Look; I know that an official statement hasn’t been released, so I expect the usual coy denials will be forthcoming when mainstream-media sources dig into this topic later this week. I am going to put my credibility on the line here: Hakeem Jeffries has decided to challenge Ed Towns for the 10th congressional seat in next year’s primary.
So how do I know? Well……………….…………..ancient Chinese secret/lol.
Truly folks: it’s a combination of analysis, observation, common sense and some rather interesting sources. The only person that stops this race from happening is Ed himself. Ed can retire; or he can try to cut a deal with Hakeem. In such a deal, Ed could request that Jeffries hold off a challenge next year and instead support him for re-election to congress. In return Towns will retire in two years then support Jeffries as his replacement. The problem with that is the folks around Hakeem don’t trust Towns beyond their eyesight.
People say I am the Liz Smith and Cindy Adams (combined) of Brooklyn’s politics and sometimes they are correct. There are times when the rumor mill waxes overtime. I will address a few of them in this column: just remember that not everything glittering is gold.
I have been informed that a face to face meeting between Towns and Jeffries is in the works. It was slated for this weekend. Within my inner-circle there are those who say Hakeem doesn’t have the balls to pull the trigger on this run. I am saying that Hakeem has finally grown up. I am saying that the decision has been made. He is running. He has grown some gonads finally. His piss is frothing in the toilet bowl now. He has pubic hair and an early morning erection. He is a man now. He probably shaves now, and even drinks a beer or two maybe.
This is what Hakeem knows that many is finally coming around to accept: if he gets Towns in a one on one contest, then Hakeem will become a dominatrix. Hakeem will whip Towns and put him in chains and handcuffs. It wouldn’t even be close. Hakeem will be in leather and Towns will be in pain. Towns will be crawling around on a leash.
The writing is on the wall folks; but does the congressman see it? And his usual assortment of ass-kissers will be telling him differently. And he may just buy into it (and them). It’s what happens when you have been in power too long: you become inured; good advice takes a back seat to the fawning and the sucking-up. If the congressman calls me I will give it to him straight with no chaser: he is dead man walking. He needs to bow out gracefully. It’s time to make way for the young folks. The majority of voters in this district knows it and feels it.
“Towns-fatigue” in this district is wider than J-LO’s ass. Disenchantment in this district is deeper than Sarah Palin’s knowledge of American history. Ed is in trouble with a capital “T”. Hakeem knows it. Hakeem is smelling blood. The people who read tea-leaves in politics are already puzzled. The people who gaze into crystal balls are befuddled by what they are seeing.
It’s not a good year to be a longtime elected official. Ed Towns has held this seat since 1983. He has been in office for 28 years. He is 77 years old. You do the math. Tell me what you think is going to happen if he decides to seek another term, and faces Hakeem who was born in 1970 (41years old). Hakeem has been in office for less than five years and has introduced more than seventy bills. After a slow start, Hakeem has been quite visible since his opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s term-limits reversal in 2008. Hakeem has been secretly running for Ed’s seat since 2002.
Now Ed is wily and resourceful, so if he decides to tackle this fight he will pull out all the stops; but this isn’t Barry Forde folks. As interesting a candidate/challenger Barry was, he wasn’t an elected official. Hakeem is. Look how well Barry Forde did against Ed: twice.
This isn’t Kevin Powell either. Kevin was a very flawed candidate. Hakeem is no saint but he isn’t a Kevin Powell. He has Powell’s energy and youth without Powell’s baggage. Plus Hakeem is better educated than Powell, and much brighter too.
This isn’t Charles Barron either; Hakeem isn’t as charismatic; nor is he as articulate; nor is he as street savvy; nor is he as exciting as Charles “Chucky Bee” Barron. And yet, Hakeem doesn’t bring Charles Barron’s controversies to the table. Hakeem is palatable to white voters: Barron isn’t. Barron came close to whipping Ed’s ass in 2006. Do the math folks.
This isn’t Roger Green, who (like Hakeem) waited too long to take on Towns. Roger was an elected official who pled guilty to some “silly money” stuff. I say silly because Roger was a very bright guy with a demon in his nose. He eventually (unfortunately) got caught up in some minor league stuff. If he had played his cards right he could have given my buddy Ed a real run for his money in the nineties.
This isn’t Susan Alter (1992), who was of the wrong color, in the wrong district, with the wrong demographics; and with another white candidate (Frank Seddio) in the same race against Towns: further obfuscating the anti-Towns vote.
White voters in downtown Brooklyn are going to love Hakeem Jeffries. White voters have wanted to dump Towns since jump-street. Sure enough, Hakeem is the nephew of the militant black professor Leonard Jeffries; but Hakeem isn’t his uncle. Hakeem is Hakeem: a youngster with a lot of promise; who despite being something of a disappointment to a few of us up to this point (myself included), may still have time to shine.
