[dar-list] John Hall NYTimes article

[jmphlbat at comcast.net]

Sharon

politics, politics, politics, 

come on now, you could have at least wished John a Happy 59th Birthday

Love you too

Murph
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Sharon G" <sdgold60 at gmail.com> 

> He's the Hall With Colbert, Not Oates 
> 
> 
> By PETER APPLEBOME 
> Published: October 25, 2006 
> 
> Mount Kisco, N.Y. 
> 
> John Hall, a former musician with the rock band Orleans, is a Democrat 
> trying to unseat a congresswoman in New York's 19th District. 
> 
> For three decades, in a rite only Democrats could invent, there was 
> the Shrum primary, in which Democratic presidential aspirants fell 
> over one aother to win the services of the brilliant strategist Bob 
> Shrum, who went on to brilliantly lose eight presidential races, a 
> record far less attainable than, say, Henry Aaron's 755 home runs. 
> 
> Now comes the Colbert primary, which as fake-news fans know, is the 
> empire of faux bombast presided over by Stephen Colbert weeknights on 
> Comedy Central. It's hard to know the predictive value of the Colbert 
> primary. 
> 
> But a moment of polite applause, please, for its latest winner. He's 
> John Hall, former rock musician, former member of the Saugerties, 
> N.Y., school board and the Ulster County Legislature, current 
> Democratic Congressional candidate  yet another reminder that in this 
> year of political wild cards, you never know how and where the deck 
> can get scrambled. 
> 
> "The Colbert Report," for those who go to sleep early, is a sendup of 
> the world of Bill O'Reilly and other cable windbags. True, it's not 
> exactly a primary. And yes, it's usually more a booby prize than a 
> prize prize, one that gives the lie to the adage that there's no such 
> thing as bad publicity. 
> 
> Still, in the volatile mood of this election, this could be a big 
> moment for Mr. Hall, whose bald head, sober suits and deadpan demeanor 
> say rock star about as much as Kate Moss says sumo wrestler. 
> 
> One of Mr. Colbert's regular features is a 434-part series on the 
> nation's Congressional districts. His show last Thursday featured New 
> York's 19th District, in the heart of the Hudson Valley. 
> 
> It is, he informed viewers, a place where the trees glow a luminescent 
> green from the Indian Point nuclear power plant. The birthplace of 
> Velveeta, a substance that melts at the first sign of heat, like the 
> current congresswoman, Sue Kelly. It is where she is being challenged 
> by Mr. Hall, late of the pop duo Hall and Oates. Well, none of that is 
> quite true, except for the invention of Velveeta, which was first made 
> in 1918 by a Swiss immigrant, Emil Frey, of the Monroe Cheese Company, 
> and Mr. Hall's electoral challenge. But let's not quibble. 
> 
> Mr. Colbert said that Ms. Kelly was invited to appear, but declined. 
> Republicans have tended to shun the show since Representative Lynn 
> Westmoreland of Georgia was asked to name the Ten Commandments right 
> after co-sponsoring a bill requiring that they be displayed at the 
> Capitol. Viewers saw him struggling to name three; his press secretary 
> later said he actually came up with seven. 
> 
> Ms. Kelly's spokesman, Jay Townsend, said he didn't recall receiving 
> the invitation and had never seen the show. "I'm not sure it's her 
> audience," he said. 
> 
> The audience includes Mr. Hall, who said he usually comes home from a 
> long day of campaigning and watches "The Daily Show" and "Colbert" 
> before going to bed. 
> 
> "Since I'm living and breathing politics all day long, it's something 
> of a relief to have people make fun of politics," he said. 
> 
> On the show, he informed a crestfallen Mr. Colbert that he's the John 
> Hall from the band Orleans ("Still the One," "Dance With Me"), not 
> from Hall and Oates. He suffered the embarrassment of a particularly 
> goofy Orleans album cover. And when Mr. Colbert feigned astonishment 
> that Mr. Hall would not have wanted President Bush to use the song 
> "Still the One," Mr. Hall managed to shift into campaign mode like a 
> seasoned pro. 
> 
> "We're still having fun, and he's still the one," Mr. Colbert insisted. 
> 
> "Well it was fun except for the increase in the poverty rate," Mr. 
> Hall said. "And it was fun except for the increase in the deficits and 
> the loss of jobs overseas. And it was fun except for the fact that we 
> went to war over what was either intentionally or accidentally 
> miscalculated intelligence." 
> 
> It ended with the two harmonizing quite nicely, Mr. Colbert doing the 
> melody, Mr. Hall doing harmony on "Dance With Me." 
> 
> In the past, the 19th has been a solidly Republican district, and Ms. 
> Kelly still has a money advantage. But the war is a hot issue, the 
> district has become more blue as people move north from Manhattan, and 
> Ms. Kelly was the chairman of the board overseeing the House's pages 
> in 1999 and 2000. Mr. Townsend said she was never made aware of any 
> allegations of improper behavior. Ms. Kelly is viewed as leading, but 
> the race is considered competitive. 
> 
> The Hall campaign says it enjoyed the exposure, but both camps agreed 
> with Mr. Townsend when he said, "I don't think it will be decided by 
> who went on Comedy Central." 
> 
> E-mail: peappl at nytimes.com 
> 
> -- 
> Trust your intuition 
> It's just like going fishing 
> You cast your line 
> And hope you're getting a bite 
> But you don't need to waste your time 
> Worrying about the market place 
> Try to help the human race 
> Struggling to survive its harshest night 
> paul simon 
> 
> sage advisor, does weary mean wiser 
> dar williams