Primary Confusion

This appeared in The Post Journal  on May 27, 2018

We all know that primary elections are where political parties nominate their candidates for office. What we may not have focused on is that in New York State, in 2018, there will be two primary elections: the primary for federal office is June 26th; the primary for state offices is scheduled for September 13th.

Technically, both primaries could have been held on the same date which would have saved money for the County Board of Elections. But, this is New York State where the “deep thinkers” in Albany figured that a late primary was probably better for incumbents since there would be fewer intervening weeks between the primary election and the general election in November. (That means also fewer weeks to raise money and energize an opposing campaign.)

However, as things are stacking up, all of this strategizing could have been for naught. The Governor has now gotten himself into a rambunctious primary election fight with another Democrat from New York City who is coming at him from the left. At least part of her reason for running is that the Governor has gone out of his way to make life difficult for her good friend and fellow Democrat, the Mayor of the City of New York. To make things even murkier, a candidate has emerged from Brooklyn to run against the incumbent Lieutenant Governor who is from Buffalo. (This is no small matter since there are more registered Democrats in Brooklyn than in all of the counties of Western New York combined.)

There are more registered Democrats in Brooklyn than in all of the counties of Western New York combined.

Coming out of all of this brouhaha will undoubtedly be petition challenges trying to get candidates knocked off the primary ballot. The Governor with strong support from the Party and the public employee unions will probably have his way at the Democratic Convention. This will likely result in some of the significant political battles being shifted to the courts where the legitimacy and validity of petition signatures will become the issue.

The Republicans, who are now an “endangered species” in New York State, are, of course, cheering all of this on. (There are 2 million more Democrats than Republicans in the State.) For them, there is nothing better than the Democrats having a big scrap and beating up on each other right before the general election. Though a minority with their own differences, the Republicans seem to have avoided a primary fight and appear to have coalesced their support around the County Executive of Dutchess County as their candidate for Governor.

Getting lost in all of this political cacophony is the importance of the federal primary set for June 26. In Chautauqua County, five Democrats are vying for the nomination to run for Congress. (The incumbent is a Republican and there is no Republican Primary for this position.)

There is usually a low turn-out in primary elections. It is unclear if the different dates between federal and state primaries in New York State will sow confusion and lower the turn-out further, or if it will “stir up the troops” and increase voter participation. In any event, 2018 is turning out to be a very interesting political year in New York State and Democratic voters, in particular, will be having multiple opportunities to voice their opinions at the polls.


Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY

There is Nothing Better than Baseball in the Spring

This appeared in The Post Journal on May 20, 2018

There were two outs in the final inning. He was five years old. He was so short that it was hard to throw strikes to him. 

He was so small that my father would have described him as “knee-high to a grasshopper.” It was a moment of high drama. He had struck out on his previous at bats.

Local phenom Jack Sherry on the mound

Sitting around the baseball diamond were parents and grandparents — I being one of the latter. It was all somewhat amazing since just two weeks before there had been snow on the ground. But this night it was in the 60s, the sun was setting and low in the sky, the grass was really green as only it can be in the Spring, the infield was dry, it was a great night for baseball!

The grass was really green, as only it can be in the Spring, the infield was dry, it was a great night for baseball!

This is one of things we live for in Chautauqua County — baseball in the spring. We were the visiting team but that side of the diamond faced the glaring sun and so I had chosen to be on the home-team side along the first base line. That had given me time, between innings, to talk with one of the home-team coaches who was also acting as the official scorekeeper.

I had commented on how beautiful and new the dugouts seemed to be: bright unpainted wood and new concrete. He informed me that all of the work had been done by volunteers and that the materials had been donated by local contractors and businessmen. The “homeiness” of it all made you feel good.

The game had gotten long. I had forgotten how much time it took to get through an inning with young, beginning players. There were a lot of walks and the few hit balls inevitably got through the infield and throws to the bag were either wild or not caught.

But that was not the point of the game. This was a teaching experience. Kids new to the game were learning baseball. Play would stop and a coach would instruct one of the players on how to squat and get in front of a ground ball. Hitters at the plate would be repositioned so that they were properly in the batting box. Pitchers would be moved forward so that their throws could reach the plate.

In the later innings (six in total,) the coaches began to pitch in order to get more balls over the plate and give the players a better chance at hitting the ball.

The coaches also acted as umpires and I heard words of admonition more than once that players were not to argue about the calls. Umpires are umpires, period. No complaints allowed. Learning the discipline of the game is important.

Before their last “at bats,” the home-team coach had gathered his players and given them a pep talk on how the game was still close, it was the bottom of the last inning, that they could tie the game by scoring two runs or win it by scoring three. “Go get ’em guys!” he said. “One, two, three “Go!” they all shouted.

It looked bleak with two outs and two on base. But that didn’t faze the 5 year old. He swung and missed. But, on the next good pitch he gave it his all and knocked a grounder out toward second base.

There was some confusion in the defense and he got to first, and the runners advanced. The momentum had changed. Two hitters later, three runs had crossed the plate. The home-team had pulled off a victory!

