So it's over. Two demographically unrepresentative states that will not be in play in November have spoken – well at least the relatively few voters who participated in those states have spoken. Trump is the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party. Republicans in the other 48 states can rest up.
None of that is a surprise. Trump's takeover of the Republican Party has sucked all the oxygen out the party. His grievance laden campaign is about the past – mostly his past – and his future outlook is focused on his legal problems. Issues will be mostly irrelevant in 2024 or simply used for bumper-sticker slogans and stump speeches. His recent efforts to stymie potential bi-partisan immigration reform legislation demonstrates his cynicism about actually getting anything positive done about this critical matter.
His presence at the head of the Republican ticket will cast a shadow on every other candidate of the party on the national, state, and local levels. While they cannot escape that shadow, some candidates might not enjoy or benefit from it.
On the local front there are some interesting fights brewing among Republicans:
- In Assembly District 142, represented by Democrat Pat Burke, the Republican Party leadership has endorsed Marc Priore, an employee in the Sheriff's Department. A party rookie, Joe Flatley, is promising a primary challenge. He is supported by Carl Paladino. Flatley has alleged that the party executive committee ran a "Soviet-style internal policing" operation at the meeting that allowed him to speak for only 30 seconds while Priore and other candidate spoke and answered questions extensively for attendees.
- Assembly District 147 is currently represented by Republican David DiPietro, who has held the position since 2013. Legislating is not his thing. Mitch Martin, a member of Sheriff John Garcia's administrative staff, is planning to take on DiPietro. The end result of this upcoming primary will not affect the makeup of the Assembly but it will be interesting to watch. The party leadership is deferring to committee members of the district to choose an endorsee, but that does not seem likely to end the possibility of a primary fight.
- At the same party meeting that endorsed Priore and an opponent for Democratic Assemblywoman Monica Wallace, Senator Pat Gallivan was also endorsed. But the interesting news out of that meeting is that the party did not select its candidate for Erie County District Attorney. The only identified possible candidate is James Gardner, an attorney presently employed by County Judge Kenneth Case. Gardner is reportedly telling party leaders that he is prepared to spend $500,000 of his own money on the race. In addition, Gardner has indicated that he intends to hire Chris Grant's Big Dog Strategies to assist in the campaign. Word on the street is that the employment of Grant did not sit well with some party leaders, who reportedly suggested that Gardner should instead use a different consulting firm. Gardner, the story goes, met with that consultant and decided that the firm would not be helpful enough for him. Thus, for the moment at least, there will be a short delay in the party endorsement for DA while folks sort out which consultant will make a bundle of money on the race.
- You cannot discuss the Republican turmoil in Erie County without noting the role of their regular partners, the Conservative Party. Gardner is a registered Conservative. Would the Conservatives jump the endorsement gun and try to prompt action by the Republicans? Would it matter? Are there still hard feelings left over from last year's fight for the seat in County Legislature's 10th District?
One side note to the above observations: two Assembly candidates in the expected primaries are employees of Sheriff Garcia. While perhaps they might take a leave of absence to run their campaigns, it appears that the Sheriff has in one way or another taken an interest in Republican Party politics that extends beyond his own office. Garcia, as reported in a previous post, has amassed a campaign treasury of $233,862, having raised $194,354 in 2023. Something going on there?
Fighting among the Republicans, be it nationally or locally, leaves less time for what comes next. Democrats on all levels, of course, have had fights over the years. In my decades-long participation and observation of such things, however, there has rarely been a period in time when the Erie County Democratic Party was more united than they are now. Nationally there are challenges for the Democratic ticket. There is also, however, an uncurrent of resistance demonstrated by the someone-other-than-Trump Republicans. Fasten your seat belts for a rocky 2024
The Bills at the bye bye week
So another season ends with a knockout by the Kansas City Chiefs. One more that could have gone either way if just a play or two or three went differently.
The Bills are still loaded with talent but the age, big contracts, and in some cases, lack of achievements of some team members during the 2023 season means that there will be many new faces in 2024. The team is considerably over the salary cap which will limit its ability to re-sign unrestricted free agents as well as any available new talent. Drafting late in each round of the 2024 draft also creates challenges.
And what about the coaching staff? Sean McDermott's judgment has rightly been questioned on many occasions, but there will not be a change in who the Head Coach is. Joe Brady is officially the offensive coordinator. Whether he is really better than Ken Dorsey remains to be seen. Relieving McDermott of the defensive coordinator responsibilities seems likely.
Peyton Manning did not win a Super Bowl until he was nearly 31, several years older than Josh Allen is now. Other star quarterbacks got there even later than Manning. The window of Super Bowl opportunities for the Bills isn't closing yet, perhaps not for many years, but that doesn't make the loss to the Chiefs any less disappointing.
A Bills-Lions Super Bowl would have been fun.
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