Could anybody tell why Thomas McCarthy is running for the NYS Assembly against Alec Brook-Krasney on the Republican and Conservative Party lines?

If being a conservative Republican candidate for public office were to be made into a criminal offense, would there be any evidence to indict Tom McCarthy, the hand-picked candidate of Kings County Republican Chairman Craig Eaton and Brooklyn Conservative Party Chairman Jerry Kassar.

I saw good old Tom McCarthy putting one of his posters in a store window on Fourth Avenue near 100th Street last Saturday; so there is at least a scintilla of evidence that he is running for some office. My memory and my Google search also confirm that Mr. McCarthy had won a Republican primary over a month ago to run for the Assembly against the Democrat incumbent Alec Brook-Krasney, so the evidence seems to be piling up in favor of a prima facie indictment.

However, if Tom McCarthy were to go before a panel of Grand Jurors and say what he said at a recent debate with Brook-Krasney, could they in good conscience indict McCarthy for being a conservative Republican?

Here’s some of what McCarthy said in the debate at the Fort Hamilton Senior Center, organized by the Bay Ridge Council on Aging, on October 17 ( from the 10-24-12  report of Denise Romano in the Home Reporter ):

>>>>  “I bring to the table a background in banking and finance....  I am running because I am passionate about this place we call home. I want this to be a place to raise a family and grow old.”

>>>>  “I am committed to public education but am also supportive of charter schools.... We need a balanced solution. Competition is good.... [I  would like to see an inspector general on the state level to] investigate all education programs to make sure that money is being spent wisely.”

>>>>  [ When a constituent asked how each candidate could stop the trend of high rent and closing storefronts, McCarthy said ] “We need rent stabilization to protect tenants, but need to do a lot more in terms of building new apartments as well as helping small businesses.”

>>>> [ When the Democrat incumbent Brook-Krasny asked McCarthy if a miracle happened and McCarthy won, what would be the first bill that McCarthy would propose for himself and how he would pass it. In response to that McCarthy said he was “not really sure,” but that he  would like to be part of the effort to create oversight to oversee Medicare and Medicaid; [adding that] the solution of getting things done… is to work across the aisle.”

>>>> [In his closing remarks, McCarthy said it was]  “imperative to get our financial house in order; [and he promised that]  “I will work as diligently as I can for you.”

As you can see, giving the normal meaning to the words of Tom McCarthy as to who he is and what he thinks is important as a candidate, a conscientious Grand Jury could never hand down a true bill against Thomas McCarthy for being any kind of conservative Republican candidate for public office.  So I have to ask in the classic Brooklyn GOP style, made famous in the salons by Eaton’s solons, “The question begs  —   why was  Thomas McCarthy picked to run against Alec Brook-Krasny in the first place ?   McCarthy didn’t even object to or try to turn the tables on Brook-Krasny’s “smartAlec” remark,  “If a miracle happens and you win....”