Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Rick Dollinger's new ad

I haven't seen it on TV yet, but here it is on youtube:

Monday, September 29, 2008

Four and OH!

Go Bills!

The Buffalo Bills are 4-0 for the first time in 16 years. Unlike the previous two weeks, there was no need for late-game heroics to keep them unbeaten.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Dollinger on reforming Albany

Here's some video from Robert Harding of Rick Dollinger talking about something that Joe Robach has been ignoring for years...reforming the mess in Albany.


Rick Dollinger - Reforming Albany Forum (Part 1 of 2) from Robert Harding on Vimeo.


Rick Dollinger - Reforming Albany Forum (Part 2 of 2) from Robert Harding on Vimeo.

"From the Brennan Center report to the most recent study done by NYPIRG, the New York State legislature is universally recognized as the most dysfunctional in the nation," said Dollinger. "But this isn't new information. These reports were common knowledge eight years ago, and Republicans in the State Senate haven't even taken the baby steps needed to make things better, like requiring legislators to read the bills they pass, to be in the chamber when they vote, or to allow bills to get to the floor that aren't rubber stamped by the majority leader."

"It's ludicrous to think that Joe Robach will fix a problem that he has supported for his entire career in Albany. For the past 40 years, New York State has been marred by the failed policies of the State Senate Republicans, who have stalled at every turn, and have been the number one road block to passing a critical economic reform package," continued Dollinger. "Republican Joe Robach isn't a reformer. He's a rubber stamp for the 'three men in a room' model."

In the State Senate Rick Dollinger will fight to enact the recommendations of the 2004 Brennan Center for Justice's report on New York's legislative process. Once elected, Rick will address five areas that require immediate reforms - legislative committees, barriers to new legislation, legislative rules, the lack of transparency within the legislative process, and legislative inefficiencies and high costs.


This is exactly what we need. Please vote for Rick Dollinger!

Friday, September 26, 2008

UH OH Joe! Governor Patterson is raising money for Rick Dollinger

This definitely won't make Joe happy.

Governor David Paterson is ratcheting up his support of the Senate Democrats, via the New York State Democratic Committee.

Paterson’s been raising money for the New York State Democratic Committee, funds which will be used in part to support Democrats’ efforts to take the Senate majority.

“The governor is committed to helping Sen. Obama, electing more Democratic House members, and retaining and increasing numbers in State Legislature,” said Democratic party spokesperson Carly Lindauer.

Since July, Paterson has been raising money strictly for the State Party for the purpose of funding State Senate campaigns, according to a party insider.

The first beneficiary is Democratic Senate challenger Rick Dollinger, who just received $84,000 today from the state party.

Dollinger, who is a former state senator, is running against Republican incumbent Sen. Joe Robach. In a Siena poll released yesterday, Robach is ahead of Dollinger by 11 points, with a margin of error of +/- 4.7 percent.

The new infusion of cash is a clear indication that Democrats are going to fight for Robach seat, despite the double-digit margin.

Democrats predict that Obama’s popularity among black voters in the Rochester area will help drive voter turnout in support of Dollinger.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

How good is that poll?

Robert harding asks the question

There also some questions I had after looking at the crosstabulations for each poll. Take SD-56's crosstabs, for example. Sen. Joe Robach had a favorable rating in Greece/Parma of 71 percent. That is Robach's turf, but 71 percent still seems high to me considering Rick Dollinger had a 56 percent favorable rating on his turf in Brighton. Those numbers tell me that when they conducted this poll and especially when they called voters in Greece, they called more Republicans than Democrats. That Greece/Parma portion of the poll just seems to be inflated to me. This race isn't a double-digit race. We are talking single-digits, if not a dead heat.

The SD-3 crosstabs also boggle my mind. Trunzo is viewed favorably by 54 percent of Democrats? Really? That seems very high to me, especially since this guy is in hiding somewhere. Also, Trunzo is viewed more favorably than Brian Foley in Foley's hometown of Brookhaven. That doesn't sound right to me. And Trunzo is viewed more favorably among people ages 18 to 34? I'll have to take you word for it.


I think he may be on to something. But whatever. You should always run like you are 10 pts down right?

