So here’s one for my fellow Long Islanders: Robert Germino, a former United States Marine and Iraq War veteran, running on the GOP and Conservative party ticket for New York’s 13th district Assembly seat.
Germino is sufficiently impressive in his own right; but it’s the prospect of turfing out his incumbent opponent, Charles Lavine, that should get the conservatives of Oyster Bay and Muttontown running to the polls. Lavine’s voting record here.
[I note en passant that John W. Davis, 1924 Democratic presidential candidate — the last true conservative to be nominated by the Democrats, and co-hero of Garland Tucker’s fine book, which I have reviewed for the current (Oct. 4) National Review — made his home in Locust Valley, right there in the 13th Assembly District. So by voting for Robert Germino, you will be, at several removes, honoring the memory of a fine conservative gentleman — a type that could once find a home, and even a presidential nomination, in the Democratic party.]
A pal in the 13th remarks that one of Robert Germino’s main interests …
… is the repeal of the [Metropolitan Transit Authority] payroll tax. I realize this seems like a minor issue, but for those of us who commute to Manhattan on a thankless, unreliable, increasingly expensive, urine-soaked railroad and are soon to be paying even further fare increases, it’s a slap in the face …
Tell me about it. Of my last three attempts to get into Manhattan on the (MTA-managed) Long Island Railroad, only one made it all the way in. On August 23rd I was stopped at Hicksville when some down-line equipment burst into flames, bringing the entire railroad to a halt for several hours. Last Thursday’s attempt got as far as Jamaica Station — that day’s New York City tornado (?) had brought trees down on the track. In neither situation were travelers given any useful information about what was going on.
It can only be a matter of time before Long Island Railroad passengers begin to emit sarcastic choruses of “Baa-aaa!” as they herd us into the wagons, like World War I French poilus headed for the Front.