Friday, April 24, 2015

DAN DONOVAN --- BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID; GENTILE IS PLAYING IT LIKE THE "LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD" --- AND YOUR SIDE IS PITCHING "INEVITABILITY" LIKE YOU'RE HILLARY CLINTON


Wake up boy !  How's that been working out for the likes of Bill Clinton's almost favorite girl ?  

Press report:  "Vincent Gentile Raises Almost $200K for Congressional Race"

Press report:   "11 CD Race: Analysis Reveals Gentile Catching Up To Donovan"


As I like to say, "Ross Barkan, the former Brooklyn beat reporter," has filed a story that looks like it should be good news for Dan Donovan.  According to Mr. Barkan,  "Councilman Vincent Gentile, a Democrat running for an open House seat in Brooklyn and Staten Island, raised nearly $200,000 and still has more than $100,000 in cash on hand with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, new filings with the Federal Election Commission show. ***   Mr. Gentile, a Brooklyn lawmaker, is facing Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, a Republican, in a special election. Mr. Donovan raised more than $600,000 and has just over $460,000 cash on hand, according a report in the Staten Island Advance...."  (See "Vincent Gentile Raises Almost $200K for Congressional Race" by Ross Barkan, 4/23/15, The Observer [http://observer.com/2015/04/vincent-gentile-raises-almost-200k-for-congressional-race/]).

WHAT LOOKS LIKE GOOD NEWS FOR DONOVAN  ---  WELL, MAYBE IT ISN'T

The coverage by the Obaserver continued with this:  "...   This campaign has been a grassroots effort from day one and that is something we are very, very proud of. We are running exactly the campaign we want to run,” said Justin Brannan, a spokesman for Mr. Gentile....  Unlike the last Democrat to run in the 11th Congressional District, Domenic Recchia Jr., Mr. Gentile did not receive any financial help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He raised $195,724 in total and spent $79,697.83, a far cry from the several million dollars Mr. Recchia raised and spent...."    In a what Ross Barkan described as dig at Mr. Donovan, who is expected to receive more support from national Republicans and political action committees, Mr. Gentile's spokesman said:   “We are not relying on shadowy corporate donors, super PACs or people like the Koch Brothers to get our message out to the people of New York’s 11th congressional district....”

So with a 5 to 1 advantage in available cash, that is likely to grow, why am I saying that Donovan needs to be afraid ?   [Offstage: deep male voice shouts --  "Yeah, why are you sayin' Donovan's gotta be afraid ?"]   ---  Well, I'll tell you , Alice.

From the very beginning of his campaign for Congress in the 11th Cong. Dist.,  Vinnie (or should  that be "Vinny") Gentile and all his folks have been making do and have had a real "less is more" "can-do" "never say die" attitude about everything.  Even closer to the mark, they all seem to be reciting the  "I think I can -- I think I can -- I think I can... " mantra over there.  You know, the one made famous by  "The Little Engine That Could"  --  back when we were all young.
 
Gentile has been way back since the beginning  ---  but everything seems to keep moving his way  ---   especially the whole thing about the  debates, first having them with Dan Donovan ( Oh, Dan, to have those chances back, again); and now, NOT HAVING THEM  ---  and what does everybody say ? "IT'S BECAUSE OF DAN DONOVAN." (Ugh, Dan, sometimes you can't win for losing !)

On that front, the gift that keeps on giving to the Gentile Campaign, Jessica Proud, said by E-Mail that "...  [d]ue to the tight time frame of a special election and scheduling conflicts, we were unable to attend a few of these events....   We felt it was important to do a debate in both Brooklyn and on Staten Island so that people from both sides of the bridge would have an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates."   ---    That's  it,  Donovan's done with debates  ---   or like the cop says at the sight of a fifteen-car wreck,  "Go home, it's all over, nothin' happenin' here...."  

By the way, that's what the Donovan campaign has been so far  ---  A FIFTEEN-CAR WRECK RIGHT BEFORE THE SLOSSON AVENUE EXIT WITH THE ROUTINE RUBBER-NECKING ON THE OTHER SIDE  ---   it's a real beauty, is what I'm sayin'.


THE BLOG ITEM THAT MIGHT BE THE STRAW [POLL] IN THE WIND 

A few days ago this item was carried into my Florida manse where I am staying by a little birdie:   "You don’t need a pollster to know which way the political winds are blowing to feel that Democrat Vinnie Gentile is inching towards a possible upset of presumed far-ahead frontrunner Republican Dan Donovan for the vacant 11th Congressional seat straddling Staten Island and a piece of Southern Brooklyn...." (See "11 CD Race: Analysis Reveals Gentile Catching Up To Donovan" by whoever does the stuff at Kings County Politics, 4/22/15,  Kings County Politics Blog [http://www.kingscountypolitics.com/11-cd-race-analysis-reveals-gentile-catching-up-to-donovan/]).

That story goes on like this:  "...  [B]oth camps confirmed they have done internal polling, and their response to KCP inquires is telling.  ***   Sources close to the Gentile campaign said the poll showed the race is tightening up, while Donovan spokesperson Jessica Proud refused to discuss internal polling.   ***   “If they (Team Gentile) reveal any information regarding a poll, they are required by law to release the whole thing to the public,” she noted...."

You gotta love that girl....   Jessica Proud can even make a gaffe by not saying very much at all.  You see  Chris McCreight, Manager of the Gentile Campaign, took the opportunity to make hay while the sun shined on him from the folks at the Kings County Politics blog.

