My Congresswoman, Louise Slaughter, just died at age 88. I canvassed for her a couple times and have met her once or twice. She was a very good Congresswoman, very powerful within the Democratic caucus.
Typically, you should expect a Dem to win this district by about 15 points, so probably by 20 or more points this fall, given the likely 6 to 15 point swing we will in favor of Democrats. So this is a completely safe seat for 18.
West of the Cascades
It was great to see Doug! and mistermix post simultaneous tributes to this great woman.
ETA mixtermix post now gone.
foucault swing voter mistermix
Yeah, I took down my post – she was my congresswoman, too, and a force of nature until the end. I had the pleasure of watching one tough-fought campaign when she was 84. She wiped the floor with her Republican opponent, Maggie Brooks.
It looks like we’re going to have a special election. I assume the candidates will be picked by the party committees. Unfortunately, our local Democratic committee could fuck up a ham sandwich so hopefully we’ll get a decent candidate.
wenchacha
She will be missed, greatly.
CarolDuhart2
May she rest in peace and well done, good public servant.
Now a concern. Because this seat seems pretty safe, local Dems may take this election for granted. Remind them that there are other seats in the district that are also important-mayors, city council seats, state house races. Up and down blue, no matter who.
Tom Levenson
A real loss.
dr. bloor
Haven’t lived in Rochacha since she was a county legislator, but always impressive from afar in Congress. RIP
Matt McIrvin
Mine, Niki Tsongas, is retiring. Similarly, this is probably a good year for her to do it.
Kathy Eckhouse
She will be missed. She was great on the use of antibiotics in animal production, a really important issue.
Joey Maloney
@foucault swing voter mistermix: What’s the field look like? Are there any obvious heirs?
polyorchnid octopunch
Huh, you and mistermix are kinda neighbours… I’m just across the lake in Kingston.
Baud
I saw her on the TV a few times and was impressed. Hope you guys find a worthy successor.
Susan K of the tech support
Ms. Slaughter came to my attention as I followed the doings of my then-Congressman, David Dreier, Rules Chair, professed-“moderate” and carrier of water for George W Bush Admin. They traded off Chair and Ranking Member positions.
Only now learning more about her—scientist, fierce and tireless advocate, funny and indefatigable.
We stand on the shoulders of giantesses, and today we lost a giantess.
foucault swing voter mistermix
@Joey Maloney: Sadly, no. There are a lot of bad politicians in the city and county.
SiubhanDuinne
I never met her, but a former boss worked very closely with her for several years when he was Consul General of Canada in Buffalo. He greatly admired her as a professional and liked her as a person.
Following her from afar, I had only respect. The seat may be safe for Dems, but Louise Slaughter will be hard to replace.
Baud
@foucault swing voter mistermix: Your or Doug should put your hat in the ring.
catclub
@Matt McIrvin:
Politicians generally do their side no favor in when they retire. A Democrat retiring now, when a wave is likely to bring in another Democrat – makes perfect sense for the party, but not for the politician – win another easy election.
Likewise Republicans not staying in this year and fighting for their closely held seats.
This year Democrats will benefit from that bias.
RIc Drywall
My congresswomen too, and in fact, she was my rep in the State Assembly back in the day.
I still remember the “Geez, Louise” ads that ran against her one time, back when the GOP thought they could beat her.
She always had that Kentucky accent. BTW, her father was a Kentucky coal miner and Louise went on to earn a degree in microbiology.
Central Planning
My FIL claims he got her into politics by saying to her: you should run for office
Msb
I envy your having a Congress person you can admire. Mine is a particularly scummy R.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
RIP, Rep Slaughter.
@Baud: I would pay to Watch Cong. DougJ debate Marsha Blackburn or Jim Jordan on the House floor.
Geeno
@SiubhanDuinne: Indeed – her like don’t come by often these days. Very sad.
I can’t even think of a statewide pol – let alone a local – who could step into her shoes.
My wife went to high school with her daughter.
Patricia Kayden
May Ms. Slaughter Rest In Peace and her legacy live on.
The Moar You Know
She was a good one. Pulled no punches. I like that. Job well done Ms. Slaughter and RIP.
We’ll get that orange fucker out of the White House for you soon enough.
germy
WaPo
efgoldman
Was she the model for Doonesbury’s Lacy Davenport?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@efgoldman: I think that was Millicent Fenwick. Slaughter wasn’t ‘elected till ’87
Doug!
@Baud:
I’m an agoraphobic misanthrope, so I don’t think I’d be a good candidate.
Rusty
We were so happy when they redistricted upstate NY and we moved from Tom Reed, tea party hack, to Louise. My entire office is sad at the news. She cared deeply for the community and stood for real liberal values.
