But critics believe he was trying to exploit anti-Pakistani sentiment within his district's Indo-American community.
The Commack School District, which has owned the farm since it was bequeathed to the district by Marion Carll, a schoolteacher, in 1968, agrees with Mr. Hughes's sentiments, said Donald James, the district superintendent.
Reaction to the tape has been divided between conservatives and lawmakers in safe Republican districts, who have generally applauded Mr. Romney's sentiments, and Republican candidates in swing states who have run from them.
The Building Department's acting commissioner, Robert D. LiMandri, who attended a news conference at the district attorney's office on Wednesday, echoed Mr. Hynes's sentiments.
The Chicago researchers rightly warn that "if there is not a level of trust and transparency across all sectors of the district, the positive sentiments toward using this system to improve practice could be replaced by contention and disengagement".
"The more competitive the districts are, the more people get involved in our system of government, and the representative also has to be more involved and more sensitive" to district needs and sentiments, Panetta said.
It's just sentiment, you know, sentiment.
In a series of interviews around the district on Thursday, one sentiment was expressed more than any other: residents were skeptical that their congressman could not recognize a pair of gray boxer briefs.
So, I wonder, what if voters in my home district agree with that sentiment - and decide to support Mary Jo Kilroy?
The proposal was an attempt to divide Democrats, pressure freshmen in districts where anti-immigration sentiment runs high and test their leadership.
