Spin Cycle

June O’Neill, the state Democratic chairwoman, was not impressed with talk of a race by Rep. Peter King for governor in two years.

“Peter King running for Governor is a little like global warming. It’s getting too hot for Republicans in Congress and on Long Island, so he’s looking north to Albany in search of a more hospitable climate,” she said. “Unfortunately, he will probably find his odds in taking the Governor’s mansion are about as good as the odds of Republicans staging a comeback in the House – which is to say non-existent.”

Rick Brand

Nice to see Long Island's own Rep. Peter King speaking with the New York Times (as earlier cited) about his GOP goals -- given that less than two years ago he'd condemned the paper and its editorial staff for nothing short of treason, which of course carries the death penalty.

On June 26, 2006, after the Times and the Wall Street Journal simultaneously published accounts of the Bush Administration's secret financial-monitoring program used to trace terrorists -- once they had held the story for some time -- this dispatch was filed by the Associated Press:

"Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) cited the New York Times in particular for publishing a report last week saying that the Treasury Department is working with the CIA to examine an international database of money-transfer records.

'King said he will write Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, urging that the nation's chief law enforcer 'begin an investigation and prosecution of the New York Times -- the reporters, the editors and the publisher.''

"We're at war, and for the Times to release information about secret operations and methods is treasonous," King said.

Did he declare the same with regard to that wantonly anti-Republican Wall Street Journal? We don't seem to have a record of that...

Anyway, we've all heard about Gonzales' own offenses against the Constitution since then -- he went south condemned by those in both parties in a political scandal -- but not about whatever happened to the Congressman's requested investigation. Will Michael Mukasey prosecute? More likely, the Times was quietly "cleared" -- otherwise, King surely wouldn't be so opportunistic as to interview with dangerous felons and smile in diners for their subversive cameras.

Aaah, then again, yes, people do like the guy -- we're not immune -- and we are kinda jealous that we didn't have the speculation out first. Still, you have to ask how many ways a pol can have it.

Dan Janison

A serious Democratic challenge to veteran Republican Rep. Peter King looks like an iffy prospect at best - despite the party's hopes in other races.

When discussing their New York congressional strategy for November, the party's national operatives steer your attention elsewhere. They are looking, for example, to replace Vito Fossella, New York City's lone Republican congressman, with Democratic City Councilman Domenic Recchia (and we are promptly urged this morning to take into account the move by local Democrats to run Stephen Harrison, who for example has backing from the Staten Island Democratic Association). The national Dems plan to defend rookie upstate Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand from a challenge by Sandy Treadwell, who served as state Republican chairman under Gov. George Pataki.

But so far, no contender has emerged to take on King, 63, of Seaford, first elected to the House in 1992, who is the Long Island delegation's sole Republican.

"If a strong candidate emerged the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee would put New York's Third District on its list of top-tier races," said a well-placed party source. "It's not that there's a lack of priority." Jay Jacobs, the Nassau Democratic chairman, said two potential candidates are being considered.

King, whose campaign committee last month reported $604,240 in cash on hand, quipped that he hopes the Democrats' uncertainty will keep up. But, he added, "It's a long way to go to November. I always expect a strong candidate and a tough race. I have no problem putting my record on the line." He noted that he won by 12 points in 2006, even as Congress turned from Republican to Democratic. King's last opponent, Nassau Legis. David Mejias, has been weighing a run this fall for State Senate against Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City).

Dan Janison

LITCHFIELD, N.H. -- Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), arrived today riding shotgun with Rudy Giuliani on the New Hampshire campaign trail.

King, who appeared with the former mayor at a house party here, said he'll be in the post-debate spin room tonight talking up Giuliani and to "advise and comfort" the candidate. Here's the advice King said he gave:

"I think for a while in the debates, when you're out in front you play it cautious. Now that the race is narrowed, be more aggressive, be assertive as to why you should be president. The American people expect it."

King wouldn't predict Giuliani's finish in the Tuesday vote, but said, "he'll do more than enough to keep himself in good shape heading into Florida and beyond."

