There were two fund-raisers in the 20th Congressional District (roughly north, east and south of Albany, NY) that attracted national-level politicians this weekend.
The incumbent, Miami Mob Leader and Bush/Cheney/DeLay lover John Sweeney, had right-wing conservative John McCain parachute in to a fund-raising ($150 minimum) lunch in Saratoga Springs Saturday.
And Sweeney's strongest challenger ever, Kirsten Gillibrand, had House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer come in for a reception Sunday in Albany.
Naturally, that was the one I attended; report below.
The nicest thing about the Gillibrand event, for limited-income types like me, was that it was free. I and my friend chipped in $20 each, but we didn't have to.
Hoyer was introduced by Congressman Mike McNulty, a Democrat from Albany County who has never done much to help previous Sweeney challengers.
But this year, and this challenger, are different.
Congressional courtesy only goes so far; when Democrats like McNulty sense a chance to regain the majority, they become a lot more supportive of credible Democratic challengers in neighboring districts.
Before an SRO crowd of about 150 in an Albany hotel meeting room, Hoyer made me forget, for an hour anyway, that he's generally a bit too Beltway-corporate.
Just by showing up on a sunny Sunday he could have been spending with his family in Maryland, Hoyer made it clear that this is a winnable race.
But he also brought $2,500 each from himself and Rahm Emanuel, and pledged $14,000 more from his PAC.
Professional politicians like Hoyer don't waste that kind of money on hopeless races.
Hoyer talked about how the economy, no matter how you measure it -- jobs, median income, the stock market -- has done substantially worse under Bush I and Bush II than it did under Clinton.
When he asked how the market has done under Bush II, I gave a thumbs-down. He saw that, and said, no, it had gone up a measly 6 percent over Bush II's five-and-a-half years, compared to the 200-plus percent under Clinton.
I believe I was essentially right -- since that 6 percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been more than outpaced by inflation and the 30 percent or so devaluation of the dollar under Bush II.
This was the first time I'd seen Gillibrand in person, and she's as impressive as I'd heard.
Speaking without notes, she was eloquent in calling for rational tax policies, preserving Social Security, deductions for college tuition, energy independence as economic development, and a Murthaish exit strategy from Iraq, with no permanent bases or stealing Iraq's oil.
She's not a Fighting Dem, but she's a fighting Dem and really a great candidate -- smart, articulate, hard-working and attractive.
Plus, she's raised almost $1 million so far.
The 20th is drawn to be a tough district for Democrats, like every Republican district in the country.
But, like the 20th, many Republican-represented NY districts (3 [King], 13 [Fossella], 19 [Kelly], 23 [McHugh], 24 [open, Boehlert retired], 25 [Walsh], 26 [Reynolds], 29 [Kuhl], also) are in play this year for one basic political reason beyond the unpopularity of the Worst President Ever.
The Dems are poised to win every statewide race by landslide margins (Spitzer for governor, whoever for attorney general, Hevesi for comptroller and Clinton for senator).
No other state has such top-of-the-ticket power that will help Congressional challengers.
The Dems need 15 takeovers to win back the House; at least three of those can easily come from NY.
So, please send some Kossack love to Gillibrand, and also to Michael Arcuri in the 24th and Eric Massa in the 29th.