[UPDATE: I have heard from two others that they have heard the same, that Recchia is dropping out. On the other hand, someone is claiming to have heard right from someone close to Recchia himself that the rumor is not true. Well...that's the nature of rumors! Take it all with a grain of salt.]

[SECOND UPDATE: I am hearing Recchia's campaign is denying the rumor. Time will tell. It may just be a case of them not being ready to bow out or it may be that a decision hasn't yet been reached by there has been discussion, or it could be Albany gossip was wrong.]

A rumor from Albany was passed along tonight at the Independent Neighborhood Democrats meeting. It is unconfirmed. I have only one person's word on it, but that person is not one to spread random rumors. That person thinks the rumor is reliable, but will check on it.

Democrats Steve Harrison and Councilman Dominic Recchia Jr., candidates for the 13th Congressional District (Bay Ridge-Staten Island), are scheduled to speak at a forum in Bay Ridge on Monday, March 10 at 8:30 p.m., sponsored by the Brooklyn Democrats for Change. The candidates' forum will be at the Knights of Columbus-Thomas Dogan Council, 8122 Fifth Ave. It's their first forum together in their primary election contest to unseat Republican Congressman Vito Fossella in the November General Election. For further information, call (718) 619-5110

This could be your chance to confront Dominic Recchia on his seeming support for permanent bases in Iraq and his endorsement of an unqualified, homophopbe for a Brooklyn judge, and confront Steve Harrison for his past support of a Republican candidate.

In the primary race to take on pro-war, Social Security flip-flopping Bush Republican Vito Fossella (NY-13), Daily Gotham is backing Steve Harrison over Dominc Recchia, though with the understanding that BOTH Democrats are a welcome change over Fossella's enabling of Bush's failed agenda.

Already, fellow Daily Gotham writer Daniel Millstone uncovered a major difference in where Steve Harrison and Dominc Recchia stand on Iraq: Steve Harrison supports withdrawal, largely taking a similar stand to John Edwards and Bill Richardson, while Dominc Recchia expresses openness to the idea of permanent US bases in Iraq and borrows Bush talking point (perhaps with more honesty) that we should keep our troops in Iraq until the Iraqi army can take care of itself. Richardson, Edwards and, it seems, Harrison all support a regional military force taking over from the US as soon as possible rather than waiting for an indefinite period with permanent bases.

Below is a link to a story positioning Steve Harrison as the candidate of the people and Domenic Recchia as the Brooklyn machine's choice in City Hall News.

The article mentions the Daily Gotham, but the reporter didn't contact Bouldin and Mole as I suggested when he was writing the piece.

http://www.cityhallnews.com/news/128/ARTICLE/1316/2007-11-12.html

It must be primary season again, and further, it appears clear that the Brooklyn machine has made its wishes known on whom it would like to see prevail in certain contests.

That at least is the conclusion I draw from Gatemouth's newest magnum opus, posted here. The ostensible subject thereof is Steve Harrison, whom I happen to know, like and support, but to whom Gatemouth seems less than favorably inclined.

Now, politics is seldom elegant. But in this case, politics is blunt, more an Elvis impersonator in Vegas than Gustav Mahler. But that's fine; this being Brooklyn, our sensibilities are somewhat less than refined. This is doubly the case when the machine rears its head and speaks, as seems to be the case here.

In the Congressional primary in the 13th District, currently held by one Vito Fossella, whom you may recall as an independent fighter, there are currently two Democrats running. One of them is Steve Harrison, the other is one Dominic Recchia, a member of the City Council who most recently distinguished himself by handing an endorsement to Noach Dear, who just so happens to be a virulent, homophobic bigot.

And here the problems begin and do not end.

I have voted Republican. Once, I think. Just once. I have voted Green. Once...maybe twice.

The vast majority of the time I vote, donate, agitate and work for the Democratic Party with varying degrees of pride, enthusiasm and, occasionally, holding my nose.

The Democratic Party Machine in Brooklyn, led by Vito Lopez, pretty much makes you hold your nose because there is always a stench of sleaze around them. There are debates as to whether they are an improvement over the previous incarnation of the Brooklyn Machine, the one whose former head is now deservedly in jail. Well, if you have to debate whether they are better than someone who is jailed for corruption, you know you are in trouble.

Imagine, if you will, the following scenario. You are in the Jim Crow South. You are in a courtroom as a party to a lawsuit. You are black. Your judge has actively campaigned for segregation.

How certain are you that you will get justice from the bench?

Fast forward to the very near future, in January 2008, when this exact scenario will play out in Brooklyn, one of the constituent parts of the shining global metropolis that is New York City. Except that, in keeping with the most current prejudices, you need to be gay or lesbian to face this disquieting perspective, should you wind up in the courtroom of one Noach Dear, who recently prevailed in a primary battle for a civil court seat.

Dear, of course, led the opposition to New York City's gay rights bill; was the only member of the Brooklyn City Council delegation to vote against the 1998 domestic partnership bill; and, in an abortive Congressional run as a republican against Anthony Weiner, had the latter's speeches in favor of LGBT equality taped and then replayed to Orthodox audiences. As bigots go, he is nothing if not consistent; so perhaps it's not a surprise that he's also done business with Apartheid-era South Africa. In that context, it's particularly ironic that, while running in a black-majority district for state Senate, he called himself Noah and pretended to be black.

Noach, or Noah depending on which voters he courts, is currently a commissioner with the Taxi and Limousine Commission, a post to which he was appointed by none other than Rudy Giuliani; which may perhaps explain why half the funds he raised for his state office run came from taxi and limousine companies, which of course rely on his regulatory functions to shape their business environment. This time around, however, there's no indication that he received forty seven sequentially numbered money orders that turned out to not have been made out by the people listed on them as donors, as happened in the above-mentioned Congressional race.

Alan Fleischman, an out district leader in Brooklyn, sums up the problem neatly:

"It is outrageous that Noach Dear claims to have honesty and integrity. He is a notorious anti-choice, homophobic bigot who led the fight against the 1986 NY City Council Gay Rights bill and doesn't have the basic fairness and judicial temperament to serve on the Civil Court bench.

It is questionable why anyone in their right mind would support him for judge."

This is the man who was endorsed by the following elected officials, all Democrats:

Soon Brooklyn will have a man, Noach Dear, as one of its Civil Court judges. This is a man who never seems to have practiced law in his life and has been declared unqualified to be a judge by the NYC Bar Assn. How did this man become judge? Because a handful of politicians decided it would be politically convenient for him to be shoved aside on a court bench, essentially making the Brooklyn court system a political garbage dump. This is what these backroom politicians think of Brooklyn.

Things were supposed to change once Clarence Norman was in jail. That is what people keep telling me. Brooklyn politics will be better now that Clarence Norman is out of the way. No more unqualified judges, some told me. They had their chance to prove that this year and, to some degree, there certainly was an improvement in the quality of judges endorsed by the political insiders of Brooklyn. But they spoiled that effect by bringing out possibly one of their worst choices ever for a judge. Well, now the proof is in the pudding and this time the pudding is the unqualified Judge Noach Dear. Who delivered this unsavory pudding on our plates? These politicians: