The Republican side of the race to replace retiring Congressman Sherwood Boehlert is no longer just one conservative against someone more conservative. Apparently Ken Camera of Geneva, a very different kind of Republican, has entered the race:
In 2004, city councilors didn’t reappoint Camera to the Planning Board after some councilors complained of his maverick ways of dealing with projects considered by the board.
Camera said he asked developers difficult questions about their proposed projects and that his supporters liked his strong views of trying to preserve downtown buildings, rather than razing them for new development, he said.
In a press release, Camera laid out a 10-point "common sense" agenda that includes pushing for an exit from Iraq before the summer of 2007, in cooperation with the Iraqi government; developing a "win-win-win" energy strategy for people instead of big business; and fighting to repeal the 2003 Bush tax cuts and adopting a "pay-as-you-go" approach to government spending.
Camera also said he fully expects that President Bush will be impeached, and he'd support that on the grounds of incompetence.
"We can argue about how many lies he's told," he said, "but I'd rather evaluate it on competency of administering the federal government."
Camera is also against the practice of "earmarking," when politicians tack extra money onto spending bills for pet projects in their home districts. He said earmarks have a corruptive influence on politics which legislators use as bribes to stay in power.
Boehlert was unusual for a modern Republican, but Camera is unexpected. Hopefully, a conversation will break out among the Republican candidates at some point, and we'll get to see more of their views.
Posted by simon at April 17, 2006 5:32 PM in politics (national)