2009 Elections

2009 Elections

• The missing 500 (and a buried lede)- The Albany Project has some interesting debunking of a claim made by Joe Mondello in The New York Times: First, The Times:

  The campaign is off to a quick start. "We had 500 people going door to door last weekend, and we hope to have 700 this weekend," Mr. Mondello said. Democrats say they have an equally ambitious field operation. Their county chairman, Jay S. Jacobs, said that with an expected 10 to 15 percent voter turnout, "the ground game is the decider."

  The word at TAP is that it just ain't so with 500, let alone 700 O'Connell volunteers. They're right. I just talked to Steve Behar, who ran volunteers in Mineola on Saturday, and who confirms that he saw very few O'Connell walkers (he originally said there were 'none', but corrected that to 'a few'). To quote:

  "I saw more people from our side, and very few O'Connell people, maybe one or two. We only saw a few scattered pieces of O'Connell literature. Where they have an advantage is yard signs, which favor O'Connell, probably because the Johnson signs aren't ready yet or something. That said, the Democrats I talked to are very enthusiastic about and on board with Craig Johnson."

  And here's your buried lede: Steve, a lawyer heavily active in Progressive politics, is running for the City Council seat currently held by Tony Avella. He'll be filing papers for the 2009 race this week, and this is his first public announcement. So mark this blog post down as the first time The Daily Gotham, or any New York blog for that matter, has officially announced a candidacy. Yup, that's historic. Best of luck to Steve Behar.
• Weiner files 2009 papers- The Daily News reports that Anthony Weiner has filed preliminary papers for a possible mayoral run in 2009.

  "I haven't made any firm decisions but what we're doing today is laying the foundation, so that if I decide to run for mayor, I'll win," Weiner, 42, told the Daily News... Asked yesterday how serious he is about running again for mayor, Weiner replied, "Many of the same things that I talked about when I ran for mayor in 2005 continue to keep me up at night." Other potential Democratic rivals include City Controller William Thompson, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens), a self-described "long shot," is the only officially announced candidate for mayor in 2009. Mayor Bloomberg must step down on Dec. 31, 2009, because of term limits.

  Of course, our very own Liza has said that she'd get in the race in the event of a Betsy Gotbaum candidacy, with the express intent of heaping ridcule on that poor, befuddled creature.
• Campaign finance reform- Marc Landis's comment on Bouldin's survey couldn't be more on target. He and I are in complete agreement -- CMCE (which stands for "Clean Money, Clean Elections") is absolutely the best choice. And not just in Albany. New York City is laboring under the false impression that we have what many people, including the current Speaker, have called the best campaign finance system in the country. It is nothing of the kind. Under the current system, campaigns in NYC have more than doubled in cost since 1989. And that's after adjusting for inflation and removing the fluke that is the last two mayoral races. Also, the disparity between winners (who raise a lot of money) and losers (who don't) is getting larger. Instead of leveling the playing field, matching funds are tilting the field even further. Using 20/20 hindsight, we can see why any matching fund system actually makes things worse. Read on...
• Support Steve Behar tonight- From NDM:

  NDM Special Event Alert | Steve Behar tonight Dear Member, please join us tonight for a fundraiser to benefit one of our own, Progressive candidate for City Council Steve Behar. Steve is running for the City Council in the 19th District, and is a true Progressive that will make all of us proud. Please review the invitation below and give the man some love. - Steve Behar for New York Red Sky 47 East 29th Street March 27th, 2007 6 – 8:30 PM $3 beer specials, $4 Martinis and Cosmos from 6 – 8 PM Donation levels: Pal $10 Buddy $25 Old Chum $50 Fan $100 or above Please make checks payable to Steve Behar for New York. RSVP Please RSVP to cway175 at aol dot com Host Committee Albert Baldeo, Steven Beard, Michael Bouldin, Wayne Brooks, Joanna Coleman, Costa Constantinides, Paul Curtis, Jimmy Dahroug, Miriam Danar, Ed Hartzog, Dan Jacoby, Melanie LaRocca, Merle McEldowney, Dana Northcraft, Liza Sabater, Brian Schneider, Carolyn Schultz, Chet Szarejko

