To a lay person, it all seems a bit like a tempest in a thimble. The two candidates for Dutchess County executive – Republican Bill Steinhaus, who occupies the office with all those nice windows overlooking the river and the mountains, and Democrat Joe Ruggiero, his first-ever significant challenger, who would like that view for himself – are tussling over, of all things, a lovely but down-at-the-heels old building in the Town of Wappinger, the shifting fortunes of which wouldn’t seem to have too much to do with how well someone would or wouldn’t be able to run the county. Steinhaus says Ruggiero, the Wappinger supervisor and, he likes to mention at every opportunity, “the Dutchess County Democrat Chairman and Party Boss” as if it were an insult, is personally negligent in letting the venerable Carnrath building rot so badly. Ruggiero says Steinhaus is full of beans and that his GOP “henchman” on the town board is the true culprit.
These guys should hold their breath on this one. Almost nobody’s listening, and the few who are, are bound to be annoyed. Steinhaus sounds shrill and uncomfortable when on the offensive; his carping words and tone don’t seem to be his own. He’s far better off doing what he usually does, and well: using the power of the incumbency to pad his own nest. It doesn’t cost his campaign squat to open up a rail trail in late October, or hand out tax breaks like cookies. And if anything, the defensive-mode Ruggiero sounds even shriller, almost paranoid. He needs to relax, get himself back in his nice suit and pound the well-testing and affordable housing themes if he wants to go negative.
Truth be told, I’ve interviewed both of these guys at length, and I would, were I a Dutchess County resident, be as comfortable with either of them running the show as I would with any other stone-cold politician. Both are competent managers – albeit with different management styles. Both are screamingly competitive, and both are, despite their unconvincing Red vs. Blue posturing, very similar political animals. I guarantee the county will run just as smoothly in January no matter who prevails on Tuesday.
Oh wait, I forgot. I am a Dutchess County resident, as of September, although I haven’t changed my enrollment yet. I’m still consumed with whom I’m not going to vote for in the Kingston mayoral “race.” Consider yourselves lucky to have two reasonably intelligent, able heavyweights running for the county’s top spot. It’s like a Mohammed Ali/George Foreman fight – cancel that, neither guy has that kind of height or reach. Make that Mike Tyson/Evander Holyfield – and I’ll leave it to you to decide who’s capable of biting the other guy’s ear off.
And Bill, Joe, I mean no disrespect. In fact, I’d be corner man for either of you, whispering instructions into your cauliflower ear as to what to say to bring your opponent to his knees.
But today, my function is to give each of you a pat on the back for a battle decently and entertainingly fought thus far, except for the boring and confusing Carnrath thing. Good luck Tuesday, come out swinging, nothing below the belt, and may the best man win.