Consider this inspiration.

Dollinger and Robach will debate on October 15th

SD-56: First debate on October 15

From the Channel 13 twitter:

via @scarroll13: dollinger & robach will debate with us on October 15th!


Get the popcorn!

Dollinger campaign responds to poll

From Rochester Turning:

Rochester, NY – Chris Gorman, campaign manager for Rick Dollinger for State Senate, released the following statement in response to the Siena College poll issued today:

“We always knew that this was going to be a close race. And, after spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars trying to hide from his anti-choice, pro-gun record Republican incumbent Joe Robach, who won his 2006 re-election bid with 70% of the vote has plummeted 21% to a point where less than 50% of the public wants to see him back in Albany. Monroe County voters have demonstrated that they are fed up with failed Republican economic policies and are ready for a change. The numbers in Monroe County clearly show that voters overwhelmingly support a shift in the State Senate to Democratic control and are ready to send someone to Albany who shares their beliefs and values.”


The RT people then talk about Robach's 'blurring strategy' and how it looks like it has worked so far. I agree. Robach is wingnut republican who pretends to be more in line with our district than hew really is. (That same poll showed Obama beating McSame 2-1) It's time to rip that "moderate" mask off of Robach. It's bullshit and people deserve to know that.

Robach leads in Poll

Rick Dollinger has some work to do. We just can not afford another two years of Joe Robach.

56th SD – Monroe County – Joseph Robach (R, incumbent) vs. Richard Dollinger (D)

Robach leads Dollinger 49-38 percent. While Robach holds 78 percent of Republicans and gets the support of one-third of Democrats, Dollinger has the support of 57 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of Republicans. Robach leads among independent voters 46-34 percent. Dollinger has a 10-point lead in the Rochester and Brighton portions of the district, however, Robach has a 64-26 percent lead in Greece and Parma.

Robach is viewed favorably by 57 percent of voters, including 49 percent of Democrats, and unfavorably by 24 percent of voters. One in five voters has no opinion. He is viewed most favorably in Greece and Parma (71-22 percent). Dollinger has a 36-25 percent favorable rating, with 40 percent having no opinion. He is strongest in Brighton (56-14 percent) and least favorable and most unknown in Rochester (28-25 percent)

Voters strongly, 56-31 percent, support Democratic control of the Senate. Interestingly, however, 34 percent of voters saying they support Robach, also indicate they support Democratic control of the Senate. Obama has a commanding 59-33 percent lead over McCain.

“Robach enters the final six weeks of the campaign in this heavily Democratic district in a strong position. He has a double-digit lead, he is popular and viewed as stronger on all the issues,” Greenberg said.


It's time to get to work people. It's time to get busy. Now way, no how can we afford another two years of Joe Robach. Plus, if the dems take the state senate - and it looks like they definitely will (read the rest of the polls at the link above) - then Robach is going to be left high and dry and the gravy train is going to dry up really, really, really quick.

Dollinger is still in striking distance, but he's got his work cut out for him and we all need to pitch in here.

It might be time for all of us to click this link.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Rochester Turning's Robach Roundup

You should read it...

* Robach’s been polling. A friend of mine got push-polled by a live person. The poll included 5 questions about abortion, so chances are he’s trying to make that a wedge issue.

* 10 days after we first complained about it, how are the Dollinger signs coming along? A Brightonian I spoke with yesterday said that even over the weekend, driving through Brighton, you would’ve thought the town was owned by Robach– she said that it was a 30-1 ratio favoring Robach. She’s a fairly well-known Dem who’s hosted lawn signs for every election– and the Dollinger campaign hadn’t contacted her yet. LET’S GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE! Registration advantage alone isn’t going to do it.

* I saw Dollinger with 2 of his wingmen working the crowd at the ArtWalk festival on University a week and a half ago. Robach, as an elected, was on stage, constructing the longest run-on sentence this reporter has ever heard. It was something like:
* “I’d like to thank all the great people of ArtWalk for coming out and we’re going to keep building ArtWalk and growing ArtWalk out and we’re gonna keep building it into more and more parts of the city and…”
* I was at a vendor stand at the time, and said, half under my breath, “What a piece of work.” A woman next to me said “Seriously. They should cut his mic.” Shortly after that we both had to laugh when the emcee said to Robach “Uh, I’m gonna have to take that mic away from you now.” Desperation is a stinky cologne.

