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Less
is Mohr
 A
funny thing happened on the way to the ATM known as the Independence
Party. Just as IP Chairman Tony Orsini and his pals were getting
ready for another round of golf at the Springville Country
Club, Erie County Board of Elections Chairman Ralph Mohr did
the unthinkable. No, he didn’t demand that the State
Attorney General investigate Orsini and friends. Mohr went
for less. In other (french) words he opted for the laissez
faire method of coup d’etat.
The
word is that hard line Republicans led by Mohr are going after
the Independence Party because they sold out the Party’s
endorsement for Mayor of Buffalo to Democratic front runner
Byron Brown. The hardliners are now backing former Independence
Party Chairman and Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority staffer
Charlie Flynn for the party’s endorsement. By running
Flynn, they hope to accomplish two objectives. First, they
hope to create a schism in the Independence Party that will
allow the Republicans to gain control over its important line
on the ballot. Second, if they are successful in eliminating
Brown from the ballot in a primary, their hope is that many
disenfranchised Democrats who are sick to their stomachs over
the Republican party of George Bush, will consider switching
their vote for Mayor to an “outsider” and an “independent”
like Flynn.
In
keeping with the Neanderthal tradition of Buffalo politics,
they are also hoping to capture some of the voters that can
be relied upon to put ethnicity above ideology and vote for
Flynn despite the fact that he is not a Democrat.
Flynn
scored some points in the most recent Mayoral debate by highlighting
his opposition to the controversial taxpayer-supported Bass
Pro project, which Brown and the Democratic establishment
supports. Flynn floated a not-so unbelievable conspiracy theory
about Bass Pro in which the company founders were going after
numerous taxpayer-supported projects such as the one in Buffalo
in the hopes of taking the company public, reaping the rewards
of an IPO and then pulling the ripcord on a golden parachute.
Indeed, this is not a completely unlikely scenario.
It’s
interesting to note that the only glimmer of reform on the
horizon for the cynical exploitation of the political process
represented by IP Chairman Tony Orsini and friends is yet
another cynical exploitation of the political process by Board
of Elections boss Ralph Mohr and friends. Now that’s
progress!
More
Briefs:
1. Kickin' Ass & Cashing Checks
2. Seizin' Regan
4. The Dead Zone
5.
Casino Paladino
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