Can it get any better than this? Even when your team loses, you feel like everyone has won. There is nothing like baseball in the spring!

Rolly Kidder

The Donald Trump Phenomenon

This appeared in The Post Journal 

I recall in the early 1990s coming out of New York City from a meeting and picking up one of the newspaper tabloids at the airport-the headline read: “Ivana Better Deal” It was describing a divorce controversy involving our current President. Apparently, his first offer to his first wife for divorce terms was not being accepted.

Donald Trump, at the time, was generally perceived in the New York press as being a self-promoter from Queens who sought the limelight and was becoming a factor in the big real estate deals in Manhattan. Some of his deals went sour, like paying too much for the Plaza Hotel on the corner of 59th St. and 5th Ave. Others worked out. The investment in Atlantic City casinos initially worked out but, eventually, some of them slid into bankruptcy or needed restructuring by the bankers who held the paper.

But there was a perceivable constancy in the way he built his business; the Trump name was always at the forefront. When interviewed by a biographer, Donald Trump recommended one major change to the book…that the name “Trump” be made larger on the title and book jacket.

During his campaign for the Presidency, this worked to his advantage. Some of his campaign rallies were at airports where the Trump airplane would pull into a hangar full of cheering supporters. When he flew his Trump airplane to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, it came in low over the City to essentially claim his primary victories as the Republican nominee for President.

Frankly, I never thought that a New York City real estate tycoon with no governmental experience could ever be nominated or elected to the Presidency of the United States.

My parochial, upstate political views were that unless you lived south of the Mason Dixon line or west of the Allegheny River that your chances of being elected President were nil. I was wrong. Though steeped in the politics and business world of New York City, people in rural areas from Texas, to Louisiana, to Alabama and Ohio voted for him to be the 46th President of the United States.

Admittedly, the Democrats underestimated his candidacy. The Democratic candidate had national and international visibility as a experienced professional in government, but politics often is more a “gut-instinct” and emotional business than it is rational or intellectual. Donald Trump connected with more people in the States needed to beat Hillary Clinton in the electoral college.

As we look today at the Trump Presidency it is interesting that its success or failure will probably go back to his business dealings. It is clear that Russian investors were involved with his business investments Those relationships led, to among other things, the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013 when Trump owned that business.

It is noteworthy that President Trump has never denied his business relationships with Russians. He has only alleged that there was “no collusion” with them in influencing the outcome of the 2016 elections.

Fortunately, we live in a country where the truth or falsehood of allegations can be determined through a system of justice and the courts.

Fortunately, we live in a country where the truth or falsehood of allegations can be determined through a system of justice and the courts. To what extent the President was aware of, knew of or supported Russian influence in the election is the issue at hand.

An independent prosecutor is looking into all of this, and we will eventually know what did or did not happen. That is as it should be in a nation which prides itself in the rule of law. It is a good thing that, in our country, an elected official is not the one assigned to investigating himself or herself when it comes to such matters.


Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY

A Tale Of Two States

This appeared in The Post Journal on Apr 29, 2018

Cynthia Nixon, running in the Democratic Primary for Governor, was recently asked where she thought “Upstate” started and she said she thought it was “somewhere around Ithaca.” Everyone Upstate chuckled about that. There has always been debate about it, but the consensus has generally been that anything north and west of the Tappan Zee Bridge could qualify as being “Upstate.” (An Assemblyman friend of mine from Manhattan once introduced me to his mother as a “friend from Upstate.” Her response was: “Oh, that’s nice. I’ve been to Poughkeepsie!”)

Ithaca, known by some as the “Independent Republic of Ithaca,” is actually an island of liberally-minded, highly educated voters hunkered around the halls of Cornell University. It could more readily be incorporated into New York City than Upstate.

The division between Upstate and Downstate has been around at least as far back as Martin Van Buren (circa 1830.) Though Andrew Jackson was popular in rural New York, the Democratic Party built by Van Buren was focused in New York City. It was the fear of Downstate by Upstate that eventually led to the Republican Party becoming the bastion of Upstate political clout… a position which it still solidly holds.

So, the upstate/downstate division in New York State goes way back. It is cultural: urban vs. rural. It is economic: manufacturing and agriculture vs. the financial industry and banking. It is political: Republican upstate and Democratic in the City and many of its suburbs.

What has changed over the years is that the New York City urban area has participated in the economic and population growth of the country, but Upstate has languished. Republicans have become stronger Upstate, but over a diminished piece of the pie. There are now over 2 million more Democrats than Republicans in the State. The urban area around New York City continues to be the “tail that wags the dog”… much more now than in the past.

We don’t like being pushed around, out-voted, told what our social policies should be, and treated like a second-rate step child.

The one thing that hasn’t changed is the minority status of we Upstaters. The New York City area has always been our big cousin that we resent because of its bigness and smugness. Economically, it actually contributes much more to the treasury of the State of New York than we do but, to us, that is incidental.

We are worried that downstate Democrats will soon take over the State Senate, and then every political office and power center in Albany will be in hands of those south of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Alas, this has always been our trial and our tale of the two states which make up the one we call New York.

Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY