Topic category:  Elections - Politics, Polling, etc.

There's a Republican primary for the nomination to run for United States Senator against New York's junior senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, that big media generally has been ignoring, and Sean Hannity saw fit to make an exception to his practice of not endorsing in primaries and just fully supported Wendy Long.

It was the right decision, since Long, already the New York Conservative Party nominee, clearly is exceptional and a win by either of her (male) Republican rivals, George Maragos and Bob Turner, after Long bested them at both the Conservative and Republican Party conventions last March would give credence to the Obama/Gillibrand claim that there's a war on women and New Yorkers would continue to wait for the day the New York Republican Party shatters a glass ceiling by nominating a woman for United States Senator.

Last March, in "Sean Hannity's Unfortunate Christine O'Donnell Experience Should Not Discourage Him from Backing Wendy Long for NY Senate," I wrote:

"Hannity surely can be helpful to candidates if he wants to be, especially highly qualified candidates, and he should be."

"The United States Senate really needs a highly qualified female Republican-Conservative Senator and New York has a person who can fill that role splendidly, Wendy Long.

"On March 20, 2013, Redstate reported (http://www.redstate.com/ashbrook/2012/03/20/new-york-conservatives-endorse-wendy-long/) that 91% of the New York State Conservative State Committee voted to endorse Wendy Long to challenge Democrat Senator Kirstin Gillibrand and then a motion to make her the unanimous choice of the convention was adopted.

"The Redstate post continued:

'In less than two months Wendy Long has demonstrated she presents a very formidable challenge to the very liberal Gillibrand. Mrs. Long a first time candidate is a natural campaigner. She has visited Republicans and Conservatives throughout New York State and she has won support without any help from Republican State headquarters. This notoriously hapless organization seems intent on challenging Long’s candidacy. While she won 47% of the vote at the Republican convention the powers that be threw 25% of the vote to Congressman Bob Turner a very late entry. This has created a primary which includes a third candidate George Maragos.

'Ideologically, Long is the most conservative. She worked for Senators Gordon Humphrey and Bill Armstrong and she clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas. She is a leading conservative legal authority who has volunteered to recruit strict constructionist judges to the Federal judiciary. She is a stalwart of the Federalist Society.

'Turner who entered the race when it became clear that he could not win his congressional seat openly admits Long is an attractive and conservative candidate but insists on running. This has created some angst among conservatives and Republicans who supported him in his upset victory in the Special Election for Anthony Weiner’s seat. This became evident when he received a mere 4% of the vote at the Conservative Party convention. Some conservatives have counseled Turner to end his campaign because all he is doing is distracting attention away from Gillibrand. If he persists his image as a conservative will suffer. Turner is a critic of the Ryan budget and he voted to ban the sale of guns across state lines.

'But neither the Turner or the Maragos challenges are likely to stop the Long campaign. She is a fresh face and has a natural talent to articulate her conservative principles with a smile and a non-threatening manner.'

It is unfortunate, but at least somewhat understandable, that even after Long won the Conservative line, Turner and Maragos are reluctant to waive their right to participate in a Republican Party primary, but the fact is that Long will be on the Conservative line on Election Day 2012 and no Republican has won statewide in New York without the Conservative line since Senator Javits was re-elected in 1974 (and Javits also ran on the Liberal line), so their continued candidacies are futile."

On June 15, 2012, Redstate happily reported Hannity's endorsement of Long as follows:

"Last night, more than 700 conservatives gathered in New York and heard Sean Hannity endorse Wendy Long in the New York Republican primary for United States Senate on June 26th.

"Long will be on Hannity’s radio show today.

"Why the Republican Party has created a primary against one of the most attractive candidates to come around in a long time is an an open question. But it is a fact that the leadership of New York’s Republican Party interceded to create a primary and this week broke its own rules about remaining neutral in a primary.

"Everyone, from liberal reporters to conservative voters, who have seen or heard Long agree she is a dynamic candidate. She will give incumbent Democrat Kirstin Gillibrand a run for her money. Long has been endorsed by John Bolton (who, after meeting her, broke his rule of not endorsing in primaries), the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, and The New York State Conservative Party. She has also won local endorsements up and down New York State.

"On Tuesday, June 26th, New York Republicans have an opportunity to select a conservative Republican who will make them proud and help all Republican and Conservative candidates in New York running in November.

"In addition to voting for her, you can help this candidacy by donating to her campaign. Her web-site is here.'

That radio interview was awesome.

The principled, articulate, knowledgeable Long is the ideal choice to take on Gillibrand, and Hannity not only recognized it, but acted.

Michael J. Gaynor

Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.