Elizabelle
Hadn’t followed Ms. Slaughter’s career much. What a good soul. My condolences.
OT: I would like to buy a website/name for a small business idea. Web mavens: who best to deal with??
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Doug!: I sometimes wonder, if I could get over my aversion to people, how my platform of “Most of you are fucking stupid, now shut up and listen while I explain your stupidity to you” would fly
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
omigawd
Baud
@Doug!: I’m a sociopath. It hasn’t stopped me from reaching for the brass ring.
JoeyJoeJoe Junior Shabadoo
I’ve met her and heard her speak. She was born in Harlan County Kentucky and still had her accent. Not sure how she ended up in the Rochester area.
Baud
@Doug!:
@Baud:
Also, too, between the excellent music in your campaign ads and the “family man” image with baby, you’d be a shoo-in.
chris
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Matt McIrvin
@catclub: I was initially nervous when I heard Tsongas was leaving in this round, but that was before the special-election wins started piling up. She’s 71 and could probably go a few more rounds if she wanted to, but choosing to bow out now seems like a magnanimous strategic choice. I haven’t looked much into the contenders to replace her; probably should.
schrodingers_cat
@Doug!: Do it DougJ!
ruemara
@Elizabelle: We’ve used Squaresoft for 2 projects at my lab. I’ve considered moving my personal website to them but, I like handcoding.
Arm The Homeless
How much of the frightened White folks in the burbs are scared of Rochester and its black mayor? Enough to tip the balance to an R?
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Dress the baby up in clothes according to your voter demographic and win hearts! It worked for Trudeau.
Brachiator
It was a pleasure to read about Louise Slaughter. The seat she leaves vacant may be safely Democrat, but I hope her successor will grow into the job and accomplish as much as did Slaughter.
Elizabelle
@ruemara: Thank you!
rikyrah
RIP. Congresswoman.
Thank you for your service.
Ohio Mom
@JoeyJoeJoe Junior Shabadoo: This is somewhat off topic. I moved to Cincinnati in the late 1970s to be a VISTA worker in a low-income, inner city Appalachian neighborhood. One of the local social services agencies sponsored a screening of the movie, Harlan County.
For the old lady I found myself sitting next to, it was a home movie: “See that street? Go down it a mile, that’s where I used to live.” “I know him, he worked with my husband.” Etc.
It is indeed an interesting question how Slaughter ended up in Rochester. It isn’t on any of the old migration routes out of the mountains, which went up through the industrial Midwest.
Not that many people appreciate how big a migration that was.
Tarragon
@Doug!:
And a whole lot more!
Elizabelle
WaPost headline: and really, how could this not be a great bumpersticker/platform for a LOT of Democratic candidates (minus the death, albeit at an advanced age):
Liberal champion of women’s rights and U.S. manufacturing dies at 88
Folksy is good, but so is being a tech-ish type, if your heart and priorities are in the right place.
raven
@Ohio Mom: There were a good many folks in Chicago that followed that path. John Prine comes to mind.
efgoldman
@Matt McIrvin:
I had the impression you were over the line, in live free or die country
SiubhanDuinne
Louise Slaughter even managed to move the ZEGS to a rare moment of something resembling humanity:
(Sorry, I’ve never figured out how to embed tweets.)
Elizabelle
More of the WaPost obit, which is great:
efgoldman
@Elizabelle:
Turns out my daughter the journo, when she was at Consumerist, worked closely with Slaughter’s office. Quoting “her press folks loved Consumerist One of the nicest congresspeople I ever talked to”
Elizabelle
More of the WaPost obit, for those on smartphones:
Elizabelle
@efgoldman: That’s wonderful.
SiubhanDuinne
@JoeyJoeJoe Junior Shabadoo:
@Ohio Mom:
The most conventional of reasons.
efgoldman
@germy: @Elizabelle: Link?
Matt McIrvin
@efgoldman: Nah, I’m three miles from the border on the Mass. side. I’ve got family on the other side, used to have more but they moved back on my side.
Elizabelle
WaPost link: great obit for Louise Slaughter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/rep-louise-slaughter-liberal-democrat-who-championed-womens-rights-dies-at-88/2018/03/16/7b7f7c3e-2865-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html?utm_term=.725cf4fb2afc
Elizabelle
There is no mention whatsoever of Louise Slaughter on the Fuck the Fucking NY Vichy Times’ website. Does anything come up for you?
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Msb:
My Congress rat is LaMalfa… an arrogant rice grower (inherited land and money) who thinks he’s earned everything he was born into. Zero original or meaningful legislation introduced by him. A party line Yes vote for Republicans.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Not a pixel.
chris
@SiubhanDuinne:
A periodic PSA:
1) Click the down arrow in the top right corner of the tweet.
2)Click to copy link
3)Or click embed tweet
4)Copy green highlighted text
5)Paste to BJ comment box. Yes, it looks like gobbledygook but it looks like this in the comments:
Elizabelle
OK, the FTF NY Vichy Times does have an obit for Louise Slaughter on their New York page; not on the front page.
And they use it to go after Bill Clinton. Holy fuck:
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle:They are the Pravda of this Nazi regime. Vichy Times is too kind.
Amir Khalid
@Elizabelle:
Nope.
Doug R
@Kathy Eckhouse:
The single most likely cause of resistant superbugs-very important issue.
Elizabelle
@schrodingers_cat: That one leaves me speechless.
They are Pravda. No question.
Litlebritdifrnt
Sorry to go OT in an RIP thread but this just broke, Don Jr’s wife hires a CRIMINAL defense attorney to represent her in the so called uncontested divorce.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/don-jrs-wife-hires-criminal-defense-lawyer-divorce-case-mueller-probe-heats/
Ohio Mom
@raven: Yes, Chicago, along with Detroit and all the towns with factories on the way, were where Appalachians looking for a better life, away from the coal mines, went.
I’ve always wondered what set the ones who held onto their identity apart from the many who assimilated out. I remember a neighbor of mine insisting that while his grandfather was Appalachian, he certainly was not.
Yet other members of the third generation would say that they were Appalachian. Reminds me a little of how contemporary American Jews also have a choice of whether or not to hold onto to their ancestral identity.
SiubhanDuinne
@chris:
Thanks. In theory I know what to do, but just tried testing it again and it didn’t work. So either I’m missing something obvious or it’s different on the phone. Not a big deal, anyhow, as I rarely have occasion to copy and share tweets. But thanks — I’ve saved your step-by-steps.
TenguPhule
@Doug R:
Now would be a pretty good time to try and get the bill she always wanted passed to stop the misuse of antibiotics in food animals.
PaulWartenberg
Never say anything is an easy seat. FIGHT FOR IT! Get a good candidate running for 2018!
Rusty
I want to also point out how effective she was at passing legislation. She sponsored and passed a raft of legislation to make people’s lives better, women’s health, ethics, arts, science, healthcare and so much more. What should be remembered is how deeply effective she was at making things happen, not just saying the right thing.
GregB
@Litlebritdifrnt:
The employment statistics for attorneys during the Trump era will certainly indicate heavy growth.
Ruckus
@Rusty:
A force of nature is like that.
Water can be pretty benign but run it down a river or crash it into a beach and it will wear solid granite.
SiubhanDuinne
@Litlebritdifrnt:
That seems … excessive. And in yet another O/T WTF moment, I just saw this:
http://thehill.com/policy/international/378751-south-korean-minister-to-meet-ivanka-after-tillerson-was-fired
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
You want the ear of this president (have no idea why that might be) who else would you talk to?
That’s not as silly a question as it appears on the surface is it? Which in itself is very disheartening.
schrodingers_cat
@Ruckus: But Hillary said something mean about the Orange One and his base supporters, so let’s pile on her instead, say our Beltway botlets.
Gravie
I interviewed Louise Slaughter back in the ’90s about her work in support of the arts. She was one fabulous lady. She never lost touch with her roots in the Kentucky hollers, and was warm, funny, and ferocious in support of her passions.
JoeC
Yep, she was my Congress person too. Always liked her. Saw her in Wegmans once. Thought about saying “Thanks” but decided not to bug her. She will be missed.
Gelfling 545
@SiubhanDuinne: Consul General from what year?
Gelfling 545
@Baud: I thought sociopathy was a pre-qualification for aspiring candidates now.
sempronia
I called her DC office to thank her the day the ACA passed, when I lived in her district. The intern sounded so surprised and pleased – I think they had been getting a lot of nasty phone calls.
Brendan in NC
As a former Rochester resident, I remember her well. My mother served with her in the County Legislature in the late 70’s. She was everything that everyone else has said, and more. In high school, we had to write our local Congressperson about a topic. I wrote to her, and at the end of her response was the question “Are you Claire’s son?”. My teacher got a kick out of that.
TenguPhule
EU has released their updated list of US imports to be targeted for the Trade War.
This is gonna suck.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gelfling 545:
Mmm, trying to think back — IIRC he came to ATNTA in 2009 so probably served in BFALO around 2004-09.
TenguPhule
At least we’re not Romania?
SiubhanDuinne
@Geeno:
I’m really quite struck by the number and variety and sincerity of tributes pouring out for Louise Slaughter today. Not many congresscritters enjoy the level of love and respect I’m seeing for her.
Old Dan and Little Anne
I heard an hour ago about Slaughter at cemetery because my idiot BIL told my idiot FIL who had just buried his mom. He then said ding ding the witch is dead. I wanted to punch him.
Gelfling 545
@SiubhanDuinne: after my time then.
Stacy
RIP Lousie Slaughter. She was my congresswoman for all of my teen and adult life until I moved into Barbara Comstock’s(R) district in Ashburn, VA in 2013. I’m one of those middle aged women who was shocked into action after 2016 and I’ll be donating and campaigning in Louise’s honor for our VA10 Democratic candidate in 2018.
Steeplejack (phone)
@SiubhanDuinne:
Worst-case scenario, you could copy the URL as you would for any other Web page.
Stacy
@Brendan in NC: A fellow Rochester native here and I remember her well too. A neighbor held a fundraiser at her house down the street from us when I was a teen. It was quite a thing to have her be my congresswoman as a teen girl in the 1980’s. As an adult, I’d see her frequently at the same salon and her southern drawl was such a contrast to our hard Rochester R’s. She always seemed to be in our district. Such a difference from my current Congresswoman, Barbara Comstock.
TenguPhule
Jeremy Corbyn’s response to his critics about his speech
The highlights.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ruckus:
Yes. This president. Any other administration in history, an appropriate senior State Department official would do very well. That ain’t Ivanka.
Well put.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack (phone):
Yes, and I sometimes do that. In this particular case I was more interested in sharing Ryan’s words than in providing a link.
Ruckus
@schrodingers_cat:
Very true but I was pointing out that someone outside the country that felt they had need to speak with the president, who else you gonna call? SoS is out and was useless to all but himself anyway, the state dept seems to be running out of anyone above coffee boy, she’s the only one that has any permanence and an ear of the shithead. It’s like calling a large company for something, you can’t get through to the CEO, he doesn’t answer the phone, he has staff for that. Customer service is useless because the head of that department was fired and the only person left there now is the janitor. That leaves the CEOs secretary, who can still get things done, and might, as long as there is something in it for her as well.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gelfling 545:
What were your years?
WereBear
@Elizabelle: I like NameCheap.com
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
I think most people have a difficult time understanding just how bad it actually is. All of my life I’ve been told that the government is poorly run, badly staffed and working to fuck me over. It of course wasn’t true, except that now that it actually is. The rot starts at the top and either spreads or chases away everything else, leaving only rot. And it takes a lot less time to destroy than to build. Destruction is easy, which might be why drumpf is so good at it, first he has practice and second he is rot personified.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gelfling 545:
@SiubhanDuinne:
Sorry, you said “after my time” and my brain decided that meant “before my time” so I typed a lot of stuff that made no sense, deleted as soon as I caught my error, but didn’t have time to ask new questions because the edit window was closing!
So — What were your years? I was at the ConGen in ATNTA from 1988-2013 and although I rarely had occasion to meet in person people from other posts I knew a lot of names and “colleagues of colleagues.” Were you Trade, PERPA, Immigration, or Admin? Who was HOM during your time?
SiubhanDuinne
@Ruckus:
“The Government” has always been a convenient scapegoat, and as often as not the scorn directed at it was almost a kind of easy joke where everyone knew the punch line so all you had to do was say “That’s the gummint for you” with a rueful shrug, and everyone would chuckle knowingly. But that broad social acceptance of the awfulness of government — even and especially when it was contradicted by your own experience — gave needed cover to the “drown-it-in-the-bathtub” crew.
schrodingers_cat
@Ruckus: I got that. That our media considers the statements by a private citizen more scorn worthy than the sad state of diplomatic affairs under T makes my blood boil.
ETA: Their Clinton hate is what got us this waking nightmare. And yet they seem to have learned nothing.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
They’ve learned that T sells them more coverage. Its a perverse incentive for them to become more complicit.
Denali
I am proud to say that Louise Slaughter was my Representative, a nd I am glad that I had the chance to meet her and thank her for her service. She truly gave her best for all her constituents and worked very hard as well for the best interests of the country. She will be very much missed.
Nancy
I sent Louise an email asking her whether she would boycott that inauguration. Expected to get back the usual auto-response. Did not and about three weeks later I got an explanation via email about why she chose to attend.
Just one demonstration of why she was such an incredible congressperson. She respected me enough to either reply herself or dictate a real response to the question. She’s the only one of my NYS reps who ever replied to my emails/calls beyond a form letter.