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From the Brooklyn Papers: GOP PANEL PICKS DRUNK-DRIVING, CHEATING, LOVE-CHILD-FATHERING FOSSELLA TO WIN HIS OLD SEAT BACK
[UPDATED] Seems Vito Fossella is smarter than the Staten Island GOP. Vito Fossella has declined to run. I guess he wants to spend more time with his families.
Michael Bouldin already covered this, but the Brooklyn Papers hit the Staten Island Republicans pretty hard for it and it is worth quoting them. I should note that I have been suspicious and critical of the Brooklyn Papers since their take over by Rupert Murdoch, but this article shows they haven't completely lost their independence to Murdoch. From the Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 edition of the Brooklyn Paper:
GRAND OLD PARTY PANEL PICKS DRUNK-DRIVING, CHEATING, LOVE-CHILD-FATHERING FOSSELLA TO WIN HIS OLD SEAT BACK
The already divisive Republican effort to unseat freshman Rep. Mike McMahon took a bizarre turn last week, when a GOP committee on Staten Island nominated none other than Vito Fossella — the congressman who was run out of town after a drunk-driving arrest and subsequent revelations that he had a secret family in Virginia — to represent the party in the fall election
Thanks to Albany Project, here's Vito Fosslla's mug shot from his arrest:
I think this is typical of the blatant hypocrisy of the Republican Party. The same fools who wanted to impeach Bill Clinton for a fling continue to embrace Vito "Twice the Family Values" Fossella despite his actual virtual bigamy. Now I am no fan of Mike McMahon, but the Republicans are absolute sleazy hypocrites for picking Vito Fossella's sorry ass to run against McMahon.
I should note that there are two other Republicans running. The one candidate from Brooklyn, Michael Allegretti (owner of Bayside Fuel Oil, one of the many companies the EPA is considering responsible for Gowanus canal pollution), has the support of the Kings County Republican Party (no surprise) while Michael Grimm (like Drunken Luv Muffin Vito Fossella from Staten Island) has the support of the none too impressive Kings County Conservative Party.
Given the competition the Republicans are fielding, sad to say the rather unimpressive Mike McMahon is looking pretty good by comparison.
Re: From the Brooklyn Papers: GOP PANEL PICKS ...
This vote was from the SI Republican Executive County Committee and I've heard that with one of Vito's sisters on the board there was intimidation. The vote was 23 to 4. Next week the full County Committee meets and that's really going to be a meeting someone with a press pass should be attending if Vino decides this week that he wants to run.
By the way, Alegretti did live in Brooklyn until last summer when he moved to Staten Island since no candidate from the Brooklyn side of CD-13 would stand a chance of winning the Island voters. Grimm is from Staten Island.
Is that a typo?
I notice that in your comment you referred to "Vino" instead of "Vito." It seems appropriate.
Re: From the Brooklyn Papers: GOP PANEL PICKS ...
Thanks Dan. There used to be a web site calling him Vino Vito but I haven't checked to see if it still exists.
The more I think the more I believe this was a test Vino was conducting. Had he gotten a good reception to a "possible run" he would have jumped in but Staten Island voters and the poll the Advance did were totally negative to his running again. Therefore, he "decided" not to run. Even his former mentor, Guy Molinari was up in arms over Vito's possible run, and I'm sure other Pols were also (including Guiliani who had already endorsed Grimm).