Running Scared

Spotted this morning on channel 13:   Joe Morelle's first TV ad in the campaign.

As predicted, the Assemblyman's campaigning as a full-fledged political drag-queen, bursting out of the political closet right on TV.   Did you know that Joe's been a dedicated opponent of his own party's policies for the twenty years he's been in the Assembly, and has kept it a secret until now?

You know -- all the Albany policies that make New York's the worst state government in the country.   All the policies that Joe's party, and every one of its core constituencies, have cherished and supported for decades.

Including the decades Joe's been in the Assembly.   But he must be a reformer, because he's voted against the budget for the last two years!

See, that whole career's worth of votes for free-spending, high-taxing state budgets before the last two years, and that whole career's worth of voting for bad policies, or to extend them, or to make the damage they cause even worse   --   Joe was just pretending!   He really knew better all along, and just waited 20 years to let us in on the big secret!

Who knew?   Hey, whatever it takes to get to hang out with Shelly Silver, right?


Are Morelle's constituents dumb enough to fall for the reformer act?

If so, there's bad news and good news.   The bad news would be another two years of lousy representation.   The good news is that constituents so gullible would be qualified to run the Democrat and Chronicle or Unshackle Upstate, both of which, we may expect, will endorse Morelle despite their own calls for true reform, and despite Morelle's failing grade on the business group's legislative report card.

When a twenty-year incumbent like Morelle starts TV advertising this early, before his opponent starts, it means he's good and worried about his re-election.   Joe's running scared.   He should be.   He has a whole career to run away from.