Well let's look at his voting record and see how many times he voted to raise our taxes and to impose fees on the residents if he voted against them the he won't be a tax and spend Savage yes man.
For Release: July 16, 2008 Contact: Joe Salamone, Working Families Party Candidate for 105th Assembly District, 881-5154
SALAMONE ASKS: IS THE BLANCHFIELD CAMPAIGN TRYING TO DISENFRANCHISE WORKING FAMILY PARTY VOTERS?
Joe Salamone (WF-Rotterdam) – lifelong Schenectady resident, proud Working Families Party member and candidate for the 105th Assembly District – today raised questions concerning the possible involvement of Democrat Mark Blanchfield's campaign in an effort to disenfranchise Working Families Party voters throughout Schenectady and Montgomery counties by trying to stop his grassroots candidacy.
Yesterday, an objection was officially filed against Salamone in his bid for Assembly. Salamone had recently submitted petitions to run for the 105th Assembly District on the Working Families Party Line, Row E. Salamone, who is currently serving his second term on the Mohonasen School Board, has the distinction of being the youngest person ever elected as a member of a School board in New York State.
"That some sort of effort is underway to try and stop my grassroots candidacy and potentially disenfranchise my fellow Working Family Party members is truly disheartening. It goes against every tenet of our democracy, and reflects the very worst of New York's closed political system that has silenced the voices, views and opinions of the working men and women of this state for far too long. Am I upset? You bet," Salamone said.
"I've been a member – a proud member – of the Working Families Party since I was first eligible to vote. My grassroots candidacy is all about speaking up for the working men and women throughout the 105th Assembly District, the people who work hard and play by the rules. Their cause is my fight, their concerns are my agenda. It'd be an honor to serve as their voice," Salamone said.
"Does Mark Blanchfield's campaign have a hand in engineering this political dirty trick to try and get me kicked-off the ballot? Let me put it this way: while the gun may not be smoking, it's still pretty warm, Salamone said.
"If Mark Blanchfield and his campaign weren't involved in this attempt to try and deny me – and by extension, my bothers and sisters in the Working Families Party – an opportunity to participate in the democratic process, then I'm sure they'll publicly disavow this effort and do the responsible thing by calling on the individual who filed the objection to formally withdraw it," Salamone said.
"Maybe their campaign doesn't believe in an election process that's fair, open and consistent with our democratic ideals. If that is the case, then shame on them. Is the Blanchfield machine trying to prevent me from appearing on the ballot because they are afraid of criticism over Mr. Blanchfield's record as City Council President? Possibly. Either way, the Blanchfield campaign should apologize to Working Families Party members in the 105th Assembly District who could be denied a chance vote for one of their own this fall all because of a political dirty trick," Salamone concluded.
Ahhhh....a new contender for the Assembly Seat Race. I don't know much about his politics, but I hear he's pretty good on the school board at Mohon.
Quoted Text
Is the Blanchfield machine trying to prevent me from appearing on the ballot because they are afraid of criticism over Mr. Blanchfield's record as City Council President? Possibly. Either way, the Blanchfield campaign should apologize to Working Families Party members in the 105th Assembly District who could be denied a chance vote for one of their own this fall all because of a political dirty trick," Salamone concluded.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Schenectady politics!! As far as 'political dirty tricks'...the Schenectady dems have a bag full of them. And although I don't quite agree with the WFP ideology, since they remind me of a spin off of the dems with the union associations, I wish ya luck kid! Everyone should have the right to be a part of the political process if they so choose.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Thanks for your kind words, bumblethru. I wish everyone shared your sentiments about getting involved in the political process. Although, the good news is they have decided to not file specifications, meaning that if all goes well, I'll be on the ballot for the Working Families for the Primary!!
Can you tell me Mr S if in deed you share the radical leftist views of Lola Furlani the woman in NY who started this whole she-bang? So no what you are telling me over here is that you are an alternative to Amedore and that one, Blanchard who is on the city council? I am generally for Amedore but I feel like he got caved in on the metrolplex thing where him and Jimmy T voted to do the dirty deal of giving metrolplex the extra money to pass out to the big shots downtown, like G_lesi, Mal_ozi and the rest. This the hard earned money of me and my wife and children and we dont like what Georgie did, but in a million and a 1/2 years would never vote for the guy over there with the increased taxes each year and the shootings and the killings. Anyone who is in-charge over there, he has ho claim to run on the assembly.
Can you tell me Mr S if in deed you share the radical leftist views of Lola Furlani the woman in NY who started this whole she-bang?
