Has Stefanik painted herself into a corner?
Edward Prescott, Nobel Prize winner from Glens Falls, passes in Arizona
By Ken Tingley
Rep. Elise Stefanik, fresh from her most impressive election yet, has bet it all on Donald Trump.
Leading up to Election Day, Rep. Stefanik reiterated her support for the former president, and then when Trump took heat for the candidates he endorsed, she did what Trump always does - she doubled down.
“I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2024,” Stefanik told the New York Times in a prepared statement. “It is time for Republicans to unite around the most popular Republican in America who has a proven track record of conservative governance.”
During her eight years in Congress, Stefanik has proven adept at reading the political tea leaves. When Trump ran for president in 2016, Stefanik balked at an endorsement, refusing to say his name and then taking a pass at attending the Republican National Convention where he was nominated. She quietly pivoted after Trump won the presidency. Soon, she mimicked his campaign style, heaped praise everything he did and used Twitter to attack opponents and the press. As she gained the president’s favor and attention, she no longer had any need to be bipartisan. She no longer cared about being held accountable.
She hired a high school student to spy on her opponents, Tedra Cobb, during the 2018 campaign, then a year later invited a supporter who had threatened the Glens Falls newspaper to one of her town hall meetings. She defended the former president through impeachments and insurrection while also objecting to the electors in Pennsylvania after the riots on Jan. 6 and passing on conspiracy theories.
For that, the voters of the 21st Congressional District overwhelmingly returned her to Congress this week.
But with the shocking underperformance of Republicans in the midterm election - especially those endorsed by Trump and supporting false conspiracy theories - some Republicans are finally saying enough.
“Republicans have followed Donald Trump off the side of a cliff,” David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser with ties to Pennsylvania, told the New York Times.
“I strongly believe he should no longer be the face of the Republican Party,” said former Republican Long Island congressman Peter King to the New York Times “(The party) can’t become a personality cult. We can’t allow blind fealty to Trump to determine the fate of our party.”
“Almost every one of these Trump-endorsed candidates that you see in competitive states has lost,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “It’s a huge loss for Trump. And, again, it shows that his political instincts are not about the party, they’re not about the country — they’re about him.”
But this also about Rep. Stefanik now. She has been mentioned as a possible running mate or cabinet choice for the former president and will have real power in the House of Representatives that will be controlled by the GOP.
“Republican voters determine who is the leader of the Republican Party and it’s very clear President Trump is the leader of the Republican party. What the media fails to report is that we just won the midterms and flipped the House,” Stefanik said to Breitbart News.
Stefanik may be feeling emboldened by her lopsided election victory and it is clear that most local Republicans have deferred to her positions.
But Ray Scollin, a prominent North Country Republican who was once chairman of the Franklin County GOP, parted ways with Trump, and to some degree Stefanik this week. He tweeted:
“November of 2014, I proudly supported a remarkable young woman for U.S. Congress in #NY21. She was fierce, smart and genuine. I have continued to support @EliseStefanik into her 5th term. I continue to believe in her. But, she and I will strongly disagree in regard to Trump.”
Scollin previously wrote on Twitter:
The question is whether Scollin is an outlier. Is he the only North Country Republican willing to stand up and defend the traditional values of the Republican Party? Or will there be others?
Rep. Elise Stefanik has made her choice. She has painted herself into a corner with the former president. It will be hard to walk away from that. But so far, Stefanik has made all the right moves. She must know what she is doing. After all, she has all of us behind her.
Nobel Prize winner
A reader alerted me this week of the death of Edward Prescott, a Nobel Prize winning economist and native of Glens Falls, who passed away at the age of 81.
Prescott was described as “one of the most influential economists in the world” with a long career in academia. In 2004, he was honored along with one of his colleagues with the Nobel Prize in economics for “contributions to the dynamic macroeconomics; the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles.”
He had been a respected member of the Arizona State business school for 20 years while also serving on the faculties at the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon, University of Chicago and the University of Minnesota while also holding appointments as a visiting professor at Northwestern, New York University, California-Santa Barbara, La Universidad Michoacán’s de San Nicolas de hidalgo in Mexico, Australian National University and the Norwegian School of Economics.
He also served as a senior advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis since 1981
Prescott was born Dec. 26, 1940 in Glens Falls, earned a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College, got a Master’s at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland and then a Ph.D in economics at Carnegie Mellon in 1967.
According to David Nathan, he was a pretty darn good football player at Glens Falls High School and played quarterback when he got to Swarthmore. Nathan described him as “probably the best known Glens Falls High graduate until Jimmer Fredette came along.”
Talking newspapers
Two weeks ago at the Saratoga Book Festival, Mark Mahoney, Will Doolittle and I gathered onstage to talk about newspapers, journalism and my new book “The Last American Newspaper.” Both Mark and Will and their stories are prominently featured in the book.
We will do Part 2 of the panel discussion on Thursday at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls. The 7 p.m. event will be moderated by former WNYT News Director Eric Hoppel.
We’ll be taking questions afterward and I will be signing books as well. Hope to see you there.
Battenkill rocks
It was another fun evening in Cambridge this past week as WAMC radio host Joe Donahue got together at Battenkill Books to talk about newspapers, journalism, my new book and some politics on the day after the midterm elections.
If you haven’t been to Battenkill Books, you should check it out. It is the classic independent bookstore that should be in every community.
Sign of the times
In another sign of the times, Parade magazine will no longer appear in newspapers all across the country.
Growing up, Parade was a light read that I always relished. I think most people did. It has been a staple in most newspapers around the country for decades.
Both the Times Union and The Post-Star announced that Parade is ending the print version of its weekly magazine. A new digital version will be available with each newspaper subscription, but I don’t think many people will go to the trouble to find it.
Tweets of the Day
In one sense I see E lies as a willing victim. Trump is one of many men who groom their victims so they have control of them. She is being controlled by an expert who has been doing this for many, many years and it works for HIM. He lets her THINK that it's working for her. People with a whole lot more common sense than she has, are really starting to see him for what he is. I think she is a lot like trump himself, wanting to get to the top no matter who you have to use and abuse. I don't know if she's trying to convince herself or others that he is the best. When he falls, and I really think he will, he will kick her to the curb so fast she won't know what hit her. Maybe then she will finally get it. Trump is a cancer, and he will destroy her in the end.
Shortly before Stefanik endorsed Trump he criticized and insulted her. Her response was to praise him. That is how MAGA works. It's all peachy while Trump is on top. Once people recognize these folks for what they are, it isn't pretty. A soul isn't sold to a pawn shop. It is sold to the devil.