Muddied along the campaign trail

On the campaign trail and during the election cycle, the politician will search for the perfect symbol to stand next to that will best convey his message of the day.

On Wednesday, James Tedisco, the Republican candidate in the 20th Congressional District race, decided it would be a good idea to lead a caravan of reporters through the Luther Forest Technology Park to talk about the jobs the park will create and the money it will bring in a cash-strapped economy.

The candidate said he was proud of playing a role in the development of the park and that he didn't know of anywhere else in the country, or the world for that matter, that this type of positive growth was taking place.

Despite the hopeful promise that the forest may hold, on Wednesday she was an unwilling host, a bashful bride before her wedding day who didn't want to be bothered.

She was a demanding forest the limbs of her felled trees delivering punishing blows to those who dared trespass upon her sacred path.

Then there was the mud.

The first ominous sign of the journey should have been the street sign itself: Stonebreak Road. The second was the series of rectangular markers the caravan passed that read: Road closed.

Three miles in along a winding, bumpy road, the caravan stalled. Standing knee-deep in mud and bearing the bruises of her battle, a TV reporter named Ashley asked if anyone had antiseptic she could apply to her wounds.

Adam Kramer, a spokesman for the campaign who was also stuck in the muck, promised free pizza. A cameraman named Ed bemoaned his unlucky decision to use his wife's silver Oldsmobile Intrigue on this day. There was very little silver that could be seen.

Finally, there was a once-white Mercury Sable striped by a barely readable logo that read WTEN Albany buried so deep in the dark slosh that it was ultimately abandoned, a metal offering to feed the beast.

When the rescue was finally launched, it came in the form of a spirited man named Howie who pushed and pulled and tugged the caravan to safety with the help of a red pickup truck.

Tedisco, meanwhile, had already made it through the muddy mess and waited 90 minutes or so for those who were rescued to emerge from the wilderness.
Standing on a paved lot just inside the park, Tedisco greeted reporters and pointed to locations on a map that depicted the future plans for the park.

"This section here is called 'Forever Wild.' And this area here is where you folks were," said the candidate, who did not escape completely unscathed himself the stains of the forest dotted his dark suit.

He looked at the muddied masses before him, then down at his own stained political uniform.

"The key is to let it dry before cleaning it off," he said, offering some practical advice on a crazy day. Then he was gone, back on the trail.

Saratoga Bureau writer Thomas Dimopoulos can be reached at tdimopoulos@poststar.com.