Editorial: For 21st District: Paul Tonko

Published: Saturday, October 30, 2010

By staff

While we think both candidates for the 21st Congressional District — incumbent Paul Tonko and businessman Ted Danz — are running for all the right reasons, we think Tonko offers voters more depth and vision and is deserving of a second, two-year term.

Tonko’s analysis of energy in today’s world was impressive during his meeting with our editorial board. The nation that paves the way in developing renewable, affordable sources of energy, he told us, will lead the world in everything else.

With his background as an engineer with technical expertise, Tonko, in our opinion, is the better man to put us in that position. His long career in Albany as a state Assemblyman and as head of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority are added pluses as our nation pursues its goal of becoming less dependent on foreign oil.

Danz also has expertise in the energy field in that he started the Family Danz Heating and Cooling Business some 30 years ago and it now employs more than 50 people. Nervous about the future, Danz wants our government to stop spending our grandchildren’s money so they, too, may be able to pursue the American dream as he did, and his idea should not be discounted.

But, opportunities to achieve the American Dream as he did do not happen in a vacuum. They happen because the stage is set by leaders. Tonko is such a person with a solid plan for the future, and for that he earns our endorsement in the 21st Congressional District.

At the same time, we give kudos to Danz for his business acumen and his ability to identify with the struggles of regular people and his concern for our seniors.