Syracuse Post-Standard - Suozzi Supporters Stand by Their Man
Syracuse Post-Standard - Suozzi Supporters Stand by Their Man
Kristen Batchelor says she is "not a politics person." But when she got a call one evening a couple of weeks ago from the Tom Suozzi campaign, something clicked.
Now she has a "Suozzi for governor" sign in her yard in the Valley section of Syracuse.
"I don't think I've ever been so into a campaign before," said Batchelor, 37, a single mother of two. "I actually have a sign in my front yard, and I've never done that before."
Suozzi, who is scheduled to visit Syracuse today, is pursuing what many in the Democratic Party consider a hopelessly quixotic campaign to beat out Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and become the Democratic candidate for governor.
Suozzi has submitted petitions to force a Sept. 12 primary election.But Spitzer, the popular and well-funded "sheriff of Wall Street," leads Suozzi in some polls by more than 50 percentage points and is widely considered unbeatable.
Despite the odds, Suozzi has built a grass-roots campaign and is attracting supporters who like his message about changing the culture in Albany.
"Tom seems more realistic, more (responsive) to our needs as the little people," Batchelor said. "He's pushing for better tax breaks for us, for the little people. And bringing more jobs back, which we need."
Suozzi will address his supporters at 2:30 p.m. at his Syracuse office, 1288 W. Genesee St. The candidate has a paid staff of five in Syracuse, said Burrill Wells, a language teacher in the Syracuse school system who is serving as Suozzi's regional field director.
The staffers have been running a phone bank five days a week at Suozzi's campaign office, calling Democrats to tout their candidate.
Three days a week, they walk door to door to make their pitch, Wells said.
Marie Reale, of Kirkville, said she hopes to meet Suozzi today. She's thinking about volunteering for his campaign. Reale, 51, said she supported Spitzer until she got into a conversation with a Suozzi supporter at a cocktail party on Long Island, where Suozzi has built a strong reputation as Nassau County executive. After checking out Suozzi's Web sites - www.tomsuozzi.com and www.fixalbany.com - Reale came away impressed with his positions.
But Suozzi irritates some of the party faithful, who say the candidate is wasting his time.
"I do think he's raised some important issues about what needs to be done in Albany to redo state government, the problems we have with state government and how it functions," said Robert Romeo, Onondaga County Democratic chairman. "But having said all that, Eliot Spitzer is uniquely situated and qualified to get that job done."
But Suozzi said Wednesday that Spitzer is part of the problem in Albany, and Suozzi won't back down.
"He's done nothing to pull the cover off of Albany," Suozzi said of Spitzer.
http://tomsuozzi.com/news/sp-072006/