According to McCreight,  “It’s going to be a low turnout – between 30,000-40,000 voters....  Our job is in getting our vote out just like their (Donovan’s camp) job is to get their vote out....   We know there’s 20,000 people willing to vote for Vinnie. Our job is to get them to the polls to vote...."

And then the Kings County Politics [Guy, Gal or Committee] said this:  "Then there’s Gentile, a battle-hardened political veteran, who served three terms in the state senate before becoming a city councilman. He’s proven to be a very able, smart and charismatic debater against Donovan and continues to pile on points every time Donovan fails to show up for a debate as he did at today’s scheduled Bay Ridge Senior Center debate.  ***   Team Gentile also has a good finger on the pulse for controlling the political narrative, painting Donovan as an out-of-touch candidate with little knowledge of several key issues such as raising the minimum wage....   The takeaway feeling is that Donovan is beginning to feel like a GOP version of Domenic Recchia, the very-flawed Democrat who lost to convicted felon Michael Grimm for the seat last year. And just like Recchia, it’s Donovan’s election to lose.... "


IN CLOSING --  A MESSAGE to DANDY DAN DONOVAN 

You know, Dan, I think I read somewhere recently that a funny thing about special elections, as opposed to long drawn out general election cycles, is that it’s not the momentum that money buys and endorsements bring, but the ground game and tight organization that wins.  Well, your organization ain't wrapped too tight, if you know what I mean.

And for all that, Vinnie (or should  that be "Vinny") Gentile appears to be closing the gap with you.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gale you are on to something. Donovan is acting like the Queen (in more ways than one)who has it coming to him (in more ways than one).

Anonymous said...

"Dandy Dan"?

Anonymous said...

Wake up. "Vinny" "Vinnie" Gentile is running for Senate. Watch out "Marty" "Martie" Golden.

Almost no presence on Staten. Only campaigning hard in parts of 11th Congressional that overlaps with 22nd Senate!

Anonymous said...

this wil be a tight squeeze for dan, and, not the first one for him.

Galewyn Massey said...

RESPONSE: THE "I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT TOO" EDITION

I'm surprised that nobody said that about Councilman Gentile's run for congress from the very beginning.

After the Recchia multi-million dollar thing in 2014, I wondered why any candidate from the Brooklyn part of the congressional district would bother to run.

The only thing that I could come up with was for a term-limited City Councilman, like Gentile, to do a tune-up run for the State Senator Golden seat.

Do you think I should do a post, "MARTY GOLDEN, BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID... 'LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD' " ?

Anonymous said...

Yes!!!

Now if only the Brooklyn GOP would mount a credible primary against Golden he would certainly get KO'd by a southwest Brooklyn style one-two combo.

Anonymous said...

Quit dreaming.

Golden is Senator for life.

Anonymous said...

To marties staffer above.

Marti will be doing life.

Anonymous said...

Donovan going to win big if only because he is the only candidate from Staten Island. They don't care about political party or ideas out there. SI Dems doing nothing to help Gentile. If the only SI Candidate was a Communist he or she would still win, that is just how they think. They may be "forgotten borough" we are forgotten part of district and that is how they like it.

Anonymous said...

You must have an axe to grind with Jessica Proud, she's kept the campaign together. Stop pretending that Proud and the rest of the Donovan campaign team are working for a seasoned campaigner. Dan's not a good public speaker, he gets very tense at the debates, and anybody who saw his performance at the Brooklyn and Staten Island debates knows that his campaign team should not let him within a country mile of any kind of forum or debate where he is not the only one attending.

Anonymous said...

If Donovan cant handle a debate with Gentile, and obviously he cant, than he should consider running for a seat on the school board instead of congress.

Anonymous said...

Donovan is obedient but wouldn't be much of a useful puppet on the School Board thats why they have him running for congress.

Anonymous said...

aka Jes Askin

"Anonymous... 3:55 PM" said "Donovan is obedient..." and suggested that he might be a "useful puppet..." in some capacity. Obedient and useful to whom ?

Anonymous said...

Another article in the Advance interviewing people on the street who are going to vote for Donovan because he is the "Staten Island" candidate. They make up huge part of district I just hope Brooklyn votes against Dan and makes it close just to stick it to these pompous fools.

Anonymous said...

I heard Bruce Jenner is coming out for Dan and Dan is coming out . . . .

Anonymous said...

Bruce Jenner says that he is a Republican, but he lives in California

Anonymous said...

Donovan will win by 20-30 points. He will win Southern Brooklyn too.

Anonymous said...

I agree but Green Party Candidate James Lane will throw things off a bit. I think he can get between 5-10%. First, as a protest candidate, people like me not satisfied with the Republicans and Democrats and clone third parties, I'll be voting for LANE on the Green's Line. Plus as the only African-American in the race, he can get quite a few votes in various pockets in NY's 11th Congressional District.

I see it 60- for Donovan, about 35 for Gentile and 5+ for Lane -- That's a moral victory for Lane, just a victory for Donovan and just about what anybody would expect for Gentile.

Anonymous said...

Lane makes communists look like fiscal conservatives. LIdeas are loony. There is a cult following around him but very few people with him live in district. He will get less than Bardel a couple of points should be moral victory for him.

Anonymous said...

Person saying Donovan will win Brooklyn district is probably same person who was telling people that "internal polls" showed Gentile and Quaglione neck and neck. Donovan pissed off too many people in Brooklyn, he will still win race huge but he'll lose Brooklyn.