The Polls Continue to Point in Arcuri's Favor

 The race between Michael Arcuri and Richard Hanna for the seat in the 24^th District of New York is reaching its final weeks.  Throughout the race polls have been taken to in order to determine where each candidate states.  According to Paul Herrnson, “Polls are amongst the most common means of gauging public opinion.”  The most recent poll taken October 12-14 by The Hill/Penn Schoen & Berland Democratic poll has shown Arcuri to be 10 points ahead of Hanna.  Results similar to this have been shown in polls throughout the race.  It is apparent that Arcuri has a fairly comfortable lead.  It is a lead that wasn’t predicted at the beginning of the race and has continued to steadily increase.

In response to the results of their poll The Hill called the race between Arcuri and Hanna the race of the day on October 21 saying:

 “Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.) is one incumbent who appears to be in good position to survive next month's expected GOP wave.”  

“Arcuri's strength comes among independent voters, where he leads Hanna by nearly 20 points — 46 percent to 27.”

“The Hill poll found other positive indicators for Arcuri. His favorables are high — 52 percent to 29, even with more than 70 percent of likely voters in the district disapproving of the job Congress is doing.”


“He's also winning over a significant number of Republicans. Arcuri has the backing of 19 percent of Republicans in our poll, while just 8 percent of Democrats are backing Hanna.”


Most recently the two candidates debated at the Rome Chamber Breakfast, according to The Oneida Daily Dispatch,  on October 20^th with both candidates throwing jabs on issues such as taxes, the stimulus bill, and campaign ads that have gotten consistently more hostile as the race has progressed.

Arcuri and Hanna debating at the Rome Chamber Breakfast

Candidates Rely More and More on the Internet

With the race coming down to the wire Congressional candidates across the country are emptying all of their campaign money into all forms of advertising.  Television, radio, newspapers, direct mailings, and mass telephone calls are all mediums at the disposal of the candidates.  Generally these methods of advertising are expensive, labor intensive, or both.  However, the Internet serves as a mode of advertising that is neither of these things. 

According to Paul Herrnson in Congressional Elections:

“Campaigns save money and effort, and avoid mistakes, when they direct voter, donor, and press inquiries to their website.”

Both Rep. Michael Arcuri and Richard Hanna have campaign websites that state their stance on issues, provide background information about each candidate, and keep website viewers updated on the happenings of the race.  Websites are an equalizer in some ways that allow both candidates to clearly articulate their positions better than they could on an expensive thirty second TV advertisement or photo/campaign slogan in a newspaper.

 For example as the Utica Observer-Dispatch recently pointed out Hanna released another television ad that smears Arcuri saying he failed at increasing jobs in Upstate New York.  A viewer who watches this ad may become curious about Arcuri’s credibility and may want to learn more about him and also Hanna for that matter.  By visiting each candidates website a potential voter is able to get a clearer picture of each candidate and make an informed decision come election day.

Both candidates even have Facebook pages which can be seen here:

Unexpected Stances on a Touchy Issue

Specific foreign and domestic issues are a major part of the messages that Congressional candidates portray in their campaigns.  Paul Herrnson states “Most house candidates and campaign aides maintain that the bulk of their message focus on policy concerns rather than the candidate’s personality, a claim borne out by examinations of their campaign and materials.”

Arcuri & Hanna

Most recently the NYC mosque issue has been brought up between Michael Arcuri and Richard Hanna.  In an ironic turn of events Arcuri and Hanna have gone against their parties opinions on the issue with Arcuri opposing the mosque and Hanna in support of it.  

Hanna has said of the mosque situation:

“It's extremely easy to understand why people are upset by this, but this country was founded by people who were running away from religious persecution. So how can we become what we have beheld and found contemptible in other places?”
 

In response to this Arcuri swiftly sided with opponents of the mosque:

“The pain felt by many Americans from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is still very real, and I can understand how the thought of building a mosque near Ground Zero could reopen those wounds. For the sake of the victims and their families, I think another location should be chosen.”

Arcuri believes that Hanna is not as moderate as he’d like voters in Upstate New York to think.  Jeb Fain, Arcuri’s press secretary has said, “It depends who he’s talking to. I'd say that a lot of people support Wall Street reform, but Hanna opposed it. I wouldn't say that makes you a moderate in upstate New York.”

An overview of this debate and the other happenings of the Arcuri vs. Hanna race can be found in this Times article.

 The mosque issue is one of several including job security, social security, education, and health care that each candidate must strategically address if they intend to have any chance of winning their race.  Taking a particular stance on a particular issue could potentially mean more votes for one candidate and a loss of votes for the other.