By Jeff Lipton
O'Grady, an ophthalmologist from Garden City, apparently came out of nowhere and has taken a circuitous route to the Nov. 5 general election. She was knocked off the ballot in the Republican primary for collecting an insufficient number of signatures but won a reprieve by discovering a technicality in her opponent's legal papers. She then captured more than 50 percent of the vote in a three-way primary race.
McCarthy, seeking her fourth term in Congress, is not taking O'Grady's candidacy lightly. "Oh, gosh no," McCarthy said. "It doesn't matter. She has money. She's very wealthy. If she decides to spend $600,000 or $700,000 of her money, that's competitive.
"I wouldn't take this district for granted anyhow," said McCarthy, who maintains her district is still 3-to-1 Republican. "My work ethic doesn't allow it."
After six years in Congress, the incumbent has grown into her role as a politician, getting a better feel for how to get bills passed and how to help defeat a bill that does not suit her.
"We've done a lot, I've done a lot," said McCarthy, who defeated Greg Becker in the last two Fourth C.D. elections. "It comes back to learning how to do the system. There are a lot of games that are being played down in Washington. I've learned those games."
In her first run for political office, O'Grady insists she is gaining name recognition. "I think my name recognition is far better than it is getting credit for."
O'Grady, 48, who grew up in Bellmore with three sisters and a brother, was inspired to run for office because, she said, the nation's system of delivering health care is in sad shape.
McCarthy's rise to Congress has been well documented. Her husband was shot and killed and her son seriously injured by Colin Ferguson on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993. McCarthy was a nurse who turned politician to fight for stronger gun-control laws. She has managed to win reelection twice in the heavily Republican district. And, she continues to propose and support stricter gun laws, while deflecting criticism from her opponents that she is a one-issue candidate.
O'Grady attacked her for being soft on foreign policy, anti-terrorism and national defense; criticism which McCarthy scoffs at, pointing to her fight for a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. She said she has also thrown a spotlight on the shortage of nurses nationwide and continues to fight to improve education in the classrooms.
Gun control
Toughening up gun laws is still one of McCarthy's chief priorities. She was defeated in 1999 in her attempt to get a bill passed requiring background checks on all buyers at gun shows and expects to reintroduce that bill.
Her new bill, called the Our Lady of Peace Act, is named for the Lynbrook church where the Rev. Lawrence Penzes and a parishioner were gunned down during a morning Mass last March. The alleged shooter, Peter Troy, has a history of mental illness but nonetheless was allowed to purchase a gun in a Mineola gun shop. Troy passed a Federal background check because many states have not added their mental health records to the FBI's background check system.
"Mr. Troy fell through the cracks," McCarthy said. "He has a long history of mental illness and was institutionalized three or four times."
After sitting down to discuss updating background checks with the National Rifle Association, her bill passed the House Judiciary Committee, 30-3. The bill, which would update the federal system, now awaits approval by the full House and Senate.
McCarthy has also worked on bills for child safety locks on guns and on reducing school violence.
"I don't see any major success on the gun control issue," said O'Grady, who rated McCarthy's performance as "poor" thus far in Congress.
O'Grady does not favor additional gun control measures but greater enforcement of those laws already on the books. "We know we have so many gun control laws," O'Grady said. "What problems do they really solve? Is it just to make us all feel good that we passed a gun law?
"I grew up with guns in my home," said O'Grady, whose father was a New York City detective for 27 years. "It never occurred to any one of the five of us to go take daddy's gun and shoot up our classmates because somebody insulted us the day before."
Health care
O'Grady said she entered the race because she didn't see any good ideas coming out of Washington, D.C. on how to solve the nation's health care crisis. "For 16 years I've watched our health care system deteriorate at a very rapid pace," said O'Grady, who has worked in Federal, city and county hospitals. "And it's picked up pace over the past six years and I could tell you it's not getting any better."
She said, six years ago she was forced to buy a health care policy. "I was astonished at what the cost of a health policy was. It's outrageous. The reason the cost of it is so high is that we're so mandated as to what has to be in a health insurance policy. It has to cover you for everything from acupuncture... you name it, it's there."
She proposed giving citizens more of a variety of policies, to keep the costs down. She added that tax laws are stacked against poor families who have no insurance from their employer and are forced to buy an insurance policy.
McCarthy said her chief priority in the next term would be a prescription drug bill and Medicare reimbursements. But she fears that the money will not be there, with all Federal programs being held up until February or March. "All the programs that are out there -- reimbursements to doctors, health care, hospitals, everything is going to stay flat and they are already in trouble financially."