* Robach is still avoiding meeting the public (except when he can control the message, see bullet point above). Tell Joe Robach to come to the MetroJustice Town Hall Meeting tonight, Tuesday Sept 23rd, 6:30, School #6! Click here to send an email to him asking him to show up. The school’s address is: 595 Upper Falls Boulevard. Call 325-2560 for more info.

They say there is a poll coming out tomorrow on SD-56!

Wednesday: Senate reckoning

Senate observers are counting down to Wednesday morning, when the Siena Research Institute releases results from polling in six battleground Senate districts - the first non-partisan polls to be made public in this year’s fight for the Senate majority.

The following Senate districts will be polled, according to sources:

* SD-3: Republican Sen. Caesar Trunzo v. Democrat Brian Foley
* SD-7: Democratic Sen. Craig Johnson v. Barbara Donno
* SD-15: Republican Sen. Serph Maltese v. Joe Addabbo
* SD-48: Democratic Sen. Darrel Aubertine v. David Renzi
* SD-56: Republican Sen. Joe Robach v. Democrat Rick Dollinger
* SD-61: Open race, Republican Mike Ranzenhofer v. Democrat “Baby Joe” Mesi


Fingers are crossed.

Dean Skelos abandons Robach

And I hear he is extremely pissed off about it. From The Albany Project site:

Democratic And Republican New York State Senate Priorities At A Glance

Liz has a great breakdown of recent campaign finance filings from the Democrats and Republicans that tell where their resources are being spent and what their primary focuses are heading into November.

On the Democratic side, the three big ones are SD-3 (Brian Foley), SD-15 (Joseph Addabbo) and SD-56 (Rick Dollinger). These seats should go without saying. In SD-15, Republican Serph Maltese narrowly won in 2006 and is vulnerable this year. Here in upstate New York, Dollinger is presenting a serious challenge to Sen. Joe Robach. Robach hasn't received the same love from the SRCC that Dollinger has received from the DSCC. Meanwhile, SD-3 is interesting. Foley is getting plenty of money and support from the DSCC and Republican Sen. Caesar Trunzo is getting backing from the SRCC. Trunzo will need it since he has apparently entered his cave for the winter.

The top target for the SRCC is Maltese, who they have invested a lot of money in hoping he keeps that seat.

The second biggest target for the SRCC? One would think either Trunzo or Robach, right? After all, their counterparts with the DSCC have invested a lot of money in SD-3 and SD-56. But neither are their second biggest target.

Actually, Barbara Donno in SD-7 (Republican challenger to Sen. Craig Johnson) is. The Republicans have spent over $142,000 on Donno, which is remarkable considering she is, at best, a long shot to Sen. Johnson. The reason for this is Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his personal issues with Sen. Johnson. I think the Republicans are crying because Sen. Johnson broke up their nine seat stranglehold out on Long Island. By January, that should be down to seven seats.


Skelos seems to be all wrapped up in Long Island stuff and doesn't have much love for Joe Robach.

That's good news.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Joe Robach is lying to you

Check out Dragon Fly Eye

A little bit of original reporting here at DFE.net. Hopefully not the last.

You may have seen Joe Robach’s advertisements on television recently and noticed that he’s standing in front of Gleason Works. That’s not all he’s doing. He’s also claiming as his accomplishment, “650 jobs for Gleason Works.”

If you’re scratching your head, wondering “didn’t they just lay some people off over there?” You’re not alone. Through a helpful tip from a friend of mine, I decided to do some investigation into the claim, along with a few other nuggets about the deal, which you can read about here:

» || DFE.Net News » DFE News Updates

New York State Senator Joe Robach’s recent campaign advertisment, touting his record of bringing “our fair share” to Rochester, has him standing in front of Gleason Works on University Avenue in Rochester. Below him, a caption reads “650 jobs for Gleason Works.” There’s just one problem with that caption: the 650 jobs Gleason Works currently provides Rochester is actually 300 jobs less than it was two years ago.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Rochester Turning on how to win the 56th

This is very good stuff.

