This morning we received a fundraising solicitation from Bishop with the subject line "Deja Vu All Over Again," which uses the prospect of an Altschuler redux to rally the troops. The email makes note of Altschuler's seemingly endless resources and attempts to tie him to some of the austerity measures  that the House G.O.P. is proposing.

Writes the Bishop campaign:

Today, we learned from the newspaper Roll Call that my 2010 opponent, Randy Altschuler, will be visiting Washington, DC this week in preparation to run against me in 2012.  While it is very difficult to go head-to-head with an outsourcing millionaire with bottomless pockets, I know that I can count on supporters like you.  CLICK HERE TO SHOW YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT 

Your support right now is particularly critical because we are approximately one week from the important March 31 FEC deadline.  This will be the first time for Randy and his friends in Washington to assess how aggressive a campaign we intend to wage in 2012.  

Meanwhile, if we needed further proof that these two teams are already in war-room mode, Altschuler campaign aide Chris Maloney sends along the following statement, knocking Bishop for coming out swinging so early:

"As if one failed stimulus wasn't enough, it's shocking that Tim Bishop's latest prescription for job creation in Suffolk County is urging taxpayers to donate to his endangered political campaign.  It's the height of hypocrisy for Tim to bill himself as being concerned about job loss, while in the same breath he attacks Randy Altschuler, a proven American job creator who has employed hundreds of New Yorkers. 

"Voters didn't send Tim Bishop to Washington to be a complaining campaigner for the next two years; they elected a congressman to save their jobs.  If the past three months and this fundraising ploy are any indication, it is increasingly clear that the only job Tim Bishop cares about saving is his own."

This should be fun. Full Bishop solicitation below:

 

From: Rep. Tim Bishop <mbishop@bishopforcongress.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Deja Vu All Over Again

Tim Bishop for Congress  ______________________________________

Dear Friend,   As Yogi Berra would say, "It's deja vu all over again."  Today, we learned from the newspaper Roll Call that my 2010 opponent, Randy Altschuler, will be visiting Washington, DC this week in preparation to run against me in 2012.  While it is very difficult to go head-to-head with an outsourcing millionaire with bottomless pockets, I know that I can count on supporters like you.  CLICK HERE TO SHOW YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT    Your support right now is particularly critical because we are approximately one week from the important March 31 FEC deadline.  This will be the first time for Randy and his friends in Washington to assess how aggressive a campaign we intend to wage in 2012.  We need to put up a very strong number to make it perfectly clear to them, that once again, Suffolk County is not for sale. I believe the choice will be clearer than ever in 2012.  Throughout much of the campaign, Randy would talk vaguely about "reducing spending" but refused to say exactly how he would do so.  At a Meet the Candidates night in Hampton Bays, he responded to one question about specific cuts by saying, "That's a loaded question, as we call it," before launching into a diatribe about earmarks, which, by the way, we no longer have.  When I pressed him on the issue, he responded, "I think we all know that the Congressman has no real deep interest in hearing what spending cuts I propose.  What Congressman Bishop will do with that is put it into his campaign, as he's done on everything.   Now that we have seen the actions of the House Republican majority which Randy aspires to be a member of, it is clear why he refused to answer the question.  The House Republican budget hurts Suffolk County families in almost more ways than I can count. The budget eliminates approximately 1,000 jobs at Brookhaven National Laboratory and undermine America's scientific leadership; slashes Pell Grants by $5.6 billion which will reduce grants by at least 15 percent for over 9 million students; eliminates family planning and attacks the right to choose; eliminates funding to help homeless veterans; blocks EPA enforcement of clean air and clean water laws; and so much more. By the way, Randy's right.  I will absolutely talk in my next campaign about the fact that House Republicans want to put 1,000 Brookhaven National Lab employees out of work.  In fact, I'm writing you today to help give me the resources to do so.  CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR DONATION TODAY As always, thank you for your continued friendship and support and I look forward to seeing you out on the road as I continue to talk in communities throughout our district about the need to make responsible choices.    Best,   Tim Bishop Member of Congress      VISIT WWW.BISHOPFORCONGRESS.COM TO CONTRIBUTE