I'm not sure if I know who "Lola Furlani" is? I've never heard of her, and couldn't find any info about her online. However, I do not share in any "radical leftist views."
Who the heck is Lola Furlani? Is that the same Lola from Barry Manalow's The Coppacabana?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
well she was a radical down there in NYC many years ago when my sister lived over there and we heard all about her and I am sorry if you dont know her but I will say that the group is usually left wing and I need to know more from Mr S about what he proposes to support over there in Albany if he gets in and beat the other 2.
Mr S - what would you do about Metrolpex and its runway spending???? What about abortion, gay marriage and death penalty?
"That some sort of effort is underway to try and stop my grassroots candidacy and potentially disenfranchise my fellow Working Family Party members is truly disheartening. It goes against every tenet of our democracy, and reflects the very worst of New York's closed political system that has silenced the voices, views and opinions of the working men and women of this state for far too long. Am I upset? You bet," Salamone said
A half true statement????
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
How can the views and opinions of the working men and women be silenced when there are unions out there representing just about every industry known to man? Unions are the largest or at least one of the largest lobbying groups that pander and contribute to the government. Would the WFP also allow such pandering from the unions?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
All’s fair in love, war and politics, the saying goes, and while Joe Salamone’s effort to get on the ballot as a Working Families Party candidate in the 105th Assembly District is accompanied by more than a whiff of partisan politics, it doesn’t mean there’s anything illegal about it. As usual, the best advice for voters is caveat emptor. As a story in Thursday’s Gazette detailed, Salamone surfaced rather unexpectedly last week as a candidate for the seat currently held by Republican/Conservative George Amedore. Until Salamone submitted his petitions, Amedore’s only challenger was Schenectady Councilman Mark Blanchfield, a Democrat who also has the endorsement of the Independence and Working Families Parties. While a Blanchfield backer has filed a general objection to Salamone’s petitions, unless he can find fatal flaws in at least 16 of the 39 signatures submitted, Blanchfi eld will have to run in a primary for the Working Family line. Salamone, 21, insists that even though he never asked to be interviewed for the Working Families endorsement, his candidacy is for real — not merely a Republican strategy to deny Blanchfield the Working Family line on November’s ballot, as Blanchfield claims. Indeed, Salamone has been a registered Working Families voter for three years. But Republicans (as well as Democrats) dating back to Frank Duci’s days in politics have tried using the party as a way to get their names on the ballot more times than their major-party opponents — or to deny their major-party opponents the opportunity to do the same. Basically, it’s a big game. That certainly seems to be the case here, given how Michael Cuevas — a longtime GOP functionary who currently serves as counsel for Assembly Republicans and who ran for mayor of Schenectady last year — is listed as a contact on Salamone’s campaign; and given how one of the people who helped Salamone collect signatures was Stephanie Tommasone, the daughter of Rotterdam’s Republican supervisor, Steve Tommasone. The elder Tommasone is another of the county’s many Republicans who has run in the past for the Working Families line. So-called third-party candidacies have a long tradition in American politics, and there’s nothing wrong with them — except when major-party candidates use end-runs to hijack them for their political ends. Whether that’s really what’s happening here, voters will have to decide for themselves.
Don't ya just love the unbiased gazette? They failed to mention exactly 'who' or 'what party' has been collecting petitions for the conservs...Why the dems, of course.
Isn't it just incredibly amazing how both the dems and reps are behind the scenes on political parties that share absolutely NOTHING in their ideology. Like we have all said before, you just can't tell the difference between the parties anymore! Shame!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The fact of the matter is, this is the first time in recent history (maybe ever) that a Working Families Party candidate is running on the Working Families line. Be it for town, county or statewide races, the state Working Families party consistently endorses Democratic candidates in this area. The Working Families agenda, while often labeled as "liberal" and "leftist," should NOT be used as a Republican or Democratic tool, as it has been.
It is a macro approach to reform at the state level with regards to education, taxes, labor laws, etc. Their message, if delivered ACCURATELY by true party members, serves to benefit both union and non-union workers, as well as all others in this state.
All along, it apparently hasn't been an issue for the Republicans or Democrats that the line, and the party, have been used as nothing more than a leverage tool. For the FIRST TIME, a party member is seeking office on the line and it is regarded as a conspiracy and a scam.
Regardless of what the press (and high-ranking democratic officials) decide to weigh in on with respect to the situation, I stand firm in the fact that for the first time, a true party member is running on the line, and preventing it from being hijacked. THAT would be a true disservice to the working families of this district.
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