The Corrosive Politics of Michele Madigan and Joe Seeman

On Saturday, September 20, 2025, Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford was returning to City Hall from the dedication of a park in honor of the late Tommy McTygue when he was stopped by Joe Seeman, a local activist. Seeman was in front of the Post Office protesting the Trump presidency.

Seeman asked Safford if he thought that Trump lost the election in 2020 or whether he (meaning Trump) was cheated. When Safford attempts to answer, Seeman interrupts him, insisting it is a yes or no question. Safford offers that “a lot of people see just one side. A lot of people see another side. What we need to do is find a way to talk in the middle. Right now we are so divided. That’s what we are trying to do here in the city with One Saratoga.” As Safford tries to explain what he means, Seeman talks over him, making a discussion impossible. Safford then realizes that this is not a serious attempt at dialogue and excuses himself. The entire dialogue, which lasts one minute and forty-nine seconds, is included at the bottom of this post.

I would have preferred that Mayor Safford had simply answered “no,” but I know John Safford, and I know this was his attempt to soften the bitter divide that is tearing the country apart. I also knew that his failure to be direct in his answer would be exploited, despite Safford’s actual position.

Going For The Throat

Several hours later, Mayoral candidate Michele Madigan put up the video of Safford’s exchange with Seeman, along with the following text:

Realizing that he was being misrepresented, Safford responded to Madigan’s comment with an unequivocal statement contradicting Madigan’s narrative:

Rather than graciously accepting Safford’s statement and moving on, Madigan offered the following, and “boosted” the video so it would appear all over the internet:

Further exposing the ugly nature of this incident, Joe Seeman posted his comment following Madigan’s. Here are several crude and angry statements from Seeman regarding the incident. He responded to Mayor Safford with:

When I defended Safford, Seeman wrote:

In effect, Seeman doubles down, questioning the integrity of Mayor Safford’s stated position.

Is This Just Politics?

Many readers of this blog may dismiss all this as just politics. Madigan and Seeman are simply taking advantage of Safford’s error in not responding to Seeman’s question with a simple “no.” The fact that Safford’s failure to answer “no” does not represent his actual position is being buried by Madigan’s and Seeman’s continued promotion of this incident.

Expect to see the misrepresentation of Safford’s position in Madigan’s ads and mailings as we approach the coming election.

The Video