Politics on the Hudson

Now the father of Democratic congressional candidate Eric Massa is in the middle of the debate, or lack thereof, between his son and Rep. Randy Kuhl, R-Hammondsport, Steuben County.

Kuhl represents the 29th Congressional District, which runs from the Rochester suburbs through the Southern Tier and is considered one of the state’s most vulnerable Republican congressmen in November.

Massa’s 80-year-old father, retired Navy Capt. Emiddio Massa, wrote a letter to Kuhl today over Kuhl’s and Massa’s confrontation last week in Corning. Massa crashed a Kuhl press conference and challenged Kuhl to debate him.

Kuhl, as the video from WETM-TV in Corning shows, tells Massa they will debate, but that a schedule needs to be worked out.

The station reported that Kuhl later said of Massa’s behavior, “That’s not the way I was raised. Unfortunately, there are people who didn’t have the luxury of having wonderful parents like I did who taught about parental respect.”

That’s got Massa’s dad angry. Here’s the full letter.

“It is obvious that you meant that my wife of 56 years and I did a poor job raising our son Eric,” the elder Massa wrote in a letter today to Kuhl. We are both deeply offended by your attack on our family and our values. I’ve seen the video on the internet, and I saw what happened. My son did not interrupt, distract, or draw attention to himself during your press conference.”