Is Congressional Campaign Damaging Arcuri’s Reputation? April 9, 2006
Posted by arcuristay in General, Help Arcuri, campaign strategy.3 comments
I saw a comment over on another blog today that caused me great concern for Michael Arcuri’s reputation:
“Mike Arcuri, who could have been a credible candidate, has lost a lot of that with the idiotic support of the DCCC, who are not us, with the utterly parochial support of his home county, and with the fact he is not willing to resign and run full time for the job.”
I have great respect for the job that Michael Arcuri has done for us as our district attorney. That’s why I’m concerned to see this kind of comment.
What is the congressional campaign doing to Mr. Arcuri’s reputation?
A few months ago, it seemed that Michael Arcuri was riding high. He could do no wrong in the eyes of the voters, and we were all happy to help him get elected to what we thought would be another full term in office.
But now? Now, people are starting either to have pity for Michael Arcuri, or show contempt for him.
I’m really worried that Mr. Arcuri just wasn’t prepared for the congressional election. It seems that Mr. Arcuri has just hit a brick wall lately.
The competition against other Democrats has led to some pretty dirty dealings, and I worry that Arcuri’s reputation as someone with integrity is beginning to get tarnished.
What if Michael Arcuri doesn’t win the Democratic nomination or the general election?
Arcuri will return to the District Attorney’s office as someone who is weakened, publicly humiliated, and made inferior by his opponents. And the reputation of Oneida County Democrats will take a hit.
Let’s see the bigger picture, please. Michael Arcuri makes a great District Attorney, but he just isn’t a good congressional candidate. Let’s bring Arcuri back home before he causes permanent damage to his once sterling status in our community.
Can Michael Arcuri Campaign Effectively on Weekends? March 31, 2006
Posted by arcuristay in General, campaign strategy.add a comment
After an initial rush of attention coming from Mike Arcuri’s campaign announcement and the announcement of Sherwood Boehlert’s retirement, the pendulum in the press has swung away from the Arcuri for Congress campaign. The Les Roberts for Congress campaign is able to note that prestigious congressional newletter The Hill sees Les Roberts as the Democratic candidate with the most momentum in the New York 24th District congressional primary race.
Political writer Elana Schor notes: “now that the seat looks more competitive, public-health analyst Les Roberts looks to have a leg up over the three other Democrats likely to run for Boehlert’s seat. Roberts, a former employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had nearly $48,000 in his campaign coffers as of the beginning of this year, according to Federal Election Commission disclosure reports, while fellow Democrats Jeff Miller and Michael Arcuri reported $5,000 and zero cash on hand, respectively. Two other Democratic contenders, teacher Bruce Tytler and attorney Leon Koziol, have launched campaigns but have not yet released fundraising data.”
This shift in positive away from Arcuri and towards Roberts is a troubling sign for Arcuri’s campaign, but good news for those of us Democrats in Oneida County who just want Arcuri to remain our District Attorney, and fulfill his promises to us.
It seems that after flirting with the idea of full-time campaigning, Michael Arcuri is returning to his work as District Attorney, letting his congressional campaign go slack.
Michael Arcuri’s small group of supporters now need to ask themselves the obvious and reasonable questions: Can the Arcuri for Congress campaign really compete on evenings and weekends. Is Michael Arcuri capable of giving the congressional campaign his full attention after putting in a full day’s work? How will Michael Arcuri be able to fend off the increasingly strong Les Roberts campaign, when Arcuri has to be at the office all day, taking care of his public obligations?
Has Michael Arcuri become exhausted from the effort of campaigning and working full time simultaneously? Has his local support been maxxed out? How will Arcuri manage to survive in the primary race for another five months, and then, if he’s lucky, go another two months more with the Republicans pummelling him down?
Shouldn’t Mike Arcuri Be Working For Us, Instead of Playing Politics? March 23, 2006
Posted by arcuristay in Arcuri Do Your Job!, General.add a comment
This morning, over at the blog Take Back New York’s 24th, someone asked in a comment:
“Shouldn’t Arcuri be worrying about one of the biggest investigations Oneida County has seen in decades (the herendious murder of a local hero, Officer Joe Corr) and not playing political games, like running for Congress?”
The clear answer is: YES.
Just five months ago, we elected Michael Arcuri to be our District Attorney. He promised us he would be our DA, but now it seems that Arcuri thinks he’s better than that.
Instead of doing the job that he promised to do, Mr. Arcuri is now running over all over the place, meeting with “important people”, instead of serving the people who elected him to public office. The District Attorney’s office is not just some kind of convenient stepping stone for ambitious people who want to leave Utica and Oneida County behind for Washington, D.C. We need someone who can be a full-time District Attorney, not someone who is a full-time candidate, and our District Attorney on the side.
