Three Strange Candidates, Three Strange Events
Today I went to Buffalo to cover three political events within two miles and three hours. In about two weeks there will be a special election held to fill the NY-26th Congressional seat. Three candidates held three very different events today in a final push to win publicity and ultimately, votes. Sean Carrol already wrote the story better than I ever could here; however, this blog is a very different forum than Sean’s and adhere’s to a slightly different set of journalistic rules. Of course I always try to get my facts right but I’m writing from a photographer’s experience, from my experience and fortunately, I’m not tied to the same criteria of lawsuit paranoia and fears of alienating contacts that my colleagues abide by. That said, this was my day.
Jack Davis- an upstate, NY entrepeneur who has spent millions running for congress in 2004 and 2006 decided to hold his “big” event…at a hotdog joint on Transit Road. In my eyes, the 78 year old was fired up but incredibly out of touch. In our interview with him, he insisted on two things; that one, he would save jobs and that two, the other candidates are lying about him. He made sure to scowl and deepen his voice upon this last point. After the quick Q&A with Davis, he put on his best “workin” man face and headed into the hotdog restaurant to shake hands and talk to the constituents. He made it a point to thank each person for coming out to see him, to which each person, in turn, stared back blankly- frankly confused by the weird old man in a suit. In a move ripped directly from the ‘shady politicians playbook’, Davis twice tried to shake a child’s hand, asking each one arrogantly:
“Would you like to shake the hand of your future Congressman?” The first boy stood in frightened shock shaking his head no. He moved next to a mother and little girl. When the little girl refused, Davis got downright creepy as he pursued a “touching” moment for the cameras.
“Would you like to shake the hand of your future Congressman?…No? Well then can I touch your hair? You have beautiful hair…”
It was weird. (continued below…)
Our next stop was to Salvatore’s Italian Gardens for Jane Corwin’s $150/plate fundraising lunch. Corwin’s event was the clear competition of the day, boasting Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner as a special guest. From a media standpoint, the event was hot mess. We were quarantined to a small section of risers in the back of the room. If there was a media liaison, he/she was not there to help us. There wasn’t enough space for the number of journalists in the room. The mult-box for audio died and they didn’t have a back-up. This was the third time I’ve dealt with the Corwin camp as media and every experience has been bad. Apparently Jane Corwin is qualified to be our next Congresswoman because her family created the talking phonebook business and then sold it for millions. ??
The most entertaining part of the event for me was watching John Boehner eat. I know it sounds strange but he really dug in. Of course he was the distinguished guest and put on display at the head table but that didn’t stop him from eating every last bite. Even as Jane Corwin spoke about how happy she was that he was in attendance, he continued to chow down. The thought occurred to me that at this point, he’s made so many speeches and appearances that the food is, perhaps, the only thing he has to look forward to!
Last but not least was Kathy Hochul and camp medicare. As we crowded into her headquarters, I surveyed the room. 20-30 elderly folks, a few young volunteers and walls that looked like they’d been decorated by 3rd graders. Little stars cut out of construction paper held the names of people who had helped with her campaign. A large sheet of paper with a title scribble “Stuff We Need!” hung close by with a list of supplies that could have easily been mistaken for a back-to-school shopping trip. ‘Scissors, tape, folders, pens, etc’. Among the people in attendance included a woman talking to her dog and an old lady who constantly licked her lips with an oversized tongue and talked like mini-mouse.
We finished the day close the way we started it…at a hotdog restaurant. Only this time we were eating a well-deserved lunch at Ted’s Hotdogs, luckily no politicians in sight!
