Bishop for Congress 2010

The Newsroom

Capital Tonight
Liz Benjamin

Rep. Tim Bishop’s campaign is coming out swinging today against his GOP/Conservative opponent, Randy Altschuler, accusing the businessman-turned-politican of “outsourcing his dirty work to anonymous groups” that are now running attack ads against the Democratic congressman in NY-1.

At issue are two groups – the Virginia-based Alliance for America’s Future, which is one of several committees linked this cycle to Mary Cheney, daughter of former VP Dick Cheney; and 60-Plus Association – both of which are spending to boost Altschuler, and, thanks to the US Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case, not required to disclose their donor lists.

Bishop spokeswoman Audrey Kubetin said Alliance for America’s Future has “a suspicious relationship” with Altschuler’s campaign, noting it has spent half a million dollars on ads in NY-1 and isn’t investing in any other House race, although it has played in other races across the country.

Kubetin said Altschuler “needs to come clean and demand that this group either disclose its donors or stop trying to buy this election,” adding: “This group could be funded by Altschuler’s outsourcing cronies or foreign donors or criminal organizations. We just don’t know.”

Newsday

Democrat Tim Bishop entered this race with a bullseye on his back. He has been targeted by national Republicans as one of the incumbents they're out to knock off. The result has been a brutal battle with wealthy businessman Randy Altschuler, who has poured millions of dollars into the fight. But that's the only edge the challenger brings to the contest.

Bishop, 60, of Southampton, who is seeking his fifth term, is a hardworking, commonsense representative who has grown in his command of national issues and savvy about the ways of Congress in each successive term. The former college provost is now a seasoned veteran who has become a leader on the issue of college affordability. He played a key role in crafting and passing legislation that redirected $40 billion in financial aid from private banks to middle class students.

He supported the controversial, but necessary, Troubled Asset Relief Program and his judgment has been rewarded. TARP rescued tottering banks, averted even greater economic turmoil and much of the public money invested has been repaid. He supported the economic stimulus that arrested massive job losses and drove billions of dollars to New York and millions to his district for such things as the Brookhaven National Laboratory and Greenport's sewage treatment plant.

And he has demonstrated political courage, standing toe-to-toe with opponents of health care reform in a raucous town hall meeting, making the case for reform with facts, logic and compassion.

Altschuler, 39, a St. James resident since 2007, is making his first run for office. He's an entrepreneur who founded two successful companies.

He wants to create a more hospitable business environment by cutting corporate taxes, slashing both regulation and government spending. But lax regulation facilitated the recklessness on Wall Street that led to the financial meltdown. And faced with that carnage, Altschuler said he would have rejected TARP and the stimulus.

Altschuler's faith in tax cuts for the wealthy to create jobs is classic trickle-down economics. His is a prescription for either mounting federal deficits or retrenching on Social Security and Medicare and making too little public investment to compete in the economy of the future. His desire to repeal health care reform without first waiting to see what works is not the pragmatic approach needed in Washington.

Bishop has been willing to take tough positions and has energetically represented this district where his family roots go back 12 generations. Newsday endorses Bishop.

Sag Harbor Express

For some time, we thought the rest of the world had gotten past the idea that the East End was the poor stepchild to the rest of Long Island. Apparently congressional candidate Randy Altschuler didn’t get the memo.

As it has done for years, the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons has invited the candidates for public office to meet and debate on the South Fork for the benefit of local voters. These are consistently well attended events, regularly televised and in many cases the only time some candidates get to meet face to face in front of East End residents to discuss local issues.

Such is the case with the race for U.S. Congress here this year, between Mr. Altschuler and incumbent Tim Bishop. It is arguably one of the most competitive, controversial and closely watched races on Long Island, if not the country.

Late last week Mr. Altschuler declined to appear, citing scheduling conflicts, long after League volunteers had requested him to save the date. His decision means that, for the first time in many years, Hamptons residents will not be able to see their congressional candidates face off.  It is, we think, a wasted opportunity on Mr. Altschuler’s part, and a disservice to the voters of East Hampton and Southampton towns.