  Give the guy some love, will ya?
• There's Still Time: DMI Meets At Baruch Monday April 2, 2007- Can you get free from the burdens of work and seder preparation on Monday morning? The Drum Major Institute is sponsoring a most-of-the-day talk-fest on New York City and the Middle-class. Featured speakers include form Gov. Mario Cuomo, Mayoral-possibles Rep. Anthony Weiner and Comptroller William Thompson, Just-re-elected UFT President Randi Weingarten and NYC Finance Commissioner Martha Stark and Bronx Beep Adolfo Carrion Jr. You can read more about it here. I personally had to move heaven and earth to clear the morning and will have to seder-prep all weekend, but I'm going. Monday April 2, 2007 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Baruch College Conference Center, Newman Vertical Campus 55 Lexington Avenue at 24th Street, 14th Floor Try calling, emailing DMI to RSVP. See you there.
• DMI On Middle Class New York; Mayoral Beauties Contend- The Drum Major Institute's meeting at Baruch College yesterday was important and remarkable as much for who was there as for what was said. Three elected officials who may run for Mayor in 2009 spoke and gave those of us in the audience a side-by-side view of them as policy makers as well as campaigners. While there's a lot of substance to write about the meeting, mayoral electoral politics was on the minds of many. Diane Cardwell's NY Times article also focused on the men who would be Mayor My post on the substance will follow later today. NYC Comptroller William C. Thompson, Congress Member Anthony Weiner and Bronx Borough President Adolpho Carrion spoke and worked the room which was filled with lobbyists, consultants, non-profit executives and policy-junkies like me. What I saw surprised me. Judging only by their focus and remarks Monday Comptroller Thompson and Bronx Beep Carrion do not intend to run against Mayor Bloomberg's record. This was a surprise to me, since of late, a firestorm of criticism against the Mayor has been burning over Mr. Bloomberg's education policies and practices. Indeed Mr. Thompson has sometimes been one of those setting the anti-Bloomberg fire alight. Listening yesterday, however, the only potential candidate who clearly articulated a progressive platform against Mr. Bloomberg's record was Congress Member Weiner. As in his previous run for Mayor, Mr. Weiner was focused, smart and informed. On a panel with Council Member John Liu and Carrion, Weiner wit sparkled. On health care for employees of small business, for example, Weiner proposed that NYC bring the cost down by forming a small-business buyers' cooperative. It's well known that those entities able to deliver big pools of insured people (Big Corporations, NYC) get better insurance for lower prices. It's not the best solution (single payer, universal health insurance, as I see it), but its better than what we have now for small business. Carrion and Lu were skeptical and critical without any thought out reasons. I guess I'm also a fan of Mr. Weiner's Schumer-style sharpness and repartee.
• Domenic Recchia, Go Home- Domenic Recchia, go home. Brooklyn City Councilman Domenic Recchia has been making the rounds on Staten Island in recent weeks. Some speculated that the Daily News Knucklehead award winner( http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2006/12/26/2006-12-26_how_stupid_can_you_get.html) was visiting the forgotten borough because he was seeking citywide office. Others correctly speculated that he was contemplating running a primary against Steve Harrison for the right to attempt to unseat Vito Fossella, New York City’s only Republican member of Congress, who represents all of Staten Island and a portion of Brooklyn. Crain’s and the Staten Island Advance confirmed his potentially disastrous for those wanting to Veto Vito, ambitions. Brooklyn attorney Harrison ran a gallant campaign last year, losing by a smaller percentage of the vote than any of Fossella’s opponents since he supplanted the Molinari dynasty in 1997. Harrison accomplished this despite being out spent 12-1 by Fossella, largely because people like Recchia, who represents a tiny portion of the Congressional District in the Council, did squat for Steve. Harrison has not formally announced his repeat candidacy yet, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he’s likely to run based on his ubiquitous presence on Staten Island since the election. He also couldn’t announce because of party chair John Lavelle’s death and three first quarter 2007 special elections in Staten Island.
• Credibility Takes a Holiday: Rudy "Forgives" Imus- So Rudy Giuliani has "forgiven" Don Imus:

  Embattled radio host Don Imus is getting support from many of the politicians and journalists who frequently grace his show - including presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Despite many calls for the shock jock's resignation, Giuliani said he would again appear with Imus, and after talking to him on the phone he believes Imus "understands that he made a very, very big mistake." "I take Don at his word that he understands the gravity of what he said," Giuliani told the Daily News. "He seems sincerely sorry about it and seems like someone who will endeavor not to do that again and I take him at his word."

