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DUNKIRK--Let's pick up where we left off last week.
It's worth encouraging "Never Trumps to imagine what would have become of the law if Donald Trump had lost the 2016 presidential election and not filled the three Supreme Court vacancies from 2017 to 2020."
Please think about that. We'll take up the specifics another day.
The general point is that often in politics and in law, as in life, one doesn't get everything one wants.
Please hold that thought until the end of today's column.
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Bruce Blakeman brought his campaign for governor of New York to Dunkirk on Oct. 5.
Before an enthusiastic audience at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club, a stone's throw from Lake Erie, the Nassau County executive rattled off issue after issue of crucial importance to all of New York, from the Western Southern Tier to the North Country to the Hamptons.
Blakeman recalled, for example, his support for the proposition that boys shouldn't play on all-girls' sports teams, and girls' shouldn't play on all-boys' sports teams.
That brought the audience to its feet. And rightly so.
Blakeman also promised that his first act as governor will be to end New York's status as a sanctuary state.
That also brought the audience to its feet. Again, rightly so. The Biden administration did enormous damage to the United States, including New York, by letting millions upon millions enter the country illegally. New York's becoming a sanctuary state made matters worse.
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As he spoke in Dunkirk, it was more than obvious that Blakeman is taking his campaign seriously, which is crucial to success.
It was also more than obvious that he's having fun, which is also crucial to success.
Running for statewide office is no small task in New York, especially for candidates who come from a far corner of the state, as Blakeman does. He's well up to the task, and he deserves credit for taking it on.
No one needs to explain to him that he and his team need to run hard through the tape on Election Day. They're doing that.
Although no Republican- or Conservative-endorsed candidate has won statewide since 2002, Blakeman and his running mate, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, can win this race.
As this column noted three weeks ago, for such candidates to win, they--in a county such as Chautauqua--need to win overwhelmingly with a big turnout.
To that end, they'd benefit from visiting Chautauqua County publicly in a way that allows many people to see, hear, and meet them.
Yes, the majority of the votes are in downstate New York. That doesn't change what it takes here for candidates such as Blakeman and Hood to prevail.
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With Blakeman's energetic, enthusiastic presence, spending requisite time here would go a long way toward moving persuadable voters into the Blakeman-Hood column.
They likely include, for example, voters
● siding with Blakeman on most issues,
● disagreeing with him on the issue that this column has come to call the "A"-word, which the U.S. Supreme Court returned to the states in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022,
● advocating legislation substantially changing New York law on that issue, and
● saying, based on that one issue, they won't vote for him.
For their devotion to their cause, such voters are owed everyone's respect.
Yet wherever one stands on that issue, here's the reality: In some states, such legislation has a substantial chance of enactment. New York isn't among them.
In fact, such legislation has no more chance of enactment in New York now than abolition had in some other states two centuries ago. The votes just aren't there, and they won't be there in any year--or perhaps in any decade--soon.
Maybe you believe that's a good thing. Maybe you don't.
Those who don't might consider turning their efforts on that issue to other legal means, as did abolitionists of two centuries ago who understood that before changing the law substantially, they first had to change people's minds and hearts.
Meanwhile, running into the proverbial buzz saw on that one issue in New York just hinders advancing other issues on which winning is possible. Will that point persuade purists? No. Yet it does acknowledge Edmund Burke's admonition that "politics is the art of the possible."
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Now let's return to the fourth paragraph in today's column.
Blakeman and Hood can do much good for all of New York, including counties such as Chautauqua.
Those not in 100 percent agreement really would do well to consider seizing the policy victories they can have in New York soon only if Blakeman and Hood prevail on Election Day.
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Randy Elf explored seeking the Republican and Conservative nominations for New York attorney general in 2018.
COPYRIGHT © 2026 BY RANDY ELF