LEFFLER: Lee saga was over before it started

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Scott Leffler is night/city editor of the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal. Contact him at scott.leffler@lockportjournal.com.

February 21, 2011

The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Mon Feb 21, 2011, 12:32 AM EST

I don’t care what my elected officials do in their personal lives.

I didn’t care about Bill Clinton’s indiscretions. I didn’t care about Mike Cole’s sleeping arrangements. And I couldn’t care less about Chris Lee’ e-mail buddies.

I was disappointed last week to see that Chris Lee resigned his seat in Congress. I had grown to be a fan and I really thought he should have tried to weather the controversy surrounding his Craigslist habits.

I should have known he wouldn’t, though. Resigning was the honorable thing to do and he always struck me as doing the honorable thing.

Sure, his wife might feel differently, but unless you’re a member of his family, really, he did no wrong by you.

Now maybe you disliked Lee because you disliked his politics. If that’s the case, more power to you. I certainly didn’t like every vote he cast, but I felt like he was true to himself, and that’s more than most.

Chris Lee didn’t vote lockstep with his congressional leadership. I think this was the thing that I liked about him most. He voted the way he wanted. Or the way he thought his constituents would want. You really can’t ask for more from a congressman than that.

I would actually respect more someone who voted opposite of how I wanted them to, for good reason, than I would someone who voted the way I wanted because that’s what their handlers told them to do.

But such is the saga of Chris Lee. Over before it started.

I was rather disappointed at politicians’ willingness to say they may be interested in running for the recently vacated 26th Congressional District seat so soon after Lee had announced his resignation. I’m sure that to a degree, the media can be blamed for that. I know that in our newsroom, we were already thinking of that next step — and asking those questions. But I kind of wish someone had answered with something like: “I have no idea if I want to run for that seat. I hadn’t thought about it. I just hope things are going to be OK with Chris and his family.”

One of those who said he may be interested in the 26th was State Sen. George Maziarz. It’s the next logical step for him. But after much deliberation, he decided he was better off staying in the state Senate. He’d be giving up a lot to run for Congress. And the people of the 62nd Senate District would be, too, as Maziarz has spent years climbing that ladder and has gotten to a point where he wields much influence. He would have gone from being a very big fish in a somewhat small pond to a very small fish in one of the biggest ponds there is.

I wasn’t surprised to hear him say he decided to stay in the state Senate.

While the saga of Chris Lee may be over, the new chapter of trying to find a replacement is just getting started. And for a poli sci dork like me, it's like Christmas in February.

I hope I get a shirt.

Scott Leffler is night/city editor of the Lockport Union-Sun & Journa. His column appears every Tuesday. Contact him at scott.leffler@ockportjournal.com.

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Scott Leffler

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