Preparations taken for homeland security in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and a possible preparation for war against Iraq are holding all other programs at 2002 funding levels, she said.
"I feel very strongly even though we have the preparation of homeland security and even the preparation of war, that does not mean we stop doing all the domestic issues," she said.
Terrorism
Another reason O'Grady is running for office is to help better protect the country in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "The country has to be better protected and our policies, maybe in hindsight, should have been a little bit more attentive to this problem, rather than pretending that it doesn't exist."
But, she admitted, she is happy with the way the war on terrorism has been fought, supporting President Bush's efforts. "I think we have to support him 100 percent and what he plans to do in the Middle East. Our options are limited and I agree with how he's approaching it and his stance on Iraq. I support going into Iraq with U.S. military forces to help make them comply with U.N. inspectors. If he [the president] has the evidence that tells him that there is danger to the country, than I'm absolutely in favor of expanding the war on terrorism."
No one in Congress wants to go to war, McCarthy said. "I thought the impeachment vote [of President Clinton] was a tough vote," she said. "This is dealing with at least 250,000 young men and women that are going to be faced with a lot of problems. This particular district with the calls, e-mails, etc. are against the war. I tell people we aren't voting for war, we will go into Iraq and destroy all their mass destruction weapons and find out if he does have nuclear weapons.... For our security and the security of Israel, we have to do something.
McCarthy said she has voted in favor of increasing homeland security, even though her opponent has hit her on it.
Education
O'Grady said, "I think education should be one of the highest priorities in the country. We know we have failing schools. We know there are districts right within our Fourth Congressional District that are not properly educating these children." She said she supports vouchers to financially aid parents who want to send their children to private schools because public schools are not performing up to standards.
McCarthy said she plans to remain on the House Education Committee to help fix the ills in education. She wants to ensure smaller class sizes and that teachers are certified. "If you really look at the schools that succeed, these schools have a higher tax base, have money going into the schools, have more qualified teachers." McCarthy opposes school vouchers, preferring to keep Federal funds to support the public schools. One of the programs that McCarthy sees working in the elementary schools is bringing in private corporations to run tutoring and mentoring programs. Lack of discipline in the classroom, she said, remains one of the main problems.
Abortion
On the issue of abortion, McCarthy and O'Grady are on opposite ends, with the incumbent maintaining her stance that a woman has a right to choose and the challenger opposing abortion.
"It's a very sad fact we have over a million abortions in our country and I would like to see the number of abortions reduced," O'Grady said. "I think we would be a far better society if we did that... There's no limitation on abortion right now. You can have an abortion up to the day of delivery in this country and I think most people agree that's not acceptable." In fact, the law imposes significant restrictions on late-term abortions.
O'Grady, who claims the Fourth C.D. is 3-to-2 Republican, said the incumbent is not in touch with her constituency and abortion is one of those issues.
"I am in touch with my constituents," McCarthy said. "Is there a certain portion of my constituency that is extremely conservative? Absolutely. Are they going to vote for me? Absolutely not. You'll be surprised how many people in this district believe in family planning, believe in a woman's right to choose."
Economy
O'Grady said she would love to see a cut in the capital gains tax. "I think that would help the economy tremendously... by putting more money back into the economy so people could spend it and invest it rather than giving it to the government.
"I feel we certainly have some problems with the stock market and the economy is not as strong as we would like it to be and if we follow the president's tax cuts and continue on that course, I think we will see it do very well."
McCarthy said she lost 40 percent in the stock market "and I was very, very conservative. I have 18 years to make that up, but think of the people who were going to use that money to send their kids to school this year or next year. Corporate scandal has thrown the trust of American people. We have to bring that back."
She said she expects the economy to rebound, maybe not this quarter or the next but in the near future.
McCarthy said she voted with President Bush on tax cuts. But after Sept. 11, there are tax cuts she has not voted for.
Looking ahead to Nov. 5
O'Grady expects to receive a boost just by being on the ballot with Gov. George Pataki, whom she described as "hugely popular" and hopes some of his votes carry down to her.
"I'm looking forward to a very vigorous, interesting campaign. I think the voters are going to have a very distinct choice between the two of us. And I think when the day is done, they will see that picking me will be the better option," O'Grady said.
McCarthy said she is working as hard as ever to get her message across to the voters, a campaign she picked up after she won her last election. She is proud that her office has handled more than 10,000 constituent cases on such areas as Social Security, Medicare and immigration and hopes the voters will give her a chance to continue that work.
