Can LaLota be both MAGA and a moderate?

Daily Point

LaLota looking to walk CD1 MAGA wire

Republican Rep. Nick LaLota, in the final two weeks of his campaign for reelection, may be walking a delicate line between bipartisan sensibilities in the 1st Congressional District and hard-core MAGA activists with whom he’s allied.

During a Newsday-hosted debate with Democratic challenger John Avlon on Friday, LaLota broadly reiterated what he has said before in such neutral settings and in mailings: that he’s among the most bipartisan members of Congress. He pitches himself in his literature as "independent, bipartisan and principled" as well as a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus.

One year ago, LaLota boasts, he voted against Donald Trump adherent Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio to become speaker after Jordan "opposed Long Island priorities." During the debate, LaLota pointed out that he was voted by the Lugar/Georgetown Center, a political think tank, more bipartisan than 85% of House members, or 65th in that ranking. Avlon sharply responded with the fact that the same survey showed the two other Republican Long Island House members better on that score — 23rd for Andrew Garbarino in CD2, and 56th for Anthony D’Esposito in CD4.

After the debate’s end on Friday, LaLota posted on social media with a photo: "Had a great and productive conversation with the Setauket Patriots at Patio Pizza in St. James! We focused on the critical importance of defending freedom, securing our borders, supporting our military, and preserving the American Dream right here on Long Island. Together, we’ll keep fighting for a stronger, safer, and more prosperous future for all."

Avlon’s campaign hasn’t wasted any time pointing out what it saw as a contradiction.

Will Kiley, a spokesman for LaLota, told The Point, "We met with the Setauket Patriots on Wednesday night and we just posted it on Friday ... He’s been consistent with whatever he says both behind closed doors and in the debate." LaLota’s remarks on social media could also serve him well at a League of Women Voters forum. But would meeting with the Setauket group make his words any different? The Setauket Patriots have been among the most zealous and vocal Trump-MAGA enthusiasts on Long Island. They’ve organized caravans and demonstrations in Suffolk County that sometimes met with counterprotests.

Just after the Jan. 6, 2021 siege at the Capitol, James Robitsek, a leader of the Patriots group, said his group sponsored four charter buses with 200 people and had another 100 members drive to the pro-Trump rally that preceded the ill-fated Capitol insurrection. Robitsek emphasized they were not part of the siege and were focusing on protesting what they believed were irregularities in the election. LaLota, who took office last year, told the crowd at Trump’s Nassau Coliseum rally in September: "Nine months ago, I became the first congressman from a purple district to endorse Donald J. Trump!" which met with cheers.

Could LaLota’s desired brand for the wider public be described as "MAGA with an asterisk" or "moderate with a MAGA mojo”? Most pols find they need a bit of wiggle room on the brand they offer as the campaign goes down to the wire.

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

Pencil Point

McAmerica great again

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Quick Points

Expensive future

• Some $700 million is being spent on Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign by the country’s biggest super PAC, known as Future Forward. If that kind of spending on politics is the future and the way forward, we’re in trouble.
• There still is a little more than two weeks to go until Election Day. Here’s guessing no one really needs another two weeks to decide.
• In his soon-to-be-released biography, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he hopes former President Donald Trump will "pay a price" for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But when McConnell had a chance to do just that in Trump’s impeachment trial, he voted to acquit.
• Asked why former President Donald Trump would talk about late golfing great Arnold Palmer’s genitalia at a weekend rally, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, "When President Trump is at a rally, sometimes he’ll speak for two straight hours. You’re questioning his stamina, his mental acuity. Joe Biden couldn’t do that for five minutes." Fine, but even if he can do that for two hours, does that make it presidential?
• The World Series will be a battle of two vaunted franchises and rivals, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Political analysts would cast it as a contest between coastal elites.

— Michael Dobie michael.dobie@newsday.com

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