In 2005 I was briefly mistaken for a troll because of a
piece I wrote expressing considerable frustration at progressives for dropping the ball, at least in NYC. You see, I am heavily involved in local politics, often getting to meet candidates one-on-one, and I find that contrary to the impression many have regarding the Democratic Party, we have
some of the best candidates you can imagine. Problem is, they don't get past the primaries because big money and political machines oppose them, and the grassroots tends to be a bit lazy.
I fear that in 2006 the grassroots will fail NYC once again. Once again we have some of the best candidates you can imagine, once again big money interests and political machines oppose them and once again the grassroots has yet to rise to the occasion.
Lamont in CT and Tester in MT show what a good netroots/blogsphere effort can do. What we need in NYC is something much like that effort, though it doesn't have to be on as large a scale. But we need the blogsphere to help our local progressives beat the big money and the local and state machines. If we can't get progressives elected in NYC, how can we expect to get progressives elected elsewhere?
I am asking all of you to help with a handful of NYC and NY State campaigns. Even if you can't help, please take heart that candidates as good as these are running.
The good news is that one of my current favorites, Eric Adams (running for State Senate in Brooklyn) seems to be a rare case of a candidate who can appeal to everyone. A retired police captain, he has also a close ally of Norm Siegel, former head of the NY Civil Liberties Union and a frequent defender of Civil Rights. Eric Adams isn't really progressive, but he is the kind of centrist (possibly even former Republican!) who can still appeal to progressives. Eric Adams does not need out help. He is likely to win and this is one case where NYC seems to be doing it right. The local machine even withdrew its main candidate about a month back.
Now we come to some folks who are the heart of the matter. These are the people that represent the progressive movement in almost every way, and yet we are having problems electing them even in NYC because big money interests (particularly wealthy and well-connected developers) and the local machine oppose them. I want to say that many progressives are attacking the opponents of the candidates I want to plug. I don't really want to do much of that. Truth is, their opponents would be adequate Democrats, along the lines of Hillary Clinton or Chuck Schumer. But they aren't progressives. I want to focus on why you might want to give some spare change to the real progressives and not on dissing their adequate opponents.
What would you say to a candidate who was among Howard Dean's first public supporters, is the only African-American male ever to sit on the board of NARAL PAC in New York State, is a solid supporter of impeachment and marriage equality and a solid opponent of the war in Iraq and the unPatriot Act? What would you say to a candidate who has been endorsed by Representatives Dennis Kucinich, John Conyers, Maxine Waters, and Bernie Sanders? How about a candidate who has been endorsed by Democracy for New York City (DFNYC), New Democratic Majority (NDM), Democratic Progressive Action Caucus (DPAC), Kings County Organization of the Green Party (yes...even Greens!), ImpeachPAC.org, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc. and Americans for Democratic Action PAC? The candidate who fits this bill is Chris Owens, running for Congress in Brooklyn. In a very racially divided district, Chris is the only candidate to draw a substantial amount of his support from both black and white voters. Chris is so solidly progressive that Democracy for NYC endorsed him with a record 96% of the vote. Chris Owens is in many ways the ideal progressive candidate. He appeals to blacks and whites in a racially charged year in Brooklyn, and he appeals to both Democrats and Greens. We need this guy!!!
I know Chris personally. I did not start out a supporter. I favored one of his opponents at first. But once I got to know Chris and saw him standing shoulder to shoulder with the community in many of its fights, I was quickly converted. I have written extensively elsewhere about my reasons for supporting Chris as well as my reasons for supporting him over my original favorite. What I want to emphasize here is the fact that we have a perfect progressive who is in one of the most fiercely contested primaries in the nation. One of his opponents is on his way to spending $1 million to win this seat in a district he just moved to. Another candidate is a close ally of the corrupt local machine whose former head is now in jail. And the final opponent is, though still a mainstream Democrat, the most conservative of the four.
Chris Owens is the clear progressive choice, but he needs the help of the blogsphere to beat the machine and the big money. The most critical deadline is June 30th. Chris and his campaign have personally asked me to help connect Chris with you. Please give Chris a hand now.