I am going to leave this race right here for now. I will get back to it as time goes by, and as things unfold. This story will suck up some of the air in the NYC blog-rooms all week long. Watch for the denials and the double talk. Watch.
Let me be very clear. This is not an endorsement for Hakeem Jeffries. I may or may not do that. I haven’t endorsed anyone in this potential race as yet. I have heard that Charles Barron may enter. If this happens then Ed’s chances of re-election will increase. Charles and Hakeem are not members of the same mutual admiration society: on the contrary. I am told that Charles sees Hakeem as wimpy and spineless. I have also been told that Hakeem‘s latest outburst of anti-Towns energy comes from being secretly backed by Vito Lopez.
If Barron enters the race then the dynamics change. That’s when we will all find out if Hakeem is a man or a mouse.
Okay, enough of the 10th congressional. Let’s go deeper into Brooklyn’s politics. The race between Ola Alabi and Walter Mosley is heating up (57thAD). Both candidates are visible and working hard behind the scenes to replace Hakeem.
Here is the line-up card. Walter Mosley will be with the Hakeem Jeffries camp. Ola Alabi will be in the Ed Towns camp. I heard Walter Mosley will be getting married soon. This tells me he IS running to replace Hakeem for sure.
When guys who have been single for a long time decide to finally get married then it is a sure sign that they are about to make a political move. I remember when some folks wondered about Walter’s orientation; I paid no attention because that was his friggin business. I didn’t give a damn. I was single for a very long time and I am not gay; and I have never been and never will be: it’s just not me. And yet there were those who tried to speculate and infer stuff like that even when I was living with concubines; and it didn’t matter if I had already fathered two kids.
So some folks will always talk shit and others will lie. I have been once married (to a woman), and yet I am sure there will be those who will go up on the blogs again, and question my sexual orientation again. Even back in the days when I was against same-sex marriage I had to deal with that crap on the blogs. Now you see why I always give my detractors the “KMBA” (KISS MY BLACK ASS) treatment without apology.
Politics can be deadly folks so don’t buy into all there rumors out there. There has been enough said about me to fill an encyclopedia/lol. I know I often report on the political gossip but I usually leave out more “hot” stuff than I put into my “Vines” columns. And then (of course), Gatemouth is always out there to vet my columns for veracity and the like/lol. Isn’t that intimidating enough?
Back to the 57th AD: Walter Mosley is a fine young man with a bright future. Walter is bright, personable, industrious and charming. He is from good political stock. His mom (Marilyn) is a longtime political activist who has paid big dues in politics; she heads up a progressive political organization in Fort Greene. I hope that Walter and Ms. Alabi work out an agreement and that prevents a bloody fight between them for the seat replacing Hakeem. They are both fine people. Either one will represent the 57th AD well.
There are very big rumors that Senator Eric Adams will be running for Brooklyn’s borough presidency in 2013. I have heard nothing about Lori Knipel’s plans for that race. The word is that Eric has already lined up near all the black electeds in this city behind his run to make history. He will be the first black boro- prez from Brooklyn if he were to run and win. If these rumors are true then he will be very formidable folks. If he has already done his homework and jumped the field of potential candidates then he is being underestimated relative to his future political potential.
I have been told that current Brooklyn boro-prez Marty Markowitz is having a hard time deciding to run for mayor of NYC. I have said over and over again that Marty’s chances are better than most. A recent poll had him surprisingly (to many/ but not me) in second place behind Christine Quinn. Since I will bet big money that Christine Quinn CANNOT win, then Marty needs to make his mind up once and for all; otherwise he will have missed another great opportunity for Brooklyn.
Relative to the mayor’s race of 2013, word is that John Liu isn’t going to run for mayor in 2013. However, it is said that Bill DiBlasio will try to make that race; so too Scott Stringer and Billy Thompson. This field is sure to grow with time.
Within the political smorgasbord I see quite a few people in Brooklyn, anxiously awaiting the drawing of the new and final lines for reapportionment and redistricting. Take some of these names down: Reggie Bowman, Carol Ann Church, Terry Hinds, Delroy Wright, Tony Hurbert, Bashir Jones, David Miller (both junior and senior) and Wellington Sharpe. I have been told that all these people are looking at races next year, depending on where the lines go, plus the other dynamics. Let me add my name to the list. Despite the fact that I haven’t been getting a whole lot of traction for a run at state senator Kevin Parker, I refuse to rule it out. A convicted lawbreaker (many times) should be challenged no matter what. Don’t count me out yet/lol.
Stay tuned-in folks.