Championing their causes

Daily Point

What is better, in-person or virtual campaigning?

A difference in campaign strategy seems to be brewing between Democratic and Republican candidates on Long Island: in-person, or not.

Multiple Republican hopefuls told The Point they are engaging in some of the usual ground-game activities at this stage of the election in a pandemic.

"We are doing everything," CD2 candidate Andrew Garbarino said. "Door-knocking, phone calls, virtual, in-person events."

For door-knocking, the Bayport Republican said, "we have our masks on and have door hangers [ campaign literature that can be affixed to door handles] if people don’t want to answer."

"I have been out and about every day in person," said CD4 challenger Douglas Tuman, noting that he is campaigning in village centers and downtown-type areas as opposed to going door to door. He said he had the virus and now has the antibodies, but he tries to match other people’s comfort level: "obviously social distancing, wearing a mask."

The trend can be seen on the more local level: State Senate hopeful Victoria Johnson, who is running against Todd Kaminsky, is door-knocking and says she stands back a bit to talk to people.

It is also visible on the national level, where Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden appears to be doubling down on virtual campaigning even as President Donald Trump holds in-person, even indoor, events.

Long Island Democrats willing to discuss aspects of their campaign strategies gestured at that Biden model.

Jackie Gordon’s campaign in CD2 is "largely virtual," said communications director Remmington Belford. That means platforms from StreamYard to Zoom, calls and texts, and in-person mostly for community service events. Belford said they’re not doing door-knocking, "to ensure the safety" of the field team and constituents.

CD4 Democratic incumbent Kathleen Rice has done news conferences on government issues but right now the campaign is largely virtual. For Rep. Tom Suozzi: "No in person."

And Kaminsky calls his campaign "mostly virtual," no door-knocking, while going to some events.

To some extent, the differentiation tracks partisan attitudes about the coronavirus. Democrats have largely embraced a careful road to reopening, while some Republicans — following the president’s lead — have urged a quicker return to normal even as the disease continues to percolate around the country.

In a normal year, one side saying it was giving up door-knocking — even if thousands of virtual contacts were made — would likely be seen as a liability. But state Democratic party leader Jay Jacobs says he’s not concerned.

"We are on the phones connecting with voters," Jacobs said. "I don’t believe that door-knocking in a pandemic will yield the Republicans any advantage. In fact, it could be a disadvantage if some of the voters they seek to persuade by door-knocking end up too sick to cast their ballots."

—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Talking Point

LGA AirTrain still on schedule

The LaGuardia AirTrain is chugging toward becoming more than just an urban legend. It will reach the next stage of a federal environmental review process next week, as virtual public workshops and hearings will be held next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The hearings come a month after the AirTrain’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement — the first significant document in the environmental review — was posted. A public comment period will continue until Oct. 6.

Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, told The Point this week that if all goes well, construction on the AirTrain could start next year. He noted that the progress on the AirTrain comes as the modernization of LaGuardia Airport itself continues.

"What we need in terms of finishing the airport is the AirTrain," Cotton said.

But the AirTrain continues to face opposition, primarily from neighbors concerned about noise from construction and the placement of the AirTrain track, which is slated to run along the north end of the Grand Central Parkway, and from some transit enthusiasts who think it would be better to extend a subway line, or start the AirTrain from somewhere other than Willets Point, the spot currently contemplated.

But in its draft environmental review, the FAA rejected a host of other alternatives for a variety of reasons, and said the proposal to build the AirTrain from Willets Point to the airport is the "preferred alternative."

Even as the environmental review process continues, however, significant challenges remain — particularly on funding the $2 billion project. Cotton noted that the Port Authority is prioritizing both the LaGuardia AirTrain and companion plans to replace the aging Newark AirTrain.

"We have committed to complete the two ongoing airport projects, and those include the AirTrains on both sides of the river," Cotton said.

But that’s made complicated by the lack of an agreement in Congress on a COVID-19 relief package, never mind one that would include funds for bi-state agencies like the Port Authority, which don’t exist in other parts of the country.

"There’s nothing that would suggest that that standoff [in Congress] is going to be resolved," Cotton said. "But we are advocating as hard as we can."

Interested participants can register for next week’s hearings here: https://www.lgaaccesseis.com/draft-eis-registration

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

Blame COVID on Biden!

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/cartoons

Final Point

Raiding the records

Stony Brook University professor and Setauket resident Stephanie Kelton is a guru of modern monetary theory, which suggests it’s alright for central governments to spend more money to, for example, maintain a full-employment economy.

That has been a more and more popular idea in recent years in connection with the Green New Deal and progressives like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose 2016 campaign Kelton advised.

It also might explain why conservative opposition research and communications firm America Rising Corp. was digging for Kelton’s emails.

On Aug. 5, as Joe Biden’s announcement of a vice presidential running mate was imminent, America Rising Senior Vice President Allan Blutstein filed a records request with Stony Brook asking for emails sent by Kelton mentioning Democratic VP contenders Karen Bass, Susan Rice, or Kamala Harris since July 1, in addition to records about Kelton’s employment. As a public employee, certain employment information is a matter of public record through the Freedom of Information Law.

The Point filed a Freedom of Information inquiry for records requests like these.

The purpose of the firm’s request — given Kelton’s status on the left — might have been to smear the potential VP pick as economically radical. The oppo-research group's website says its mission "is to help its clients defeat Democrats" whose "blueprint to winning elections involves the relentless pursuit of original and effective hits against Democrats."

"Founded in 2013," the site goes on, "America Rising has worked with more than 100 different Republican and conservative organizations and candidates over three election cycles to defeat Hillary Clinton and win races up and down the ballot nationwide."

The group, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Point, has been cited in news stories about its records request-based hits in recent years, including regarding the Environmental Protection Agency.

It looks like America Rising came up empty as far as Kelton’s emails were concerned.

"The record custodian advises there are no such emails on file," Stony Brook responded to the group on Aug. 6.

—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano