Senate candidate pedals into town

By CRAIG FOX
Finger Lakes Times

GENEVA — Some politicians peddle their politics.

Jon Tasini, Hillary Clinton’s little-known Democratic challenger for the U.S. Senate, is pedaling his.

During his 600-mile excursion across New York to drum up votes, Tasini stopped at the Geneva Bicycle Center on Exchange Street Thursday, where he focused his comments on Clinton’s stand on the Iraqi war.

“I’ve had lots of Democrats who have said they won’t vote for Hillary Clinton again because she voted for the war,” Tasini said, as he was just getting off his blue and silver Trek 7700FX bike.

His 16-city “Ride for Peace” tour began May 11 at the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Manhattan, and it will conclude Sunday, one day before the state Democratic Convention kicks off.

Tasini is asking people to sign a petition that mirrors legislation proposed by U.S. Rep Jim McGovern, D-Mass., to end the war in Iraq. He hopes to get the Democratic Party to adopt it as part of its platform, which would call on Congress to cut off funding for troop deployment and prevent permanent bases from being set up in Iraq.

To force a primary, Tasini needs 15,000 signatures or 100 signatures in half of the state’s 29 congressional districts. Yet, his real goal is to get the Iraqi war debated at the convention, but that’s something Clinton supporters are fighting because it would mean Clinton would have to spell out her views on the war, Tasini said.

They don’t want that to happen, he said.

A freelance writer and union leader, Tasini is realistic about his chances against the former first lady, who has $25 million in campaign funds. He’s raised a little less than $100,000, and he won’t be spending any of it on slick campaign ads.

At each stop along the bike trek, his three campaign workers, who travel in a makeshift-headquarters RV, hand out fliers with information about the human and economic cost of war — tailored to the specific community.

In Geneva, the flier mentioned Sgt. Heath A. McMillin, the Clifton Springs native who was killed in Iraq on July 27, 2003. It also spells out that $13.9 million is enough to have paid for such things as 592 college scholarships, 94 police officers, 75 teachers or 112 affordable housing units in Geneva.

Tasini was met at the bike shop by a handful of supporters, including Paul Passavant, who’d ridden his bike from his South Main Street home.

“When I heard Hillary Clinton voted for the war, I said that I would never vote for her again,” Passavant said.

Genevan George Fairfax, another supporter, likes the idea of the bike trek and the message he’s giving.

“It’s a wonderful vehicle for what people need to hear, and he needs [the public’s] support,” Fairfax said.

Tasini also gave a speech at 7 p.m. on City Hall steps, then spent the night in town before heading off to Rochester this morning.

For much of his trip, Tasini has biked 35 to 40 miles a day in about three hours. On Sunday, he’ll travel the longest distance, about 75 miles between Rochester and Buffalo, so he can get there before Monday’s pre-convention activity.

Also challenging Clinton is Mark Greenstein.