection, we think Rep. Delgado is an excellent choice for Lieutenant Governor. In Albany, he succeeds Brian Benjamin, who resigned last month after the feds picked him up on a handful of corruption charges. New York has learned the hard way that the office of LG is more than ribbon-cutting ceremonial work; governors Hochul and David Paterson both rose to their office after their respective bosses resigned under curious circumstances. In a state bruised repeatedly by political corruption at the highest level, Rep. Delgado brings a breath of fresh air to a stale Capitol.
Rep. Delgado brings to the position an equanimity sorely lacking in Albany these days — an ability to listen to both sides, measure the discussion, engage the participants. We think he’ll be an effective and stabilizing
addition to an administration currently floundering amid a series of political and policy slip-ups.
Practicality aside, he’s a great political choice, too. Pundits will note that a Hochul/Delgado ticket presents an interesting and — at least in modern times — an unprecedented choice for New Yorkers. Two upstaters, two (relatively) moderate Democrats in a party that — like their Republican counterparts — is torn by fringe voices that tend to choke all the air out of a reasonable debate. We expect voices from the Working Families Party, for example, to decry the choice — he’s not downstate enough, he’s not ‘progressive’ enough, he’s not whatever enough it would take to please those who seem so impossible to please.
Rep. Delgado is, however, a commanding presence on the campaign trail. We think he will do in the whole of New York what he has done in Otsego County throughout his term in Congress — visit everywhere, get to know everyone by his or her first name, command the room without dominating the conversation.
While we wait at press time for news as to who will take his place in the race for the 19th congressional district, we are reminded of a thought from Albany Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill not long after Mr. Molinaro announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. Two nice guys, he wrote, a rarity in politics these days. We agree with Mr. Churchill’s personal assessment and look forward to Lieutenant Governor Delgado imparting his personal charisma and professional comportment in a New York arena sorely in need of decency.
This article could not be further from the truth! Seriously, and forget opinions, how has Democrats not unlike Delgado, done anything for the N.Y. People? Delgado has followed in step 100% with Washington D.C. and seriously, what has the Biden Administration done for Americans? This question and so much more will influence this November Elections!
This article could not be further from the truth! Seriously, and forget opinions, how has Democrats not unlike Delgado, done anything for the N.Y. People? Delgado has followed in step 100% with Washington D.C. and seriously, what has the Biden Administration done for Americans? This question and so much more will influence this November Elections!
The GOP and DEMS have no platform, they are like Martians. They let the homeless people lie in the streets and die. It is State sponsored terrorism to allow homeless people instead of permanently housing them. In NYS, they should have no property taxes for organic farmers and a lot more grants, NYS has the fifth best agricultural land in the USA, and instead the DEMS are pushing water polluting industries and manufacturing. and there is no technology to cleanup polluted ground water. The news sometimes censors people that do not like the politics at all. Where are the handball walls in NYS? NYS is too cheap and corrupt to put handball walls in many public parks, schools, universities. Not much new, most of the nice places were built more than 100 years ago. Brian Benjamin was no where as corrupt as many NYC or NYS policies, he was just a diversion, and because he’s black he got the boot. The heap gets higher.
The GOP and DEMS have no platform, they are like Martians. They let the homeless people lie in the streets and die. It is State sponsored terrorism to allow homeless people instead of permanently housing them. In NYS, they should have no property taxes for organic farmers and a lot more grants, NYS has the fifth best agricultural land in the USA, and instead the DEMS are pushing water polluting industries and manufacturing. and there is no technology to cleanup polluted ground water. The news sometimes censors people that do not like the politics at all. Where are the handball walls in NYS? NYS is too cheap and corrupt to put handball walls in many public parks, schools, universities. Not much new, most of the nice places were built more than 100 years ago. Brian Benjamin was no where as corrupt as many NYC or NYS policies, he was just a diversion, and because he’s black he got the boot. The heap gets higher.
I just read and watch free news because the news censors people that do not like the DEMS or GOP because of the politicians not really caring for the people and allowing homeless people to live and die on the big city streets, and allowing ground pollution of water by manufacturing in pristine areas of Upstate, NY and not doing much for farmers. I will never pay for a newspaper again.
I just read and watch free news because the news censors people that do not like the DEMS or GOP because of the politicians not really caring for the people and allowing homeless people to live and die on the big city streets, and allowing ground pollution of water by manufacturing in pristine areas of Upstate, NY and not doing much for farmers. I will never pay for a newspaper again.