Republican State Assemblyman Jim Tedisco took time Tuesday morning to visit several business in downtown Saratoga Springs, where he talked about bonuses paid to executives at AIG and the need to provide a bailout to small businesses.
Democratic venture capitalist Scott Murphy's campaign stopped on Tuesday afternoon at the Malta Diner on Route 9, where he shook hands with diners, before speaking with the press about AIG and other issues.
|
|
Dave Barker, who owns Impressions with his wife, Marianne, described himself as a "yardstick Republican" and said he would support Tedisco. Marianne Barker declined to say which candidate she would back in the race.
Both said their business was being hurt by the economy.
"The pain has been felt throughout Broadway," David Barker said. "We had to cut back on some of our employees' hours."
"Flat is the new up, and that's what we've been planning for," Marianne Barker said.
With businesses hurting as consumers cut back spending, Tedisco said the 1 percent of the economic recover bill passed in February, this is slated to assist small business was not enough. At each stop of his hour-long visit, he continued to decry bonuses paid to executives at AIG.
"Washington just doesn't get it," he said. "There's a lot of greed out there."
Around the corner, at the Lyrical Ballad, a used and vintage book store, owner John DeMarco showed Tedisco deep into the store's book-lined warrens, as Tedisco continued to talk about the need for leadership in Washington, D.C.
"I hope that people don't think that this means I'm backing Tedisco," said DeMarco, a registered Democrat, after the assemblyman had left. "From the campaign, you wouldn't want to elect either of them," he said. "I'd be OK with a Republican congressman, but not if they're going to be against Obama, because I really support what he's doing."
Back on Broadway, Tedisco stopped into Saratoga Guitar, owned by former city Commissioner of Finance Matthew McCabe, a Democrat-turned Independent.
"We're fighting to work harder and smarter," McCabe said of how his business was fairing in the economy. "We're not going anywhere."
McCabe said he would not endorse a candidate in the race, and added that the local economy, with which he is most concerned, is a separate issue from the national economy.
"The economy is a big issue, and it won't be solved overnight, or by one party," he said.
Former Mayor Michael Lenz, owner of the Menges and Curtis pharmacy, agreed with Tedisco's message of providing aid to small business.
"Small business is the backbone of the economy, and we need help," he said.
Outside of Mrs. London's, holding a hot cup of coffee to ward of the unseasonably cold temperatures; Tedisco addressed his call for increased regulations of corporations, a break with traditional Republican views.
"Unusual times call for more control on business," he said, stating he supported a cap on executive compensation.
Later Tuesday morning, Murphy visited with diner at the Malta Diner on Route 9.
Lynn Gleason, a Democratic voter from the Town of Saratoga, said she had received a call at home about the event and came to the diner to meet the candidate.
"Tedisco would be scary," she said.
Murphy spent time in the diner shaking hands with voters and didn't talk politics with most of the patrons, most of whom did not know the candidate would be visiting.
Jim Roberts, of Malta, said he had come to the diner for a business meeting and was pleasantly surprised to see Murphy.
"I think he's a little more honest than Tedisco," he said. "He's a new face."
Roberts said that he didn't care for the mud slinging being conducted by both candidates and national organizations from both parties, but that he felt Tedisco was doing a little more slinging than Murphy.
"I'd rather hear their honest thoughts than the mud slinging," he said.
Malta Diner owner Steve Grouvis said he would take the race's last week to decide which candidate to support, but that he knew what issues were most important to him.
"I like someone who will cut spending and put money back into people's pockets immediately, no stimulus three or four years down the road," he said. "We need relief."
Talking with reporters in a corner of the restaurant, Murphy reiterated his experience in creating jobs as an investor in several businesses, saying that he wanted to continue that work in Washington.
"The point of our campaign is that we have experience working with companies. That's the skills that I'll bring to Washington," he said.
While he declined to answer whether or not he had spoken in favor of the stimulus package without reading the legislation, Murphy called bonuses paid to executives at AIG "reprehensible."
"You shouldn't get a bonus if you're running your company out of business," he said, adding that he backed federal legislation designed to recoup much of the bonuses.
Even with the loophole that allowed bonuses to be paid, Murphy said he stood behind his initial position on the stimulus bill.
"I came out in favor of it, and I'm still in favor of it," he said.
Murphy and Tedisco will face off in a March 31 special election to fill New York's vacant 20th Congressional District seat.
