Thursday, October 28, 2010

EDITORIAL: Peering Into The Crystal Ball

On Tuesday, November 2, our readers will again have an opportunity to elect officials they feel will be best suited to run their communities. But will they come out and vote and will they take the steps necessary to secure the best for their districts on a state, federal and city level? That remains to be seen; however, if history is any indicator, many will miss their chance at the polls.

This week, The Forum predicts what we feel the outcome of these races will be. Remember that the most important thing you can do for your community is to make your voice count. In other words, get out and vote. Speak up before you have something to complain about. In other words, get out and vote. That’s the way things get done around here and everywhere else. In other words, get out and vote.

Having said all that, we took out the Halloween crystal ball to look at each of the races and here’s what we saw:

In the race for the US Congressional seat in the 9th District between incumbent Democrat Anthony Weiner and Republican Bob Turner, the handwriting is on the wall. Mr. Weiner is going back to Washington, hopefully with a little more focus on his current constituency rather then his aspirations to be the man who would be mayor. First-time challenger Bob Turner has proven to be a nice guy with good intentions but having run without any demonstrated support from Republican party leaders, we don’t see Bob as having enough fuel for the ride down to D.C. Here we think will be one of the widest victory margins in local races with Weiner in a 15-20 point trouncing.

The seat in the 15th Senate district currently held by Democrat Joe Addabbo is being challenged by former Republican City Councilman Anthony Como and has shaped up to be one of the most heated in the local mix. There are so many things that have been thrown into this soup; it’s clearly the race we see as the most difficult to call. But when the smoke clears, freshman Sen. Addabbo will still be driving north on I-95 after Tuesday, having eeked out a dangerously close margin of victory over Como.

Our readership is looking at three State Assembly races beginning in the 32nd district where 23-year- incumbant Democratic Assembly member Audrey Pheffer is facing off against Republican opponent Harold Paez. This ball does not have to be crystal to see that Pheffer will return on the road to Albany—in fact that will probably be the case until she is eventually seated in her rightful place—on the throne at Queens Borough Hall. Pheffer clobbers Paez.

In the 38th A.D we have incumbent Mike Miller running against Republican challenger Donna Marie Caltabiano. While Miller could have fallen prey to the general “Democrat/Incumbent” discontent, we don’t think there is sufficient bubbling in the cauldron to disturb the status quo here. Miller by 15-20 points.

Finally in the 30th Assembly District, where 11-year-incumbant Democrat Marge Markey will face off for the second time against Republican challenger Anthony Nunziato we see a special opportunity for voters there. They have the chance to demonstrate that it is time to end the free-ride of Marge Markey and stamp out of their district they very personification of “throw the bums out.” We do not make this statement lightly. Marge Markey has repeatedly displayed that she is concerned with nothing more than satisfying the needs and orders of party officials. She is a master at grandstanding and attempting to misrepresent every critical situation that comes into play. She is a no-show of the highest order. Even if Nunziato just drives back and forth to Albany, the constituency will be way ahead of the game. We are abstaining from a prediction here. We’ll just say a prayer for the district that there is some divine intervention in this race. Heaven help Maspeth!

All in all, we once again encourage our readers to remember that you can use your power to vote on Tues- day and contribute to making an all important contribution to our community. With so much at stake, we owe it to ourselves and to each other to really take a hard look at the candidates. Educate yourselves and trust your instincts.

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