MARREN: Cole’s the best option? Really?

Columns

May 25, 2008

By Tim Marren<br><a href="mailto:marrent@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Tim</a> The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Sun May 25, 2008, 01:44 AM EDT

After returning from Albany a few days ago, I thought I had my brain sucked out by the politicians and negativity abounding in the state Capitol.

Now I’m starting to wonder if some Republican committeemen had a lobotomy as well.

Mike Cole won the Republican endorsement to return to Albany as an Assemblyman in the 142nd District. Huh? I know Mike Cole is a pretty common name, but we are talking about the guy who slept on an intern’s floor when he had too much to drink after watching a Sabres playoff game in 2007, right?

Man, what does this say about the committeemen who voted for him? It’s not as if there wasn’t another candidate to choose from. Clarence businesswoman Jane Corwin kicked off her Republican campaign last month. She got a few endorsements along the way as well. Lockport Mayor Mike Tucker was one of them, as well as the Republican committee chairs from Niagara and Erie counties.

If Cole got the nod, albeit a slim one, what’s in Corwin’s closet that scared those committeemen? Probably nothing, but this guy beat her out? Come on.

I always thought the goal of politicians was to put a candidate out there it believes has the best chance to beat the competition. Cole may have won part of his party, but he’s certainly not the best candidate. And that’s my opinion without even meeting Corwin. She has no Albany experience and she’s already ahead of the guy who may have gotten a little too much experience.

Now, I agree that there’s something to be said for forgiveness and second chances, but this case has always been different. Cole may have gotten forgiveness from his wife and family — heck, his own father-in-law seconded his bid for Republican support among the party committee — but let’s not forget that forgiveness was not shown to the intern involved in the Cole mess. She was canned. Not much forgiveness in that, and she was not guilty in the first place, according to reports.

“It takes a man to admit he made a mistake,” said Bob Johnston, a Royalton Republican who voted for Cole at the committee meeting. “If his family can forgive him, everybody else should be able to, too.”

I’m not so sure about that. He’s representing a heck of a lot of people in his district. I’m not sure how forgiving they’ll be of a guy who landed on an intern’s floor.

Then again, it’s New York, we’ve re-elected a lot worse.

To be honest, I feel for his wife and kids. By running again he’s bringing the scandal back into light. It’s going to be the talk of that race, certainly in a potential primary and, if necessary, much more drastically in a general election. “His opponent, whether it’s another Republican or, maybe, a Democrat now, could go negative on him in a second, and it wouldn’t be pretty,” said Tucker, who has supported Corwin.

He should have ridden off into the sunset when the scandal broke. He absolutely could have decided to not seek re-election, even if he stayed in office immediately after the incident.

Being in the minority, Cole isn’t all that effective to begin with. If Democrats continue to control the Assembly, it’ll be the case again if any Republican wins. That, coupled with downstate’s dominance in Albany, makes me wonder if we shouldn’t just wave the white flag.

It just scares me to think that if and when upstate starts waving that flag, it’ll be in Mike Cole’s hand.

Managing Editor Tim Marren’s column appears every Sunday. He blogs daily at lockportjournal.com/blogs. He can be reached at 439-9222, ext. 6238, or marrent@gnnewspaper.com.

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