(This article has now been corrected twice to reflect the ever changing reality)

Those who’ve noticed my recent hiatus probably need to get a life. But, if you care, it’s at least partially attributable to recent efforts, on at least three different sites in the last month, to attribute an identity to my posts. These are probably all the effort of one particular blogger (the person most likely responsible for jefffeldmanmustgo and perhaps other sites as well) whose anonymity I will respect by referring to him only as “fat ugly smelly toothless bastard”.

Rock Hackshaw has asked me a few times on this blog my opinion about election turnout in New York and the US. There are as many theories about this as there are theorists but one theory that I believe has a lot going for it regards ethnic politics.

Put simply, ethnic or racially polarized election contests increase turnouts!

There has been no Presidential election since then that has had a higher percentage turnout than the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon election. The reason put forward by many is that this first election where a Catholic had a serious chance of being elected President increased the turnout of both Catholics and anti-Catholics.

Rock Hermon Hackshaw

So another poll came out today from the Quinnipiac people telling us what we already know: that Elliot Spitzer is leading in the gubernatorial race. In the immortal words of one former Nets basketball-player, “whoop-dee-damn-doo”. To me this is where New York’s politics appear trite. Of course, it’s an artifact of the “silly season”.

Rock Hermon Hackshaw

 
Sometime in early 2001, I requested a meeting with Clarence Norman in his capacity as County Leader of the Democrats in Brooklyn. I wanted to discuss a few issues with him, and he willingly obliged me. Let me say first off, that despite the many run-ins I have had with Clarence, he has always treated me with dignity and respect. Whenever he met me, he was very cordial, very civil. Surprisingly so, since I managed his opponent in 1996 (Joan Gill), and I actively supported many other candidates against him over the years (Gumbs, Davis, Roper and Roberts/two). Also, I happened to have challenged many of the electeds (much to his chagrin), by working as advisor/consultant/technician and in other capacities, with insurgents challenging the status-quo, since 1984. Even before he became county-leader.

"State and local governments should not reap a revenue windfall from high gas prices," said Joseph L. Bruno the Senate majority leader, a Republican.

Am I only person to wonder why not? State and local governments reap a revenue windfall when housing prices go up, when Wall Street booms and when people shop more. Why shouldn’t they get more $ from people keep driving?

Last week, I posted a comment that lazy reporting in the NY Times resulted in them echoing GOP Senate candidate John Spencer’s line that he never denied his affair with a secretary who he promoted to Chief of Staff.

Today (Thursday), the Times comes back to the story and this time comes close to the truth –  

After refusing to discuss the relationship for years, Mr. Spencer acknowledged it publicly in 2002. 

A letter to the editor in Wednesday’s New York Times reminded me why I hate Ralph Nader and his Green Party supporters.

 The letter from Theresa Amato, Nader’s Campaign Manager responding to Thomas Friedman’s assertion that Nader cost Al Gore the election in 2000, reads in part:

 “The writer blames Ralph Nader for George W. Bush, despite the millions of Democrats who voted for Mr. Bush in 2000; Al Gore’s loss of his home state; and the Florida legal battles”

 My problem with Nader and the Greens is that they won’t take responsibility for their actions.

There are few people who would deny that Elliot Spitzer has done a decent job as Attorney General of New York State. I would think only a handful maybe, and probably Republicans mostly. Some of his detractors say he is a bit aggressive and “macho”, others say he is a bully. Others yet claim that he is an “alpha–male” all the way, possessing too much testosterone. Point being, there is no real attack on his competency and/or capability. In most regards, this is good for Spitzer.

The only area where Spitzer seems vulnerable is the one where his relationship with Albany legislators can be gauged. The least you can say is that he has been quite accommodating. Can anyone find the public attacks on Albany (from Spitzer) in the past decade? And for sure, most elected officials are lining up in droves to endorse him. Not surprisingly, his endorsement list will be an Albany “who is who” list.

Last Thursday night, at the endorsement meeting of Brooklyn’s  Independent Neighborhood Democratic Political Club ( IND), Charles Barron almost did the unthinkable: he came within a handful of votes from winning the club’s endorsement for the 10th Congressional race. Observers ( both black and white) claimed that he blew away the group with his presentation. He did so well that it took 3 ballots for the club to end up with a " no endorsement". Don’t forget that the chairperson of this club is a Towne’s staffer.

Most people there were surprised that Barron could connect so well with a white audience, and this was dismaying to many of his detractors. If this is an indication of how tough this campaign could get for the incumbent, then it’s imperative that all of you in "out-here-land", keep your seat belts on.

“We must demand that the Speaker of the New York State Assembly and the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate be replaced, because they have failed to fight for the reforms that we seek. The current leadership in Albany has had ample opportunity to heed the message of reform and address the problems New Yorkers face, but they have spent far more energy making backroom deals to protect their own majorities. ..New York belongs to the nearly twenty million people who call our State home, not to three men in a room in Albany. With Governor Pataki on his way out, it is time to show Majority Leader Bruno and Speaker Silver the door, as well.” —- Tom Suozzi, speaking at a conference on government reform.