In the 2006 election, Senator Robach won reelection with 50,411 votes (66%) to 26,434 (34%). His only opponent was Willa Powell, a weak Democratic candidate.

The four parts of the district voted as follows:

* The city was the only area that Powell won, and she received just 53%. Rochester cast 26,408 votes, or 34%, of the total number of 76,846 votes cast in this election.
* Robach won the town of Brighton- which cast 18% of the overall votes- with 60%.
* He was also the winner in Greece with a huge 81% to Powell’s 19%. Greece cast 41% of the votes.
* Robach won Parma by the same 81-19 margin in Greece. Parma voters cast just 7% of the total votes.

So Senator Robach won by a nearly two-to-one margin by doing three things: keeping it very close in the city, winning Brighton handily, and destroying his opponent in Greece and Parma (which together cast nearly half of the votes in the race).

What might happen in 2008? Each of the following scenarios assumes that the exact same number of votes cast in each of the four parts of the district that were cast in 2006 will be cast again in 2008. This is charitable to Robach, because it is very likely that Rochester’s- and possibly Brighton’s- share of the overall votes cast will increase in 2008 more than the increased turnout in Greece and Parma.

But let’s assume for the sake of simplicity that the exact same people who voted in this race in 2006 will vote again in 2008, with no more and no less.

Scenario #1: Dollinger wins Rochester with 60%, and Robach wins Brighton with 51%, as well as Greece and Parma with 70%. In that case, Robach will be re-elected by a wide margin, 56% to Dollinger’s 44%.

Scenario #2: Dollinger wins Rochester with 65% and Brighton with 54%, while Robach wins Greece and Parma with 65%. Then, Robach will still be re-elected, but by a much smaller 51-49.

Scenario #3: Dollinger wins Rochester with 68% and Brighton with 57%, and Robach wins Greece and Parma with 62%. Using those numbers, Dollinger would win the seat with less than 52% of the vote.

Conclusion: Of course those aren’t the only three possible outcomes, but for Dollinger to clinch the seat, he has to do three things: win by a 2-1 margin in Rochester; win Brighton by a double-digit margin; and make sure Robach doesn’t go much above 60% in the western towns.

The truth is that Robach is a formidable opponent and this race is far from over. In Brighton, which Dollinger has to win big, there are more Joe Robach lawn signs than I have seen in any of his previous elections and no Dollinger signs to be found anywhere. The Dollinger campaign has its work cut out for it and they should start spreading their message more. Speaking as a Brightonian myself, I will be going to their campaign office sometime this week to pick up some canvassing supplies and a few lawn signs to spread around my neighborhood. I encourage every progressive who lives in the 56th and who wants a Democratic majority in the State Senate to do the same.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Joe Robach pandering to gay people? Noooo.......

This is just too much, even for Joe Robach. Joe Robach is against marriage equality for gay people. But it's an election year and he needs every vote he can get. Look at this flyer that Joe Robach is sending out to gay communities in Rochester.



Rochester Turning sez:


This is a bit strange coming from such a noted opponent of gay rights. Residents of the Park Avenue and University Avenue areas of Rochester (sort of the Chelsea of Monroe County) received this mailer. Something tells me residents of Greece didn’t receive it.

The message is clear with the rainbow umbrellas, the two men embracing in the front. Robach is saying: ignore my record, I got you guys an arty bus stop!

Give Robach credit: he leaves no stone unturned in his efforts to pander to his constituents.


That man is shameless.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Finally! Joe "Missing in Action" agrees to debate Rick Dollinger on TV

At least that's what Robert Harding says:

After three would-be debates that turned into community town hall meetings, Democrat Rick Dollinger will finally get the change to debate with his Republican opponent Joe Robach.
It was announced today by Dollinger that Robach has agreed to a debate - a televised debate - on the Rochester ABC affiliate, 13 WHAM.

Today, Democratic State Senate candidate Rick Dollinger announced a major victory for voters as he learned that Republican Joe Robach had finally agreed, after numerous invitations, to participate with him in a debate on the issues that are critical to the future of upstate New York. Dollinger cited his persistence, and the growing unrest from within the community, as being the key reasons for Senator Robach ultimately agreeing to a debate. The debate will be hosted by Rochester's local ABC network affiliate 13 WHAM-TV.