Before unveiling new rules allowing undocumented immigrants to get drivers’ licenses, Gov. Eliot Spitzer last month put out feelers with Long Island elected officials on what proved to be an inevitable backlash.

“We talked about how he would handle the aftermath,” said Democratic Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, who got a call from Democrat Spitzer on the issue last month. Levy added: “I don't think they thought that the fallout would be this intense outside New York City.”

Spitzer had a similar talk with Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) a few months ago, but the outreach doesn’t seem to have had much impact. County clerks — who dispense licenses outside New York City — blasted the idea, and many said they won’t enforce it. Republican state Senators who oppose the move plan a hearing on the issue today.

Spitzer shouldn’t be shocked by the reaction, said King, who added thataside from a few phone calls, “he didn’t seem to do much to prepare the battlefield for it.”

Michael Amon

Rep. Peter King, R-Seaford, sent off an angry missive yesterday to his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Bennie Thompson, now chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, complaining that the Democrats were playing politics with national security.

King accused the Mississippi lawmaker of excluding Republican committee members from a classified briefing last week given by top Homeland Security officials.

“Partisanship or even the perception of partisanship has no place in our dealings with intelligence matters that affect the security of our citizens,” King wrote. “. . . withholding sensitive intelligence information from one party is unacceptable.”

Rep. Peter King has said that he was taken out of context -- it looks more to us like he didn't quite say what he meant -- when he told Politico that "unfortunately there are too many mosques in this country, there's too many people who are sympathetic to radical Islam."

But, you know, it's a presidential cycle suddenly, so who's gonna give him a break? Look how the AP leads its story -- "A homeland security adviser to Rudy Giuliani came under fire Thursday for claiming there were 'too many mosques' in the United States -- and says that both the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Democratic Party are calling on Rudy to sever ties with King.

Not very likely, we think.

Noted Islam expert Rep. Pete King says, "Unfortunately there's too many mosques in this country." Here's a link to the Politico item reporting his comments, and here's the video:

Rep. Peter King’s trip to Iraq and Afghanistan included meeting with diplomats, U.S. troops and senior military commander Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno. His assessment so far: “Progress continues to be made, and I think it would be irresponsible for us to pull away or pull the plug, and the consequences that would have on Iraq, on the Middle East and on the United States and the war against terrorism…would be extraordinary.” King (R-Seaford) checked in, along with fellow travelers House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), during a teleconference call with reporters Wednesday. Full transcript here.

Beth Murtagh

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) are on the same page today as the governor touts a measure that is promoted as protecting those who tip off authorities about terrorists. King has won attention championing the federal version. (UPDATE: description is corrected)

Mayor Bloomberg has another go at what seems like his annual still-gotta-get-on-with-life message.

As you can see here, the prestigious role granted presidential aspirant Rudy Giuliani in the New York ceremony stirs debate from non-believers in his candidacy and image. (UPDATE: Some participants have protested by turning their backs on Giuliani as he took the podium.)

Not to be ignored, of course, Osama bin Laden urges, in the new video, jihad, death, martyrdom and Islamic supremacy -- as described here.

Then there is this op-ed worth seeing from a couple days ago. Former CIA official Michael Scheuer advocates fuller American military commitment to crushing jihadists. That said, consider his remarks in light of today's speeches from Giuliani, Bloomberg and the rest of them:

"The lies of U.S. political leaders do not help us face down our foe. They say Bin Laden, et. al are primarily motivated by their hatred of America's freedoms. Not so."

"The impact of our policy is the Islamists' core motivation and a glue of unity for that ethnically and linguistically diverse crowd."

"The second oft-heard lie is that America is safer than on 9/11. But our governing elite has knowingly failed to accomplish its two most vital post-9/11 tasks: controlling U.S. borders and fully securing the former Soviet Union's nuclear weapons."

In a rare coordinated attack, Rudy Giuliani and his supporter Rep. Pete King (R-Seaford) teamed up to beat up on Democrats today.

