In choosing Kinderhook, Faso was, according to the New York Times, “purposely choosing a district of a longtime assemblyman whom Mr. Faso wanted to replace.” He served the region in the Assembly until 2002, then made failed runs for Governor and Congress. Finally, in 2016, he was elected to Congress, the culmination of years of political maneuvering.
Delgado and Faso’s ties to NY19 are comparable, and so a carpetbagger attack by either may backfire. Faso has already pursued that narrative, putting out a statement shortly after Delgado captured the nomination that read, “This November, Mr. Delgado will cast his first ever general election vote for Congress in our district after just moving here from New Jersey. He will soon learn, as the last two Democrat [sic] candidates for Congress before him, that our neighbors do not look kindly upon candidates who have just moved into our district and presume to represent us.”
The only problem with this attack is that Faso did just that decades earlier. Delgado noted that in an interview with Chronogram just before the primary election, stating, “If there’s someone who actually is a carpetbagger here, it’s John Faso," and saying of Faso's carpetbagger label, "If that’s the line of attack that he wants to take, it’s a rather weak one and I welcome it.” If Faso keeps pushing the carpetbagger label on Delgado, it may unleash an unwanted conversation about Faso’s own ties to the district.
Literally Everything Else
Net neutrality, Russia, taxes, Iran, free trade, immigration, terrorism, North Korea, the environment, voting rights, SNAP, women’s health, policing, election security. There is an endless supply issues that mean a great deal to the people of NY19. In my reporting, I’ve heard voters cite a wide range of policy and political concerns that are crucial to them and their votes.
What I have not heard, however, is voters griping about Delgado’s lyrics. Nor have I heard voters echo the sentiments of Gerald Benjamin, a Faso-aligned SUNY New Paltz Professor who told the New York Times, “this is about culture and commonality with the district and its values. People like us, people in rural New York, we are not people who respond to this part of American culture.” That misses the mark entirely.
NY19 voters are generally not concerned with the scandal and intrigue that defines national politics in the Trump era, at least not on the local level. Nor do they seem to feel that Delgado is somehow unfit to serve them because of his background in rap.
“It does not concern me,” said one Sullivan county voter who believes that “Faso's statements are nothing more than race-baiting and reveal the mean-spiritedness of his campaign.” Another says she “see[s] it as a non-issue,” and “completely irrelevant.” A voter from Broome county said, “it definitely would not influence my vote at all,” while one Republican from Dutchess County said "[it] has nothing to do with policy,” and is “going to cost [Faso].” The reviews are in, and it’s a thumbs down from the voters.
Instead, voters I’ve spoken to are concerned with tangible issues. Some are still recovering from the aftermath of a recession and Hurricane Irene. Others are fighting to maintain their health coverage. Most are deeply concerned about the sorry state of American democracy, whether that be due to Trump’s undermining of political norms, or the as-yet undrained swamp of establishment politicians.
In Washington, the moral and civil fiber that holds together our cherished democratic institutions is rapidly decaying. At home, small towns and rural counties are seeing an exodus of young people and skilled labor, suffering from a lack of health and transportation infrastructure and trying to make the American dream work–or at least make ends meet–in an increasingly unequal society. John Faso is going to need to talk a lot more about their issues, and a lot less about rap music, if he wants to win their votes come November.