"I am delighted that my opponent, Republican Joe Robach, has finally agreed to join me in a substantive public discussion," said Dollinger. "At last, Robach has realized that he has to account for his record, and has acquiesced to calls for a debate. This is a major victory for the voters who have continually been betrayed by Robach and his Senate Republican colleagues in Albany."

Dollinger continued: "Joe has been completely absent from the community and from this campaign for the last 3 months. As jobs continue to fly out of Monroe County and property taxes continue to skyrocket, our community deserves answers on what is happening in Albany to address the problem. Our community deserves a full public accounting of Joe's record in the New York State Senate and an explanation for his lockstep support of a failed Republican Majority".

This past Friday, Robach finally agreed to a debate on ABC network affiliate 13 WHAM-TV. In his comments on Friday Robach alluded to "several debates" that he had agreed to but failed to provide specifics. Recognizing the fundamental need for an extensive discussion on all the issues, Rick Dollinger has been vocally advocating the need for a series of six public debates. By participating in a series of 6 debates Rick Dollinger and Joe Robach would be providing voters the opportunity to clearly distinguish their platforms and agendas.


That last paragraph certainly catches my eye. If you have been following the debate challenges between Eric Massa and Randy Kuhl, you know that Kuhl has been saying he is willing to debate but there has yet to be a debate. So Robach saying that he has agreed to "several debates" is worth noting.

More details on the debate to come.


What took you so long, Joe? Finally starting to feel the heat?

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Rick Dollinger Slams Robach in new TV ad

And it's good! The ad mentions the fact that Robach is staunchly against women's right to choose, supports shipping our jobs overseas and has voted with the GOP knuckleheads over 98% of the time. It calls him the "poster boy for the republican party".



That's a really good ad.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Another forum, still no Joe Robach

Joe "Missing in Action" Robach skipped another community forum last night, this one in Brighton. Once again, Robert Harding was there and has some really good video of Rick Dollinger speaking to the crowd. He had the stage to himself again. I guess it's understandable why Robach bailed on another of these debates. This one was all about reforming Albany.


Rick Dollinger - Reforming Albany Forum (Part 1 of 2) from Robert Harding on Vimeo.


Rick Dollinger - Reforming Albany Forum (Part 2 of 2) from Robert Harding on Vimeo.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Joe Robach's T-shirts made in Haiti and Mexico

File this under stuff you just couldn't make up if you tried. Joe Robach, the chair of the senate Labor committee and who is being backed by the Laborers International Union of North America, has campaign shirts that were made in Haiti and printed in Mexico.

I swear to god.

Also, "Missing In Action" Robach can also be called "Hecho En Haiti" Robach. I was sent an image of a Joe Robach for State Senate t-shirt (pictured at left) that had this tag on it (see right). Ordinarily, this would not be a big deal. By all accounts, it is a regular white t-shirt that Robach used and probably got it printed for cheap at one of the local printers.



If you go to Barack Obama's online store, you will notice a seal on the right-hand side of the page that reads, "Union/USA Made." You will also notice on the shirts that there is a union seal like this one. On Robach's shirt, there isn't one.



The problem with that is Robach's recent campaign finance filing shows that a number of different unions have invested in him. Laborers International Union of North America (Liuna) gave $1,000 to Robach, according to his disclosure report. I.U.O.E. Local 832 gave $3,000 to Robach. Robach has received tens of thousands of dollars from other unions that have a vested interest in keeping their jobs here in the United States. But Robach just showed them with a simple gesture that he doesn't care about their concerns.

And one more thing: Robach is the chairman of the New York State Senate Labor Committee. This is the man who heads up the Labor Committee and he is going around with campaign t-shirts made in Haiti and imported to Mexico.

Just another reason why voters in the 56th Senate District shouldn't vote for Joe "Missing In Action" Robach.


O.M.G.

Joe "Missing in Action" Robach Captured on film!

People are trying to say that Joe "Missing in Action" skipped another community form with Rick Dollinger. This simply isn't true. Here's proof!