Snark huckers

Spitzer compares Upstate New York to Appalachia. Is anyone surprised? Is anyone really offended by that? If you are, grow the hell up. The point Spitzer is making is that this region of the state is growing either not at all, or at a slower pace than other places. We are mired in old-style politics, old thinking, old ideas, old systems, old structures.

The fact that someone like Spitzer – as the News points out, “a liberal New York City Democrat” (I’m not touching that) – is coming out and saying these things is good. Isn’t the first step of recovery acknowledging that you have a problem in the first place? Well, Spitzer is acknowledging that fact by comparing our non-growth to the most historically stagnant economy in the country. The News itself acknowledges that Appalachia happens to be outperforming us.

The News hucks a lot of snark at Spitzer in today’s editorial, and I was a bit surprised by it, frankly. I mean – what, precisely, has the 11-year-old Republican Pataki administration done to better upstate’s lot? Not a whole lot. Taxes are still historically high, authorities still do whatever they want with impunity, and Albany remains dysfunctional. Attaboy, George. Good luck with that whole POTUS thing.

None of the Republican candidates are lighting the world on fire with their ideas and plans for upstate. Randy who? Faso the lobbyist? Weld himself has some big problems right now, not the least of which is the fact that he’s seen as a carpetbagger and Minarik is shoving Weld down the GOP’s collective throat.

Spitzer is getting a run from Suozzi, and as much as I like Suozzi and his ideas, I just feel it’s the wrong race at the wrong time for him. The Spitzer juggernaut in the statewide Democratic Party is well underway, and Suozzi would really need a miracle to stand a chance against the guy who’s been running for over a year, and has already locked up just about every needed endorsement.

Compare upstate New York’s economy to Appalachia, as Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Eliot L. Spitzer did, or to the Dust Bowl, or to the hurricane-decimated Gulf Coast. We don’t honestly care what it’s labeled, as long as the people conjuring names respond to their characterizations with functional, effective programs to help lift it out of its doldrums.

Well, duh. The race has only just begun. And the first order of business is for Spitzer to define the problem, and acknowledge to New Yorkers that he understands the problems and pain New Yorkers north of Poughkeepsie face.

To be blunt, as much as Spitzer has going for him, we need to be convinced that a liberal New York City Democrat has what it takes to make the hard calls that will help upstate’s economy. We’d like to be pleasantly surprised.

The Buffalo Niagara region has 11,600 fewer jobs today than it did before the recession of 2001; the region lost factory jobs every year from 1995 to 2005; its average annual economic growth rate from 1994 to 2004 ranked Buffalo 283rd out of 361 cities, while New York City’s economy rebounded after 9/11. Economically, upstate’s worse than the 12 Appalachian states.

So call it what you want, Mr. Spitzer. Assign a memorable tag to flag it in your Blackberry so next year, if you are governor, you’ll tackle and fix the state’s biggest problem.

In a way, by calling scornful attention to Spitzer’s Blackberry, the News is kinda acting like some guy from Appalachia who hates people with Blackberries.