As we have done for about ten years, the editors of the East Hampton Star, the Southampton Press and the Sag Harbor Express were invited by the League to prepare and ask questions during the debate (we will do so for the candidates for state assembly and senate on October 25). Instead we will draft a letter to Mr. Altschuler expressing our disapointment. For some, apparently, we will always just be the poor stepchild.

Smithtown News
David Ambro

On the campaign trail in the First Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Congressman Timothy (D-Southampton) is making no excuses. The congressman stands by his record, citing eight years of accomplishments for his constituents at home and tough decision in Washington, D.C> over the past two-year term that have dug the country out of a historic economic crisis.

“The best way to prove you deserve a job is to have held it. I have performed for this district, through bipartisan person relationships with the elected officials in every town I represent, to meet the local needs of our constituents. And, I have made tough decisions in Washington that have moved America forward.” Rep. Bishop said during an interview at The Smithtown News office, Monday October 11.

“I am a life-long resident of the district who has served with distinction and delivered for the people, and I am growing in seniority.” He said. I put that record against a carpetbagger who moved here to buy a seat in the House with money he earned by putting his fellow Americans out of their jobs.”

Mr. Bishop’s Republican opponent, Randy Altschuler, a transplanted New Jersey resident who moved here to run for congress, amassed great wealthy by founding companies that outsource American jobs to India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. During both the Republican primary and the general election campaign, Mr. Altschuler has refused to be interviewed by the Smithtown News and since the primary; his campaign office has declined to respond to telephone calls from The Smithtown News.

The East Hampton Star

A decision by Randy Altschuler to bail out of a debate with Tim Bishop in the race for the First District House seat seemed surprising at first, but it begins to make sense when you consider this unusual election year.

Mr. Altschuler and his four-term opponent, Mr. Bishop, had been expected at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters next Thursday in Hampton Bays. It was to be the only meeting between the men on the East End before Election Day. But Mr. Altschuler’s staff said he had a scheduling conflict and instead offered a face-to-face on another date in front of a little-known group called the Southampton Citizens Forum. We’re not buying it. Schedules can be moved around.

Had Mr. Altschuler known much about the district he wants to represent, he would have understood that debates, especially those run by the League of Women Voters, are a longstanding tradition of the election season. Whether a candidate likes sitting there or not, voters expect these biennial appearances, as they offer a rare chance to get beyond the half-truths and exaggerations of political mailers and radio and television ads.

Basically, Mr. Altschuler’s campaign has been out of the national Republican playbook. His frequent mailings carry many of the same distorted messages seen elsewhere. For example, one bearing his name accuses Mr. Bishop of planning to take $500 billion from Medicare to pay for the health care overhaul. Republican challengers from coast to coast have been making this claim against incumbents who voted for the health bill, but it is misleading. Medicare spending actually is set to grow over the next decade. These and other sketchy charges probably would not play as well at debates, where they can be swiftly portrayed for what they are.

Observers can and will speculate about Mr. Altschuler’s reason for a personal bailout, but it comes across as disdain for the process of running for office in the First District. This was one job Mr. Altschuler couldn’t outsource, so he just walked away. If he has an effective answer to the barrage of attacks from Mr. Bishop about outsourcing, we’d like to hear it. There is still time for Mr. Altschuler to reconsider. We hope he does.

Newsday
Rick Brand and Reid Epstein

In a race Republicans thought was ripe for the picking, Rep. Tim Bishop has a double-digit lead over GOP challenger Randy Altschuler in their heated multimillion-dollar battle, according to a Siena Research Institute poll released Wednesday.

The poll shows that Bishop (D-Southampton) leads Altschuler by 12 points - 51 to 39 among likely voters - with nine percent undecided in the first congressional district, which covers eastern Suffolk.

Siena pollster Steve Greenberg said Bishop has a "solid lead" because he is "better known and better liked than Altschuler and is seen by voters as better on all the issues." But GOP officials said results are skewed because angry voters are inadequately counted.