This morning, King went on Fox News to attack House Democrats for tying up his amendment to the Homeland Security bill to give legal immunity to anyone who in good faith reports “suspicious” people or events to anti-terrorism authorities.

The immunity legislation arose from lawsuits filed by six Muslim religious scholars against airlines and some of the passengers whose complaints the Imams were acting suspiciously led to their removal from the flight.

“What’s happening,” King told the Fox News host, “as best I can understand it, is that the hard-core liberal wing, the moveon.org, the CAIR wing of the Democratic Party is just putting extraordinary pressure on the House Democrats.”

Soon after King’s TV appearance, Giuliani’s GOP presidential campaign put out a rare statement on a specific piece of legislation.

“This morning, congressional Democrats are once again showing they just don’t get the Terrorists’ War on Us…Peter King is doing the right thing by putting our national security first and political correctness run amok second.”

Democrats say the language of King’s amendment is too broad, but said they supported the concept, AP reported. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said it would protect even those who knowingly and maliciously call in a false tip.

Tom Brune

Democratic NYC Councilman Hiram Monseratte and supermarket businessman John Catsimatidis, who is eyeing the GOP nomination for mayor of NYC in 2009, will call Wednesday at City Hall for a non-binding resolution in support of Rep. Peter King's bill intended to "protect the rights of Good Samaritan whistleblowers who report suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities."

Nassau Rep. Peter King gets a nice plug from 2009 NYC mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, a well-known supermarket businessman, in a city publication.

Rep. Peter King has just one gripe about being named for a "Muzzle Award" by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. He says he hasn’t actually received a trophy, medal or certificate he can proudly display.

King (R-Seaford) has no regrets about his call last summer for the New York Times to be criminally investigated for reporting the existence of a federal program monitoring international banking.

The Jefferson Center said the Times story "reflect[ed] the commitment to ‘freedom of the press’ which the Framers of our Constitution meant to safeguard through the First Amendment."

King said, "What they did was act totally irresponsibly, and undermine their country in a time of war."

"The New York Times is a left-wing rag but I would have thought they would have shown some restraint."

[Full disclosure: In case you missed it earlier, King isn’t the biggest fan of Newsday either.]

Louise Radnofsky

Rep. Peter King is pleased with himself after the latest round of House Committee musical chairs has ended without beleaguered Rep. William Jefferson taking a seat on Homeland Security.

King (R-Seaford) has been the most vocal opponent of Democratic plans announced last month to give Jefferson (D-Louisiana) a spot on the committee even as Jefferson remains the subject of a federal bribery investigation.

Jefferson was pushed off the Ways and Means committee last summer, after federal agents raided his office and it was revealed that $90,000 in cash had been found stuffed in a freezer in his home.

King, who chaired Homeland Security until the midterm elections and is now its ranking member, said, “I think I’m protecting the integrity of the committee.”

A North Massapeaqua business consultant has formed an exploratory committee to run against Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford).

Bill Corrigan, 36, has filed papers with the Federal Elections Commission. He's looking to run, not as a Republican or a Democrat, but as an independent candidate who would allow voters to decide how he should vote -- by computer referendum, on his Web site.

Corrigan describes himself as a moderate who was raised Democrat but now leans more Republican, saying, “It kind of puts me all over the map.” He said he computer program which will list pending bills to be public reaction “could be the beginning of a political renaissance.”

Rick Brand

All the precincts haven't been reported, but Peter King is leading David Mejias by about 17 or 18 points, looks like, so appears headed to an easy victory, although perhaps not as cushy a victory as some of his Long Island congressional colleagues.
Update: The margin is about 15 points.

Check out the video of Peter King campaigning against Mejias (and Newsday) in a clip on the Newsday home page somewhat ominously titled, "King's Last Day?" It is very interesting. For instance, we learned from Congressman King that Newsday editorial writers, editors and reporters are unpatriotic, by virtue of their coverage of this political campaign, having disgracefully crossed every imaginable line in passively acting as rubber stamps for Democrats.

There is also a big picture of King smiling and waving on the top of our home page right now.

