North Country newspapers embrace Tedisco

Scott Murphy lives in Glens Falls and the Democrat has been drawing twice the support of his Republican opponent in the North Country, according to Siena’s latest poll.

But the region’s newspapers have bucked that trend and are endorsing Republican Assembly minority leader Jim Tedisco.

Here’s the Glens Falls Post Star (Murphy’s hometown paper):

Ever the too-short point guard beating the big guys at their own game, Jim Tedisco spent the past three decades fighting against abuses in the state budget and demanding reform, long before the economy caught up with the state’s excessive spending.

The Post-Star describes Murphy as an unknown quantity:

Mr. Murphy is coming out of the chute cold. Up until he announced his bid for Congress a couple of months ago, few outside of his business contacts had ever heard of him, even though he’s lived in Glens Falls for the past three years. Mr. Tedisco might not have his residence within the district, but he has represented parts of the district in the Assembly, and he’s in tune with the area’s issues.

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise, attacked Murphy for being a successful businessman:

The fact that Mr. Murphy is a multimillionaire businessman is a liability rather than an asset to us. In our view, one of the nation’s most fundamental problems over the last three decades is the rise of the super-rich…

Meanwhile, the Albany Times-Union also bucked the polling trend. Tedisco is more popular in the Capital Region than in the North Country, but that newspaper backed Democrat Murphy:

At a time when this nation desperately needs politicians in Washington to work together, the Republican Party, searching for a new identity, is defining itself largely by what it is against, namely, Mr. Obama and his policies. Its leaders line up behind radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who openly declares his hope that Mr. Obama’s agenda fails.

Yes, disagreement is part of democracy. But they — and Mr. Murphy’s opponent, Assemblyman James Tedisco — fail to offer an alternative vision, other than a mantra of tax cuts, that recognizes the complexity of the nation’s issues. They put the triumph of partisan ideology ahead of the nation’s economic security.

ELECTION DAY: TUESDAY…