The Democratic Rural Conference this year was held out in the beautiful, abit friget city of Ithaca, during the first week of March. It was purty cold there to say the least, with snow blowing off Lake Cayuga, and conference attendies running from the big Cornell parking garage over to the Statler Hotel where the dinner and parties were held, as was the Straw Poll the next morning.

I took the full day off that Friday to go out there. I wanted to spend some time exploring some of the beautiful small farming towns along I-88, and then over the many miles of State Roads from Unadilla to Greene to Whitney Point out to Ithaca. There are a lot of great small farms in this area, and a lot of people working hard to get by.

As much as I loved the country out here, I was somewhat off-put by Ithaca's ultra-liberal tinge that dominated the city. It's a college town. It certainly was a college town—one that truly was 10 square miles surrounded by reality as one of the brohures claimed. I enjoyed the outdoor mall, and particularly the many little bookstores where I got a couple of books.

Back at the Statler, I got to go around and see several of the booths for major campaigns, signed up with the Andy Cuomo guys email list (which I later found out I was on with a second address), and quietly grabbed a Shawn Maloney for Attorney General pin and a Tom Souzzi bumpersticker. While I really like both of those guys, it looks like it would be hard for me to support those guys as they simply are weaker candidates compared to the mega-candidates of Elliot Spitzer and Andy Cuomo.

Ran back to my truck to grab some pins and some other shit, and when I got back I found out I didn't have a dinner ticket. I had to run back downstairs and beg for my ticket, and by the time I got back I lost my seat at the Albany Young Democrats table. I couldn't find myself a seat at the other YDRC tables or the Clinton County table, so I ended up being assisted by the waiter to a standing-room only table to the side.

So I have to admit I didn't get to see Spitzer, Patterson, Hillary Clinton, or some of the other guys up except by closed circut TV and occassionally stepping in by the doors of the room, next to Clinton's secret service people. I was disappointed by Maurice Hinchey having to cancel out at the last minute. The sound for some of the talks was a bit hard to hear, but nobody's speech was that stunning. Certainly, Patterson has toned down his rhetoric from last year.

Yet, there was some very good highlights to the dinner. The food was excellent, as was the free wine and beer. I also got to sit with Democratic US Senate primary candidate Jonathan Tsansi, a very nice gentleman who made it clear that he simply was running to make the war an issue in the campaign, and not to particularly unseat Hillary Clinton. He was impressive and no political neophyte to boot. I also got to meet some nice guys from the Oswego Democrats, and others from Central New York.

After the meals and the talks, there was an Andy Cuomo dessert reception and a reception for Shawn Maloney. Andy Cuomo's got the tops for the great variety of very fancy and very dellous deserts, and the good socialization. While Cuomo had good boos, certainly the selection of beers from the Malloney party was far better. Malloney had a lot of fancy bread, cheeses, and light snacks, which went over good after the desserts. The dancing at the Maloney party was a lot of fun, particularly as the alcohol started to really kick in.

Also at the Maloney party, lots of copies of the YDRC CD where given out. I made sure to grab plenty of copies to give out to my friends. Drop me an email if you want a copy, it also can be accessed through a password protected site online on request. The YDRC CD came together after a lot of work, and it was very high quality stuff for anybody in New York State thinking about running as a Democrat or helping a Democrat win.

Many drinks and ours of dancing rather drunk later, I met up with some girls from the Cornell Democrats that allowed me to crash in their room. I had asked John Byrne about this earelier, and it took a while to find him. I did, and it was really impressive staying in a very nice and very new Cornell suite (on a coutch far more comfortable then my bed as no springs stuck up). You gotta love what money can buy you. That morning, I took a shower, and said the hell with the suit. Got out my black cowboy hat, a decent pair of jeans, and my Albany County Young Democrats shirt. I was told that was appropiate, as long as I left my cowboy hat on.

The highlight of the day truly was the Straw Poll. We got to find out who the candidates where that Rural New York wanted to be as the Democratic candidates in major state races. Spitzer gave his usual Spitzer-sounding speech, then did Tom Suozzi who gave a speech just to remind us all he was still in the race. It looks like most of Suozzi's weak support comes from the western part of the Southern Tier—pretty conservative country out there.

David Patterson's speech was very much so toned down from his previous speeches. He was quite open about his boss now being Spitzer, and being the only Leutient Governor candidate still in the race, he got all the votes casted. The Senator candidates where the most interesting to hear though. While everybody knew that Clinton would ultimately get the nod for US Senator, a number of people cast protest votes for Tsansi. Jon Tsansi gave an awsome speech that morning, and made it very clear that voting for him was simply in protest, and not taking away from Hillary's almost inevitable second term in the US Senate.

Andy Cuomo's speech for the Attorney General's race smacked of Mario Cuomo's earlier speeches. Yet it was very impressive, and it really set the bar high for other candidates. Mark Green gave some nice remarks, but nothing particularly exciting after Andrew Cuomo. Deinse O'Donnell emphasized her upstate roots and her experience as a federal procecutor, and clearly was the conservative AG candidate. Shawn Maloney, gave an interesting speech, although it was surpsing conservative in the context of more recent speeches and comments he had made. Clearly, I'm biased as I held a nice big "Andrew Loves Rural New York" sign up with the Cuomo people, but that was partially as I wanted one of those signs to hang up in my dorm room.

I missed the breakfast the next morning, but I made it to the lunch. It was excellent, though certainly not as impressive as the dinner. Bob Johnson, the Democrat running again for Congress in the North Country, gave a decent speech, as did many other people. Got bumped out of a seat lining up for the good food this time, but made some friends out in Western New York, along with getting back in touch with Ms. Hunter who is running for a seat in a challenging district including the Allegany State park and lots of farmland (a little bit east of Eric County/Buffalo).

The afternoon sessions were quite enjoyable, with a lot of interesting discussion of rural issues with real rural people. I don't get that opportunity much in the Albany-area, something I love to do so much when I'm up in Plattsburgh. I'm a rural kid, even if I commute to Albany each day for work. The afternoon break sponsored by a Congressional candidate in Western New York was delious. As was the great election stragity session following that, in which I got more insight into campaign stragity.

I headed back home after that. It was an enjoyable time, as was seeing so much of the country in this great part of the state. I really wish I could spend more time out here, and hope to work more with these great people that are turning around things in communities across New York. Rural Democrats have a long way to go in New York, but step by step we are doing great things.