Be Strong for Geneseo!

Do you like the slogan above? It’s a variation of one suggested by former County Clerk Margaret McCaughey today. Margaret said that I needed a good slogan for my campaign, so I’m opening it up to my blog readers to suggest one.

21 years ago when I ran my first campaign, a Republican primary for State Assembly, I used my last name for the slogan, “Have a Strong voice in Albany.” Since that campaign didn’t turn out so well, I have avoided using my last name as a pun in subsequent campaigns, but maybe it’s time to reconsider.

The closest I’ve come to a slogan in this current campaign is the statement, “The vision and experience to lead Geneseo,” in my campaign flyer. No puns there!

If you have a better idea, please post it on this blog by hitting the comment button or send it directly to me by e-mail! If you don’t have an idea, perhaps you can suggest what the prize should be for the winning slogan.

I’m thinking of a $25 gift certificate to the Clarion Copy Center and a front row seat at my inauguration– and of course, instant fame by being mentioned on the Happy Trails blog!

Partied out!

I’m sorry I didn’t have the energy for a diary entry yesterday, but I was exhausted after attending three parties and a house-raising Saturday. That followed the APOG party Friday night, making this past weekend one of the most social of my life.

Having made only two door-to-door stops on Saturday, I tried to make up for it by working 8 hours Sunday, covering most of Elm, Triphammer, and a good part of North Road. I like parties for the opportunity to see old friends, but I am really happiest on the road meeting new people.

I did meet one new person at a graduation party, that I have been hoping to meet for some time now, John Miskell. John is the father of GCS graduate Safia Miskell and was home from his work for CARE in Eastern Africa to help the family celebrate.

John has worked in Africa for 30 years starting with a gig for the Peace Corp after college. He has traveled extensively throughout the Dark Continent and is now based mainly in Somalia, which is the home country of his lovely wife Zahra.

Besides picking John’s brain on Africa another great attraction of the Miskell party was the out-of-this-world cooking of Zahra. Her food is so good that I actually attended the party twice. Once in the afternoon for an appetizer and than again at night for the main course!

Zahra cooks for weeks before a party of this kind and produces a vast array of ethnic, mostly vegetarian food. This is right up my alley since I have been a vegetarian for 37 years now and the evening meal was the most delicious I have ever tasted.

The Miskells are a large gregarious family that not only spans the world but also the entire political spectrum. Of the six brothers, three are Republican and three Democrat. Political debate is never far from the surface even on Graduation Day.

Although John strongly opposes the foreign policy of our current President, I was happy to find he is in agreement with me on the need for Smart Growth in Geneseo. Making only infrequent trips back, he has been shocked by the change he sees in his hometown.

This is a corollary to the Boiled Frog theory. While the frog doesn’t notice the gradual rise in temperature of the water, an outside observer who dips his finger in now and then, certainly will!