Moving to two more local races, I want to introduce you to two candidates running for Assembly who are coming from outside the local corrupt machine and who are placing their hopes and dreams in the hands of the grassroots. Both have uphill battles.
First I want to introduce you to perhaps the only person running for office I have ever met who strikes me as BOTH qualified for the job AND very definitely NOT a politician. Bill Batson, running for Assembly in Brooklyn, is a progressive community activist and artist (his thank you note for donations is a post card of his art) whose main involvement in recent years has been serving on a community board working for fire safety, investigation of a huge increase of suspicious fires in Brooklyn, and working to get a community based development plan favored over the plan of a corrupt and greedy developer who is a buddy of our Republican governor. Bill Batson has also worked closely with Norm Siegel, the great local Civil Rights lawyer I mentioned above as an ally of Eric Adams. Batson has also worked for the NY Civil Liberties Union. Bill Batson is one of us, not a politician. As such, he comes off as a no bullshit regular guy who has been recruited by several diverse elements of the community to run. Among his many community activities are arson vigils. These are essentially community watch efforts to help prevent the fires that are burning down core areas of Brooklyn and have killed several people. Because Batson is such a political outsider, having been focused on community and civil rights issues, he is heavily opposed by the local machine and by wealthy developers. He is depending on us to help him out. Electing Chris Owens and Bill Batson would be HUGE victories for progressives in NYC.
Another Assembly candidate I would like to mention is Wellington Sharpe. Unlike Chris and Bill, Wellington is not a firebrand progressive. He is a more thoughtful and quiet type, but I find when he does speak, it is from the heart and definitely reflects progressive values. I don't know Wellington as well as I know Chris or Bill, but I do feel he is far better than his opponent and deserves our help. I don't know a website for Sharpe, but maybe I can get him to provide info in the comments or you can contact me and I can pass your name along.
Last year I felt progressives failed miserably in NYC. If we can elect Eric Adams, Chris Owens, Bill Batson and Wellington Sharpe this year, it will be a coming of age for progressives in Brooklyn. Your help can really make the difference in overcoming the corrupt machine and big money politics that dominate NYC.
Finally, I want to mention one state-wide race: Attorney General. There is a three-way race to replace Eliot Spitzer as Attorney General. This year's state convention anointed Andrew Cuomo, the least qualified but best-connected candidate, as its choice. In the process they outright threatened any district leader who tried supporting any other candidate. And I do mean threatened. The stories I heard from State Committee members and District Leaders described nasty machine politics at their worst. Democrats who have been loyal for 30 or more years were threatened with retaliation if they didn't toe the line behind the anointed candidate. It was disgusting!
Cuomo's two far better qualified opponents are Mark Green and Sean Patrick Maloney. Of them all, Maloney is by far the most progressive of the lot. He is also the one who, despite being almost stereotypic Irish-American, appeals to all racial groups and fielding an enthusiastic and racially diverse bunch of volunteers. Maloney is my choice because he is a breath of fresh air, reminiscent of the fresh-faced enthusiasm of the early Clinton Administration, which he was a part of. I will say, however, Mark Green is also a very well qualified candidate. The fact that he is a giant asshole who alienates almost everyone may not even be a negative quality for an Attorney General. I support Maloney...but my main goal is to solicit your help either for Maloney or Green to defeat Cuomo and the corrupt state machine.
I should mention that the alternative candidate for Governor, Suozzi, not only has little chance, but also strikes me as a good Republican. By that I mean he is NOT like the current batch of Republicans, but rather like old-style anti-union, tax-cutting Republicans who actually believed in honesty and fiscal responsibility. He IS a Democrat, but he talks like Republican. I respect him but can't support him.
Tasini, the alternative to Hillary Clinton, is indeed far more progressive than her, but it is hard to see that even Tasini thinks he has a chance. I like Tasini, but feel my efforts are better served pushing for Eric Adams, Chris Owens, Bill Batson, Wellington Sharpe and Sean Patrick Maloney.
I appreciate any help you can give to those of us in NY who are battling triangulating, wimpy Democrats and are trying to get real solid Progressives elected.