There is a lot being written about the Owens Scozzafava Hoffman race. For many of us on the progressive-side here in the North Country, it was a big deal for McHugh to step down from his seat. Finally, an opportunity for a Democrat to be competitive. If a Democrat would be elected, we might not have the District chopped up into fragments after the next census – a very real possibility, and devastating for us in terms of loss of regional political power.
I was not happy when Owens was selected by the party chairs, and I was not alone – there was a lot of muttering about voting for Dede Scozzafava here in St. Lawrence County soon after Owens was picked. My sense is that now the momentum is swinging toward Owens. Perhaps not with great enthusiasm, but Hoffman is scary and poor Dede is proven to be an inept campaigner and quite willing to pander to the Grover Norquist wing of the Republican base. Who hate her regardless.
Anyway, I have read a lot of blather about how conservative and remote the district is. Well, I suppose it is, but it is more complicated. In this part of the district, in the largest county east of the Mississippi, the county government is majority Democrat, the State Assembly(wo)man is Democrat, the State Senator is Democrat, we have give the majority of votes to the two Democratic candidates in the last US Senate elections, and the majority of votes went to Obama. People love Hillary Rodham Clinton up here – when she was Senator, she actually paid attention to the region. The largest cities in the district (Watertown, Plattsburgh) have in recent years had mayors that are Democrats or log-cabin Republicans.
We are said to be the sticks, but I live 90 minutes from Ottawa, the national capital of the US’s largest trade partner. In some parts of the district, you can drive to Ottawa, Montreal, or Burlington in under an hour.
In my part of the district, there is a large contingent of the most conservative branch of Amish Mennonites, and lots of progressive hippie ‘back-to-lander’ farmsteads. We have tiny struggling dairy farms and large struggling heavy industry. Turning the dial on the radio, one will hear English, French, and Mohawk. We have lots of places that look like the movie ‘Frozen River’ (which was filmed here and about this area) and ‘Afflicted’ or the ‘Sweet Hereafter’ (Russell Banks lives in the district) but we also have Lake Placid. A large chunk of the district is ‘forever-wild’ forest within the Adirondack Park, which is larger than Yellowstone – Yosemite – and Grand Canyon national parks combined, and has one of the most innovative (albeit highly controversial and not altogether successful) comprehensive planning and land use regulations in the US. The district encompasses the Adirondack Mountains, eastern Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, the Thousand Islands, and Lake Champlain – in other words, one of the most beautiful areas in the US, and long a tourist destination. Yet, what is perceived as are most important assets are our many state and federal prisons (we seem to be the substitute for Siberia), and Fort Drum.
The NY-23 election is for national office, and it is drawing attention from people who could never find it on a map. Indeed, few who are endorsing one or the other candidate will actually visit the district (Obama’s fundraiser in New York City was about 4 hours from the southern border of the district). Things get crazier by the day. When you read about NY-23, keep in mind that the district is much more complicated than the simple ‘conservative boondocks’ characterization that has been propagated, well, everywhere. And that it will be quite a milestone when Owens wins this district, and becomes the first Democrat to represent us in some parts of the district (including my section) since the Franklin Pierce administration.