  Well, that didn't take long. It's nice of Giuliani to absolve Imus on behalf of his fellow African-Americans. What's that? He's not? Well then, it's hard to see what business he has "forgiving" a repeat-offending racist like Imus, isn't it? Of course, this is Rudy Giuliani, much of whose mayoralty was premised on channeling white resentment against blacks. The same Giuliani whose malicious reaction to the Diallo shooting only made a bad situation worse. The same Rudy Giuliani who inflamed racial tensions by trashing Patrick Dorismond after Dorismond had been shot and killed by the NYPD. The same Rudy Giuliani whose policy of divide et impera managed to get him re-elected with two-thirds of the white vote but only 20% of the black vote. Giuliani forgives Imus. The cobra forgives the rattlesnake for its venom.
• IS A BLACK BOROUGH PRESIDENT IN BROOKLYN’S IMMEDIATE FUTURE? (Part Two).- When I did an article a few months ago about the possibility of a black borough president in Brooklyn’s near future, it was because I had observed a trend in Brooklyn’s politics over the past five years, whereby blacks and Hispanics were winning borough-wide races for civil and supreme courts, on a regular basis. It started in 2002, when both Delores Thomas and Margarita Lopez-Torres won county-wide races in the same year; something unfathomable to many an old-timer in Brooklyn. Then Chandrya Simpson did it the following year, and it was repeated subsequently in 2004, 2005 and 2006, with blacks and Hispanics making it look mundane, if not simple. In two years time, Marty Markowitz, the current Brooklyn Borough President will be term-limited out of office; this throws up a vacancy, and it also offers a historic opportunity for a female, or a black, or a Hispanic-or a person other than someone male and Caucasian-to ascend to this office. So, in this the year of Barack Obama (2007), no black candidate has officially declared for the race as yet, but some have made very public statements of their intentions. This group includes the cerebral Chris Owens, Jamaican-born Assemblyman Nick Perry and the controversial NYC councilman Charles Barron. It has also been brought to my attention that over the years State Senator Velmanette Montgomery has openly admitted an interest in this race. Some folks are saying that she is definitely running this time around. Other blacks whose names have been bandied around for this race from time to time, include State Senator John Sampson, Assemblywoman Annette Robinson, NYC council-woman Tish James and Assemblyman Darryl Towns, however, for various reasons, all four seem not inclined to pursue this particular race at present- albeit that could change over the next year or so.
• So how do you feel about Marty running for Mayor?- * Hahaha! Running for what? Hahaha!\n* Oh God no.\n* Please make him go away.\n* This is totally effing serious. Your poll sucks.\n* \n
• Stopping Rudy Giuliani is your job- There is a noticeable frisson of horror running through the New York media world over the Giuliani Presidential candidacy, tempered both by incredulousness over the sheer absurdity of the concept - "He's running for what?" - and a certain self-interest, because of course New Yorkers are most familiar with the Giuliani beat. That's a good thing, because it's producing a vast raft of solid reporting that Progressive New Yorkers, most of whom are horrified at the idea of a Giuliani White House, can usefully employ in derailing this nonsense. At the same time, some circumspection is required, because many of the traits that City folks hated most about the man are foundational to his appeal in other parts of the country; and remember, running against New York has been a winning formula in the heartland since the implosion of Al Smith in the 1928 campaign. That, however, is exactly what Rudy is doing, running against the cliché of Sodom on the Hudson. That's the case made by Peter J. Boyer in The New Yorker.
• Meet & Greet with Tony Avella- There are a lot of sponsors of this event, and with good reason. Join:

  Democrats for New Politics Democracy for New York City Manhattan Young Democrats Queens County Young Democrats and New Democratic Majority

  for a Meet 'n' Greet with

  Council Member and Mayoral Candidate Tony Avella

  Tuesday, October 9, 6:30-9:00 at The Irish Rogue, 356 W. 44 St. (between 8th & 9th Aves.) Did I mention it's free?
• Markowitz leads mayoral race?- Oy vey. In what is likely the first poll taken of New York City Democrats about the 2009 mayoral election - aside: this permanent campaign business really is tiring - results show an unlikely frontrunner: Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz. No, seriously.

  Markowitz was the top choice for mayor of 18% of Democratic voters, followed by 13% for Rep.Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens) and 11% for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), a new Marist College/WNBC poll shows. City Controller William Thompson and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum each snagged 9% of the vote, and City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens) trailed at 4%. Even Markowitz's wife was incredulous. "Is this serious?" asked Jamie Markowitz after The News informed her of the results. "This is all over New York City, right?"

  2009 is going to be an absolutely glorious food fight, our own version of a thousand flowers blooming. The term limits on the City Council alone will see to that. With Marty being as well positioned as he seems to be, certainly, the sheer entertainment value of the whole exercise seems guaranteed.