If Mike Arcuri was tired of being the DA for Oneida County, and wanted to run for Congress, then he should not have run for re-election, and should have let another good Democrat run in his place.
Arcuri: Will the next DA be a Democrat? February 7, 2006
Posted by arcuristay in General, We Worked for Mike Arcuri.5 comments
Four terms as District Attorney have been given to Mike Arcuri for a reason. Michael Arcuri has worked hard to earn the respect of everyone in Oneida County. He’s smart, tough, and has proven himself dedicated to the citizens of Oneida County.
That dedication seems to be faltering, however, with the creation of an Arcuri for Congress campaign. Just a few weeks after we got Arcuri back in office for a fourth term, he is now looking to leave Oneida County behind. His ambition wants him to go Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., hundreds of miles away from the people who have worked to make him an unbeatable District Attorney candidate.
Well, what’s next? What if Mike Arcuri wins against Sherwood Boehlert?
Will our next DA be a Democrat? The odds are not good.
Will the next Oneida County District Attorney even be elected? An appointed replacement would mock democracy.
What if there is an election? Is Oneida County now to pay the bill of a special election just because Michael Arcuri has ambitions bigger than Oneida County? Can we afford that?
Furthermore, can Oneida County afford a District Attorney who is too busy campaigning for Congress to actually do his job for us? We all know how much work has to go into a congressional campaign. Does Mike Arcuri really expect us to believe that he can be a DA and a congressional candidate at the same time?
The chances are, if Michael Arcuri really runs for Congress, he will fail at one of his jobs. He either will fail us as our District Attorney, or he will fail us as a congressional candidate. Even worse, Michael Arcuri might fail at both, trying to do too much at one time.
Michael Arcuri, you have my respect, so please, listen to reason for a moment. Leave the congressional campaign to someone who actually has the time to run for office. Stay with us here in Oneida County. We love having you as our DA. Don’t go. Stay.
Mike Arcuri Stay, Sherwood Boehlert Go Away! February 2, 2006
Posted by arcuristay in General, Sherwood Boehlert Must Go!.add a comment
Let me be clear. We at Arcuri Stay Our DA do not support Sherwood Boehlert, or any other Republican candidate. We believe in the ideals of the Democratic candidate, and are committed to supporting a Democratic candidate for Congress in 2006, to represent New York State’s 24th district in the
We just do not want that candidate to be our District Attorney, Michael Arcuri.
We believe that Michael Arcuri owes it to the people of Oneida County to serve out his full term as Oneida County’s District Attorney. It does not do for him to start running for another office just one month after we worked to re-elect him.
Sherwood Boehlert has become tarnished with his association with the worst of the Republican right wing in the House of Representatives. His record voting along with Tom DeLay is a source of shame for us. Boehlert voted for the Iraq War in the absence of evidence for a need. He has failed since to admit his mistake. Boehlert has voted for the Paris Hilton tax break, giving special loopholes to the heirs of multimillion dollar fortunes.
Sherwood Boehlert has also been a sad failure as an advocate for the 24th District in Congress. Most of his efforts have been blocked, and year after year he has lost stature in the House of Representatives. This year, Congressman Boehlert is losing his one saving grace, the leadership of the Science Committee. It seems he won’t get a replacement leadership position in compensation, but will be forced to go sit with the freshmen members of Congress, with no real power to help us out.
I recently read that Representative Boehlert’s plan for economic development in the 24th District is to promote the expansion of the Family Dollar business. Really, is more dollar stores the best kind of economic development that Sherwood Boehlert can bring us? That’s not good enough. We deserve better.
Mike Arcuri, Stay Our DA! February 2, 2006
Posted by arcuristay in General, We Worked for Mike Arcuri.add a comment
We created Arcuri Stay because we Oneida County Democrats have worked hard to elect Michael Arcuri as our District Attorney, and we do not want to have to start our work all over again just because District Attorney Arcuri has some personal ambitions that he thinks are more important than our needs.
Michael Arcuri has been good for us. He’s a great D.A., and we need him here in Oneida County, not running around campaigning to leave us and go off to Washington, D.C.
There is a promise inherent in a campaign. When Mike Arcuri campaigned in 2005 to be re-elected as District Attorney, he led us all to believe that he would actually be our District Attorney. Now, is that promise to be broken?
Just one month after Michael Arcuri ran for District Attorney, he turned his back on us, and filed papers as a candidate for United States Congress. That’s not what he told us he would do.
We volunteered. We gave our money. We voted. We did what we were supposed to do.
Now, it’s time for Michael Arcuri to do what he is supposed to do. Stay our District Attorney.
A promise is a promise.