Michael Rothfeld
Update: The link on the homepage to the King video is now titled, "King on the Stump," probably because someone thought the previous one was a little too ominous, but I'm just speculating. Also, we forgot to mention the video contains a nice cameo of Peter Schmitt.
This is a bit of a digression, but Schmitt (the Nassau legislature's GOP minority leader) would actually stand to gain if King loses, because it would put Mejias' county legislative seat -- and the Democrats' control of the Nassau legislature -- up for grabs in a Republican leaning district around Farmingdale and Massapequa. And with Nassau County Exec Tom Suozzi having warred with the Democratic legislators and lost some of his own political capital during his failed run for governor, it's far from clear what he would or could do to keep the seat Democratic in a special election.

Second Update: Here's another blog on the King v. Newsday front.

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) repeatedly said in a television interview Sunday on WABC that his real opponent isn’t Nassau Legis. David Mejias (D-North Massapequa) but Newsday. King has made the same assertions for weeks in Newsday stories and his campaign literature.
But hold on a minute. King’s latest large postcard, titled “Pete King: Independent and Tough,” features a full-reprint of a column by Raymond J. Keating, titled “King is No White House Rubber Stamp,” published in Newsday on Oct. 30.
On the reverse side are glowing quotes from U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and Newsday, among others. The Newsday quote, taken from a June 25 editorial, describes King as “a stand up guy who isn’t shy about tangling with the powerful, even those in his own party.”
The editorial was part of the newspaper’s report card on the local congressional delegation. Below is the full text about King:

James T. Madore

The blogmaster of Peter King Watch has contacted me to say that he is John Rennhack of North Massapequa, and not anonymous as I mentioned in a previous post. Googling him, you can see that he has revealed himself in the past.

Rennhack, a diehard Dem, ran against Peter Schmitt for Nassau legislature in 2003 and lost, and also operates the Pete Schmitt Watch and Nassau GOP Watch.

Now, if the operators of the rival Dave Mejias Watch would like to reveal themselves, my e-mail address is below.

Not to be outdone, Rennhack has now launched a new blog: Mejias Watch Watch, so we are looking forward to King Watch Watch or Mejias Watch Watch Watch very soon.

WASHINGTON — It turns out that lobbying is the King family business.
Not only does Rep. Peter King’s son Sean work for former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato’s influential lobbying firm Park Strategies, but King’s daughter and sister also work in lobbying.
Daughter Erin King Sweeney manages government affairs, which oversees lobbying operations, for Swiss International Air Lines, in Uniondale, N.Y.
And his sister, Barbara King, is a registered lobbyist for Continuum Health Partners Inc., which operates Beth Israel Medical Center, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center and Long Island College Hospital.

According to Nassau Police, vandals took a large sign for congressional candidate David Mejias from his mother's lawn in Farmingdale last night and then plastered Elsa Mejias' car with bumper stickers for incumbent U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford.)

Mejias, a Nassau County Legislator from North Massapequa, said "I've been in some pretty brutal campaigns but this is ridiculous."

Errol A. Cockfield Jr.

Call it political direct mail for the “Daily Show” generation.
Democratic Congressional challenger David Mejias has peppered GOP foe Rep. Peter King with small picture postcards that are more punchline than campaign piece. Each lambasts King’s ties to the President George W. Bush or his anti-abortion stand. The only thing missing is the drummer’s rim shot.
“We’re trying for something a little different,” said Michael Premo, Mejias’ campaign manager. “And we think the smaller size stands out more. We’ve been getting a terrific response.” He also said they are half the cost of the oversized post cards ordinarily used by campaigns.

Rick Brand

One of our reporters has brought in a recent, four-page, full-color, glossy mailing from the Committee to Elect Pete King, the former IRA supporter who seems to be basing his campaign on the theory that Long Island is the jihadi center of the western hemisphere ready to be overrun by terrorists but for him.

