Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Limited Base Hindering Schroeder's efforts


About a month to go before the September Primaries and three before the general election. Three Countywide elections up for grab as well as the Buffalo Mayoral race. 

The mayor's race seems like a yawner. And that's not to take anything away from South Buffalo's Mark Schroeder. Trying to defeat a well funded, party-backed incumbent would be a daunting task for anyone. At a time when people view the city in a renaissance, even more challenging. 

I read Susan Schulman's financial report on the two candidates (spoiler Betty Jean Grant's candidacy is irrelevant) and was not surprised at this fact:

Almost $53,000 of the $115,600 Schroeder raised in the past six months comes from outside of Buffalo, with big chunks from Hamburg and Orchard Park, according to a Buffalo News analysis of the campaign reports.
http://buffalonews.com/2017/07/21/full-story-mayor-brown-raising-4-every-1-schroeder-gets/

I've been around long enough to know that people who donate to political campaigns do not do so out of the kindness of their hearts. They expect favors, and in this case, that means jobs for their children. Including certain jobs in which the job candidate is supposed to be a city resident. I've witnessed firsthand, several of these jobs go to children from political families. Former South Buffalo families who moved to the suburbs yet have no problem "buying" city jobs for their children. Nothing like having your cake and eating it too. 

Mark Schroeder is a great guy, but his tent is very small. His support within the city  appears to be limited to a few neighborhoods . Many work in government jobs and are content with the South Buffalo politicians. 

Nothing wrong with that. But the rest of the city (including large parts of South Buffalo) are not in this club and will be disinterested on Primary Day or voting for Brown. And despite dancing the Wobble, districts like Masten and Ellicott will be 80/20 for Brown. And that's an unscientific fact.

After a summer of campaigning against Brian Higgins for NY State Assembly and having everyone tell him they loved him only to vote for Higgins, it was the late Jimmy Griffin who remarked, "I've never met so many wonderful liars in my life."

As long as the tent remains small, those not in the South Buffalo` clique, will seek and find other tents elsewhere...





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