Well, one upside to the NYC mayoral election is that we now know that you can buy NYC for $74 million and change. Somehow I am reminded of the towns that sell themselves on eBay. I feel like our city has been put on eBay and Bloomberg bid and won. I guess this election is quite a victory for capitalism--we find out that even the nation's largest city has a finite price tag. Good to know should you ever have an extra $74 million to spend.
What has happened to NYC? First off, I think we need to stop blaming our candidates. John Kerry got a lot of flack (still does) for losing in 2004. Al Gore was blamed for 2000 (even though he really won), and the Greens STILL blame Gore. Democrats blame our candidates almost from the start, but I have learned from Mondale on that by and large our candidates are pretty good. They are good people who would do a good job and would be far better than the opponant they lose to (or sometimes win from!). Freddy Ferrer was not ideal, but I learned over the course of the election that he was far better than many give him credit for. And much, MUCH better than the NYC media gave him credit for. Don't blame Ferrer, because our candidates are, first of all, CHOSEN by ballot and second of all are ours to make or break to some degree. People who deride "The Democrats" for "Picking" the wrong candidate ignore the fact that "The Democrats" includes all of us and the candidates aren't "picked" but are ELECTED. Ferrer won the primary. Period. He was the elected candidate of our party. Blame the Democratic voters, if you want but not "The Democrats" as if the party is an entity unto itself. What was Ferrer's weakness? Mainly it was his campaign. A campaign is NOT the person. A campaign is run by and organized by others. They are almost a marketing team for the candidate. Ferrer did FINE when he was on his own meeting people on the street. But Ferrer's CAMPAIGN was terrible. Perhaps the worst I have seen. I worked with folks from it and phone calls weren't answered, polling places weren't covered, local groups were left to their own devices. How much of that was organizational, how much was a
dismal lack of money, and how much was media hostility is open to
debate. But the bottom line is, without an excellent campaign, no one
is going to do well against a $74 million media blitz and a media that
is kissing the ass of your opponant. A shoddy campaign against big money is going to fail.
So what is going on in NYC? I am seeing a drift to the right. Wedge issues and a weak local Dem party is opening up the city to Republicans. If the Democratic party doesn't clean itself up (Clarence Norman's conviction should only be the beginning!) and if local Democrats don't get more active, the creeping Republican trend will continue and NYC will no longer be "safely" blue. I see this trend particularly in Brooklyn whre the Jewish vote and the more religious black vote are drifting towards the right because of wedge issues like gay rights. I know Brooklyn better than the other boroughs, so it may be happening there as well, but it is very clear in Brooklyn. We are also seeing a trend where NYC Democrats are becoming more like Republicans with blindly pro-business and pro-development stands and a support of Bloomberg's anti-First Amendment stands that is disturbing.
But what is happening with the rest of the state? If this last election is any indication, New York STATE is drifting left even as NYC is drifting right. NY State gave Democrats many resounding victories. From an article from the NY State Democratic Committee: [1]
Resounding victories include Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, Binghamton mayor’s races; Brookhaven upset; Gentile, Lappin, Garodnick, Vacca in NYC; Ulster, Nassau, Suffolk legislatures; Saratoga sweep; Erie County Comptroller surprise...
Following the national trend that saw Democrats affirmed throughout the country, the New York State Democratic Party enjoyed a virtual sweep last night of all major races in the state, sending a clear sign that the Democratic Party in New York is stronger than ever. Democrats swept every major upstate Mayor’s race, every competitive New York City council race, and key legislatures and upsets throughout the state.
Beware NYC Democrats! Shape up or find yourselves marginalized by a very savvy, very determined Republican party. NYC Democrats are being shown up by our NY State counterparts.
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