Tea Party Extremist Running in NY 21

[adigal]

This has all of the hallmarks of an ugly race. Elise Stefanik, a 29 year old protege of Paul Ryan, is running for the seat Bill Owens recently announced he would give up this year. Owens won a hard fought battle for this seat in 2012, and has cited family reasons for not running. It's a shame, because he is a good man, and now the party has to start from the ground up.

Elise Stefanik, ex-Bush aide and Paul Ryan buddy, has been planning to run, but has picked up steam and endorsements since Owens' announcement. This is a conservative district, pulled together from NY 20 and 21. NY 20 was where Senator Gillibrand first ran, taking away Johm Sweeney's seat.

The DCCC has commented:

http://dccc.org/newsroom/entry/republicans_are_stuck_with_elise_stefanik_and_all_her_baggage/

Stefanik proudly wears the extreme conservative badge. She led Paul Ryan's debate preparation in the VP race, a fact she should try mightily to bury, given how disastrously he performed. Being an ex-Bush aide is another fact she should give some effort to hiding. But she has nothing else. She is young, brash and full of hubris. She would be a complete disaster for our district! I have actually given thought to running after hearing about her and her policies and friends.

Please keep your eye on this race. Other Republicans have declared their candidacy, but her ties to DC seem to be giving her an edge. We need the DCCC to tqrget NY 21 so funds can be raised to defeat this extremist. She is already traveling and collecting endorsements. This woman would be dangerous for our country.

[yeoman6987]

1. Sad

I say sad not because a Right Wing crazy is running for election. We will see this often. The reason I feel really sad about this is because of the age. 29! I know Ryan is mentioned in the article but he is 41 or 42 so he is older. I was hoping that people under 30 would not be so inclined to be part of this group. That is all I have to say about it, but I do feel sad.

[FiveGoodMen]

2. There were a lot of proud, young conservatives in the Reagan years

Our youth might be our future, but nothing guarantees they'll be better.

[yeoman6987]

3. I forgot about that

For some reason that was lost in my memory somewhere that there was a lot of Reagan young. Of course there were a ton of Reagan older people too. In fact, very few were against Reagan which was rather weird at the time and even more so now.

[RedCappedBandit]

5. Lots of twenty-something libertarian types in NY

It's pretty damn frustrating.

[adigal]

4. I was 18 when Ray-Gun was elected

I was in despair.