Sunday was crunch time for the man positioning himself to become New York State's next governor.  Lee Zeldin, his wife Diana, and their two girls traveled across the state from Erie County to Monroe, Onondaga, and then Broome Counties aboard his "Save Our State" bus.

In his recent debate with Governor Kathy Hochul, Zeldin looked serious, focused, and frankly a bit angry — kind of the way a German Shepherd looks at 2 A.M. when there's a knock at the front door.  I liked it, and apparently it struck the right chord with a lot of folks.  News outlets described his performance as "fired up" and "passionate." 

In person, Zeldin has that pleasant, "everyman," approachable quality.  Heck, if I still smoked and needed a light, he'd be the non-judgmental-looking guy I'd hit up — that kind of approachable.

Photo by author.

Accompanying Zeldin on his tour Sunday was Michael Henry, the lawyer and commercial litigator running to unseat N.Y. attorney general Letitia James.  With her high-profile lawsuits against Donald Trump and the NRA, her opponent has voiced what many are thinking — that James is using her power as a political cudgel and a springboard to the governor's seat.

(And speaking of a cudgel, you've got to laugh at Media Matters' recent headline about Fox News coverage of crime and the midterms: "Study: Fox hosts turn crime into a political cudgel against Democrats."  Do they even know how stupid they sound?)

In his campaign speech with Zeldin Sunday, Henry cited two recent Trafalgar polls showing him with a slight lead over James.  "Frankly, she doesn't deserve to be re-elected," he said.  "She's the only statewide candidate who didn't have the courage to show up to a debate."

Former president Trump previously jumped into the fray on that subject, accusing James of having

the worst record on violent crime in the country.  People are fleeing New York in record numbers, and she doesn't have a clue how to stop it.  That's why she is avoiding a debate with her highly respected crime fighting opponent, Michael Henry, who is now leading in the polls[.]

Judging by the cheers, Henry's biggest appeal to average New Yorkers was clearly the repeal of cashless bail.  He condemned James's recent comments that she needed "more data" before considering any changes to that law:

More data means more victims.  And to be the attorney general of a state and have that kind of mentality when it comes to victims ... it's despicable.  We're going to work in conjunction with local law enforcement ... and I will use the bully pulpit of this office to push for the full repeal of cashless bail.

For his part, some of Zeldin's biggest applause came when he said that on his first day in office, he would declare a "crime emergency" to "force legislators to come to the table so that we can work on a permanent solution to actually take back our streets."

At the rallies I attended, he also drew huge cheers when he told people that as soon as he's elected, "every COVID mandate in this state that we can get rid of is gone."  (I did a mental squirm of discomfort when I heard the caveat "that we can get rid of.")

He continued:

Nobody should have to get fired for a personal decision of whether or not to get the COVID vaccine.  If you don't want to get it, don't get it.  But don't do it because I as the governor called on you to be "my apostles." ... And if you have an issue with staffing at your local hospitals, I have a bright idea.  You have fired tens of thousands of people for a personal decision.  If you have thousands of vacancies, get rid of your healthcare COVID vaccine mandates and offer them their jobs back!

Everywhere I went, New Yorkers said the same things: "We own a business, and we don't think we can last much longer," or "We're here because we're trying to decide if we're going to sell and get out."  They meant it.  The fact that New York State is hemorrhaging its populace is known; what is not yet known is the far-reaching effects if Zeldin and other conservative candidates don't get in.  Many do indeed believe that Tuesday's elections are the last chance to save their state.

Zeldin said he'd heard it a million times on the campaign trail: "If you don't win, we're leaving!"  That, I'm afraid, could just be the beginning of a dangerous, uncharted phase of blue-state deterioration.

Yet Zeldin always ends with an encouraging note, saying that on Election Night, we'll be able to go to sleep with a "sigh of relief, thank God, knowing that we did everything in our power to successfully take control of our own destiny."  Now, with prayers (and maybe a few panic attacks), we hold our breath in anticipation of our fate.

Susan D. Harris can be reached at www.susandharris.com.

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab.