Democrats assail 50-year-old (R) lawmaker for attending fraternity party
WASHINGTON
Republican Congressman John Sweeney's late-night partying at a fraternity is raising eyebrows.A spokesman for New York Democrats asks what a 50-year-old congressman could be doing "cavorting with students 30 years his junior" at one in the morning. Blake Zeff asks if Sweeney was "teaching them how a bill becomes a law."
Sweeney stopped at the Alpha Delta Phi party at Union College in Schenectady over the weekend. The college newspaper ran a photo of the lawmaker posing with students.
A spokeswoman says Sweeney "has been known on occasion to venture outside of his congressional district." Union College is in a district next to his. She says Democrats "need a better strategy" if they hope to unseat Sweeney in November.
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Sweeney’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Melissa Carlson, said today she has nothing more to say about this incident other than what she told the paper, which was:
“As a committed representative of the people throughout the area where he lives and works, he enjoyed the discussion he shared with the students from Union College. (Sweeney) was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm displayed by the students - particularly on a Friday evening.”
Union College, which is in Schenectady, is not in Sweeney’s district. It’s in the 21st CD, which is represented by U.S. Rep. Mike McNulty, a Democrat. A Union student who worked for McNulty is quoted in The Concordy story saying she told Sweeney about her connection to his fellow congressman and he was “very rude” about it.
I also spoke to John Tomlin, who wrote story. Tomlin described Sweeney in print as “acting openly intoxicated.” He told me the congressman was “very loud and cursing,” and also slurring his words while trying to discuss policy with the students.
Tomlin, 20, of Westchester, admitted he had been drinking himself that night, (although not inside the frat house). But he said he had interviewed a number of people who corroborated his recollection of the evening.
“If anyone from his district was there, they wouldn’t vote for him,” Tomlin said.
Sweeney came to the party with Paulie Lichorat, a longtime friend of the congressman who owns Geppetto’s, a bar popular with Union students that is located across the street from Alpha Delt. Sweeney was in Schenectady to attend the wake of a close friend, Carlson told The Concordy, although she didn’t say who.
Union College President James Underwood told the paper that just because Sweeney appeared drunk to the students (who, of course, have no experience in identifying someone under the influence) doesn’t mean he was.
That Sweeney is a foul-mouthed drunk is not news.
That he would be a foul-mouthed drunk at a college frat house, with underage fellow drinkers and at least one kid smoking pot within range of the camera, is BIG NEWS.
For the past several months, Club Sweeney has refused to debate the important issues, instead choosing to attack his opponent’s family members and co-workers. The reason for this is obvious. If they were to debate the issues, they would lose every time.
Drunkenly crashing a frat party is only a unique twist on that seems to be a fairly common occurance with our representative. I guess we should all be thankful that he wasn’t behind the wheel when he was publicly drunk. At least his time anyways. (I think he’s being more careful about that. Now that he’s blamed the State Police for his son’s gang assault conviction, they might not be so likely to cover for him again.)
Congressman Sweeney is a native of Troy, New York where his father was president of a local shirt-cutters union. After working his way through college, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Russell Sage College. The following year, he was appointed head of the Rensselaer County DWI prevention program that, under his direction, became the most successful program of its type in New York State. He continued working while studying law, and earned his law degree from Western New England School of Law. After completing his law degree he was selected as Executive Director and Chief Counsel to the New York State Republican Party.
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