UPDATED on Primary Day
Yes I know that it is the day before the Democratic primary, but I wanted to share this part my weekly column with you which will be in Thursday's Bronx News. Did the Riverdale Press endorse Oliver Koppell as is implied in one of the Koppell mailings, or did Oliver Koppell try to deceive the voters.
Riverdale
Report
By
Robert Press
Senator
Klein Re-Elected
While this column
is being written before Primary day 2014 the headline should be
correct. I say it that way, because in the 34th
State Senate race challenger Oliver Koppell turned into almost
everything that he had accused Senator Klein of being. From the very
first word in the debates to the mailings by candidate Oliver Koppell
he attacked Senator Jeff Klein since Oliver Koppell had no record to
run on. Senator Klein did not have enough time in the debates or room
on his mailings to extol his proven track record, which reached new
heights for the 34th
Senate District, New York City, and New York State in the past two
years. He has proven that he deserves to be re-elected and received
the endorsement of almost everyone, and almost every union.
In a mailing from
candidate Koppell that disturbed me the most there was the four page
review of his endorsements all 11 or 12 that is, if the Riverdale
Press really endorsed candidate Koppell. The list is unimpressive
especially with Betsy Gotbaum who had to be the worse Public
Advocate, and the reason then Mayor Bloomberg wanted to get rid of
the office at the top. There is a photo of candidate Koppell at a
rally, but it is of candidate Koppell running for Attorney General
with the words State Senate under the photo. By the way Oliver
Koppell was never elected Attorney General he was anointed by the New
York State Assembly to fill the vacant position. The words 'Vote to
end corruption in Albany' are also below of the AG photo, and we see
how good a job AG Koppell did.
As for the
Riverdale Press endorsement, the back page of the mailing has the New
York Times endorsement – 'We enthusiastically support Mr. Koppel in
this district'. Right under the New York Times endorsement is the
Riverdale Press editorial 'Editorial: The honorable Mr. Koppell',
with the words at the bottom of the page saying 'On September 9th
Vote for Oliver Koppell.' In checking the September 4th
Riverdale Press (the last before Tuesday's Democratic primary) the
headline of the editorial reads 'Yes, you must vote.' In the very
last paragraph they say that never endorse a candidate, and upon
rechecking the Koppell mailer carefully I noticed the date of the
Riverdale Press supposedly endorsement is November 7, 2013. Also in
the September 4th
paper however are two half page ads for candidate Koppell that appear
in no other local newspaper. One on the back page, and one on the
page opposite the editorial where letters to the editor are usually
found. The question is did the Riverdale Press silently endorse
Oliver Koppell as its many articles the past weeks would also
indicate, or did candidate Oliver Koppell try to device the voters
into thinking that the paper had endorsed him?
UPDATE PRIMARY DAY 2014.
That's 81st A.D. District Leader Bruce Feld on the left, State Senator Jeff Klein in the middle, and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz on the right talking to a voter who has come to vote at the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy a.k.a. MS/HS 141 the largest poll site in Riverdale. Senator Klein's opponent Oliver Koppell can be seen in the background. Voting was the usual light at 10 AM time.
I asked candidate Oliver Koppell about the mailing described above and Koppell had no comment. Also at the poll site was the associate editor of the Riverdale Press who said that the newspaper does not endorse candidates. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said he was shocked by the mailing and it does appear that Koppell is trying to deceive the voters in the mailing. Senator Klein did not want to comment on the record.
1 comment:
The election is tomorrow how can you say Klein won the election today?
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