Journal News Endorses Hall, States the Non-Partisan Case

Written by: Alan Goldston on Oct 29, 2006 10:37 AM EST

Linked to groups: Democracy For Westchester

In past years, the Journal News, the major paper in Westchester, has been a sometimes tepid supporter of Sue Kelly. Not anymore. In an editorial in today's paper, the Journal News eloquently states the non-partisan case for John Hall, and gives him its endorsement.

Pass this along to your fence-sitting friends.

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The Journal News

Our choice for 19th Congressional District
(Original publication: October 29, 2006)

Republican Sue Kelly of Katonah describes herself as "a quiet leader.'' Her opponent, Democrat John Hall, calls himself a "creative'' one. Kelly looks to her 12 years representing the 19th Congressional District in Washington as productive ones, bringing "a lot of money home'' to the district and working very hard on behalf of constituents. Hall wants change, to end "government for sale" and to "get Washington working for our families again.''

We believe that residents of the far-flung district, which spans the Lower Hudson Valley, want the same thing. We recommend Hall, a musician-activist and former school district and local-government official, to district voters in the Nov. 7 election. Driving our call for change: Need for more independence, more critical thinking, less slaving devotion to party ideology - and party mistakes. Kelly has offered none of this.

Since 1994, when the Republicans' "Contract With America'' was made - and since broken - Kelly has been the consummate GOP soldier, loyally marching in step and even quickening the pace with George Bush in the White House. While our Editorial Board has variously applauded some of Kelly's efforts - for instance, on behalf of the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Montrose - it has not been without reservation. We have been increasingly weary and distressed by her uncritical assessment of the Iraq war - at junctures where a frank assessment by the GOP faithful might actually have altered policy and saved lives.

We similarly have been disappointed by her utter lack of concern about well-chronicled excesses under the "war on terror" and Patriot Act; we have lamented her lack of concern about Washington fiscal policies (she once attributed record-high deficits to bad weather); we have been disappointed as she opposed a federal ban on some assault weapons; we have lamented her lukewarm notice of the need for campaign-finance reform. We are long past tired of being disappointed. For a change, this time, there is a suitable alternative.

Hall understands the disappointment felt by voters. He advocates a planned withdrawal of American troops from Iraq; Kelly is waiting for a high-profile study team to recommend changes. Hall sees universal health coverage as a way out of the nation's high-cost medical-care crisis. He wants to invest in new technologies as part of a national energy policy. And he has a history of grass-roots fighting to protect the environment - well beyond singing about it. The Kelly campaign has enjoyed mocking him for his activist roots.

Due to redistricting, the 19th District's borders in 2002 morphed from northern Westchester and all of Putnam, expanding north to cover most of Dutchess County, traveling through northern Rockland County, then gobbling up most of Orange County all the way to the New Jersey and Pennsylvania borders. The district is a fascinating mix of suburban wealth, rural quiet, farmland and small-town struggles. While not quite a microcosm of New York state - the district lacks big cities and their problems - the 19th does bridge upstate with downstate, even reflecting "middle America'' and its struggles. Hall, who served as a school board trustee and president, and in the Ulster County Legislature, today lives in Dover Plains in Dutchess County.

In 2002 and 2004, Kelly faced inexperienced challengers as she sought another two-year term. Not this year. As a sign of fomenting demand for change in the 19th district, Democrats held a hotly contested primary with four people eager to take on Kelly. Hall emerged head and shoulders above his opponents, who quickly threw him their support. In her few appearances with Hall this campaign, Kelly charged him with wanting to raise taxes, which he has denied. In fact, he said he would support tax increases targeted at oil companies that have made record profits at consumers' expense.

On immigration, Kelly said more attention must be paid to securing the Canada border. She supported legislation to build a wall to stem illegal immigration from Mexico, and backs the Bush administration's proposed guest laborer plan to let immigrants work in the U.S. temporarily. Hall said he would not back amnesty for all illegal immigrants, but said he would support a compromise that would lead to citizenship for some, especially families with American-born children. Hall opposes construction of a wall along the Mexico border, likening it to the Berlin Wall, a symbol, he said, that would further damage the U.S. image abroad.

For a while, the Hall campaign sought to link Kelly to the sex scandal involving House pages and former Rep. Mark Foley, the Florida Republican who was forced to resign Sept. 29; some of the allegations coincided with Kelly's term as chairwoman of the Page Board. She has denied knowing anything of Foley's conduct contemporaneous with her Page Board leadership, insisting that if she had known, she would have taken action. That scandal, still playing out, hardly informs our decision. There are more challenging problems facing our nation, the 19th Representative District, and the Lower Hudson Valley. We believe Hall is the better candidate to tackle them.

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Location: Westchester County, NY 10583