Bill Clinton To Stump For Gillibrand Thursday

Former president Bill Clinton will be in the Capitol Region tomorrow, stumping for Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand.

The event has been moved to the Albany County airport, ostensibly because of the size of the crowd antriipated. Clinton will appear with Gillibrand, who is seeking election from New York's 20'th District, at about 8:00 am.

Gillibrand was endorsed today by a small, local weekly.

The news here is that the paper is the conservative Granville Centinal, which , in making the endorsement, said it is "rare for this newspaper to formally endorse a candidate for political office. The only less likely occurrence is for this paper to endorse a Democratic candidate facing a Republican incumbent."

The paper listed several reasons for supporting Gillibrand, or, more accurately, not supporting her opponent, Republican Rep. John Sweeney. Chief among them is Sweeney's unwavering support for the war in Iraq,

"There are any number of reasons why we made this choice, from Sweeney's dumbfounded political junkets to western ski areas to the Caribbean vacation courtesy of convicted felon Jack Abramoff to his blindfolded support of Bush economic policies that favor this nation's wealthiest individuals, while Washington County residents struggle to make ends meet, often without the benefit of raises and critical health insurance.

"But the real issue that makes this decision so simple and sure is Sweeney's total support for President Bush’s war against Iraq and the incompetent way Bush and the Republicans have waged this war."

ENDORSEMENTS IN THE 19TH

John Hall, the Democratic challenger in the race for the 19th Congressional District seat, will be endorsed tomorrow by the environmental group, The Sierra Club, his campaign said today.

Hall has already been endorsed by the Sierra Club's Atlantic (New York) chapter, so we presume this is the national organization.

Halls office also promised "a major announcement" about the campaign at an event tomorrow at Croton Point Park at noon.

Meanwhile, incumbent Republican Rep. Sue Kelly has been endorsed by the Professional Airways Systems Specialist, which represents about 11,000 FAA employees. The union praised Kelly for introducing legislation which it says will "ensure fairness" in contract talks between the union and the FAA.