On the address page, the flyer displays a big quote from so-called terrorism expert Steve Emerson: "The media is engaged in jihad against Rep. Pete King -- a jihad in defense of Islamic extremists. Both Newsday and CNN have chosen to ignore the facts and smear King. Both Newsday and CNN owe Pete King an apology."

Then you open it up, and you see a TV grab showing Pete King, the CNN logo, and the segment headline "Security Watch." Next to this picture of King appearing on CNN, the flyer explains: "Pete King Reports on Terror. Pete King regularly appears on television news shows to update his constituents on developments in the war against Islamic terrorism."

Newsday, presumably, displays its jihadi tendencies by sometimes doing articles and editorials that criticize King. But see how much more devious CNN is? They smear him by letting his constituents actually see and hear him.

UPDATE: After the jump, a little clarification.....

Think Progress has this compelling bit of amateur video from February when U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) told an audience at the Merrick Jewish Center that his visit to Baghdad reminded him of the vibrancy of Manhattan.

This is a stretch. I've never come across any suicide bombers in Manhattan. I wonder if King's pro-war stance is helping Nassau County Leg. David Mejias (D-North Massapequa) in his bid to unseat the incumbent. The campaign dollars appear to be rolling in for Mejias but is it enough?

Here's the transcript according to the group:

"As we go through the city of Baghdad, it was like being in Manhattan. I mean, I’m talking about bumper to bumper traffic, talking about shopping centers, talking about restaurants, talking about video stores, talking about guys selling (inaudible) on the street corner, talking about major hotels.

And so, at that moment, people must be (inaudible) resilient and you would never know that there was a war going on. Now, car bomb goes off, and that street or those streets for that hour and people will (inaudible) but the rest of the country is functioning.

Up in Mosul, I remember seeing news reports about roller coasters? Where you had two or three parking lots filled with their cars on a Sunday afternoon. Again, that’s not something you’d see on television, and at any given time a suicide bomber can walk into an amusement center, but the point I’m making is that the situation is more stable than you think."

Errol A. Cockfield Jr.

Republican Rep. Peter King has returned fire on Democratic challenger David Mejias with his first ad with a radio endorsement of former New York City Ed Koch.
"I love this guy," said Koch, in a spot airing on New York City radio, adding, "What I like most about Peter King is that he is never afraid of taking a tough stand."
In the endorsement, Koch cites King's backing of the Patriot Act and for wiretapping terrorists. The King ad hit the airwaves after Mejias launched his own spots attacking King as being too close to President Bush.

Rick Brand

Congressional candidate David Mejias, the Nassau legislator and Democrat looking to unseat veteran Republican Peter King, opens his first broadcast ad this way:
“Fourteen years in Washington has really changed Peter King. He cares more about George Bush than he does about us..."
Trying to tie GOP candidates to Bush is a national party goal this season, of course. Will it work here?
See the commercial for yourself.

Symbiosis defined: “The living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms.”
Political symbiosis defined: Liberal Democrat Hillary Clinton and Conservative Republican Peter King attending the same events, supporting the same causes, laughing at the same jokes — and defending Clinton from Republican attacks.
Yes, the last one really happened. On Tuesday, reporters were told by Clinton’s camp that she would be available the next day to respond to an attack ad by one of her would-be Republican foes, John Spencer, who suggested she helped Osama Bin Laden by opposing federal wiretaps that were not court-authorized.
The media waited dutifully until Clinton emerged Wednesday afternoon from a 9/11-related event in SoHo where she had appeared with King - one of the many initiatives the two have worked on together....

Bill Murphy

The state Democratic Committee says U.S. Rep. Peter King should be putting more of his energies into getting New York homeland security funding instead of taking on the New York Times for its revelation about a Bush administration counter-terrorism initiative that monitors financial data.

“It’s great that Peter King is all worked up about something – it’s just too bad that something is a newspaper article,” State Democratic Spokesman Blake Zeff said in a statement.

Errol A. Cockfield Jr.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Rep. Peter King, the Seaford Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, called on Gonzales to begin a criminal investigation of the New York Times for publishing a report on a secret government program.
Read it here