Tag: Ad Watch

Statewide Primaries – Where Are the Votes?

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A political consultant recently asked me if it was true that 70% of the vote in a statewide Democratic Primary came from New York City and it’s suburbs. I responded that I have heard and believe that was true for years but have not recently checked.

So I decided to look into past primary turnout and here it was I found.

I looked at the Democratic enrollment and the turnout from the last two statewide primaries – 2000 & 2004. Neither of these years are great because the primaries were pretty ho-hum – in 2000 Hillary had a minor Primary opponent and in 2002 Andrew Cuomo withdrew right before the Primary. But I thought it was better to use them rather going back 8 years.

A Cuomo not the Homo Analogy?

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According to ABC News The Note, the New Republic has a profile of George Allen that might interest those who have been debating the Vote for Cuomo-Not the Homo issue.

Some highlights –

"Another classmate, who asks that I not use her name, also remembers Allen’s obsession with Dixie: ‘My impression is that he was a rebel. He plastered the school with Confederate flags."

"It was the night before a major basketball game with Morningside High.The mostly black inner-city school adjacent to Watts was coming to the almost entirely white Palos Verdes High to play. When students arrived at school on game day, they found graffiti spray-painted on the school library and other places. All five people who described the incident say the graffiti was racially tinged and meant to look like the handiwork of the black Morningside students. But it was actually put there by Allen and some of his friends. ‘It was something like die whitey,’ says Campbell."

Does Yassky Fail the Paper Bag Test? (2nd part in a series of at least three)

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As both readers of my blog know, I recently concluded that only two candidates for Congress in the 11th CD, David Yassky and Christopher Owens, met the minimum standards to be fit for service, but while I found Yassky more promising, I was reluctant to support him because he is a white candidate in a black majority district. I sort of feel ashamed about this, but my reluctance to support him is a pragmatic judgment, not a moral one.

Yassky's whiteness is going to hang from him like a target and every two years he is going to face another racial crusade. This presents several problems. The first is that it does little for community comity. The ugliness of this race has already been damaging to community relations in Brooklyn, and will become more so as the primary approaches. This animosity is fueled by other candidates (especially Chris Owens), free lance community opportunists, and parasitical institutions of the Fifth Estate like Ed Weintrob’s repulsive collection of Brooklyn Paper rags.

Lessons in politics: Revisiting a boxing coach with Cynthia McKinney in mind.

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Back in Trinidad when I was in high school, I fancied myself a boxer. So I would go to the gym on many an afternoon, trying to emulate the moves of the many great professionals that I had seen or read about. Sometimes I would showboat (hot-dog) , because I had quick hands and feet. To my chagrin, the coach would always admonish me to "keep it simple". I hated to hear him say that:  "just keep it simple, no need for all that fancy stuff".

Then I left high school  and  found that coach’s words could be applied to life, and usually  that the simpler you keep it the better. So after  doing my research on the latest Cynthia McKinney news-making incident, my old coach came to mind.

Out To Launch

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Nat Hentoff's notes to Bob Dylan's 2nd album, written when he was still worth reading, say, in part: "'Hard Rain" adds Dylan "is a desparate kind of song". It was written during the Cuban missile crisis … when those who allowed themselves to think …were chilled by the immenence of oblivion. "Every line in it is actually the start of a whole song. But when I wrote it, I thought I wouldn't have enough time…to write all those songs so I put all I could into this one."

Excited as all of us who are participating in the launch of Room 8 are to be part of this brave new endeavor, with visions of long belated recognition and sugarplumbs dancing in our heads, it is hard not to feel a little chilled by the immenence of what may lie ahead. So, on the eve of our launch, I write a desparate kind of column; every line is the start of a new column, but when I wrote it, I thought I'd never have the time to write all those columns, so I put it all into this one. Bob Dylan certainly did better, but I think it might be more fun to read than Hentoff's 675th remembrance of A.J. Muste (admittedly not much to aspire to).

Nick Perry Swears That He Is No Drop-Out

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Last week, the publisher of "Footnotes" newspaper (Maurice Gumbs), had a lengthy conversation with Assemblymember Nick Perry. From this encounter Gumbs has stated emphatically that Nick is running for the 11th Congressional seat. This surprising news item comes amid speculation that Perry was a late scratch from the crowded field. It further bolsters a recent report in the Caribbean Life newspaper, wherein Perry was quoted as saying " reports of my political demise ( regarding this race)are grossly exaggerated".

Today there is even more speculation that the late scratch will be Yvette Clarke instead, since Ms. Clarke is widely seen as hitting the same voting base ( Caribbean-Americans) as Perry. There is also speculation that Ms.Clarke is having fundraising issues. My feeling is that Yvette is determined to contest this race no matter what.

Defending KT

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I think it’s time to defend KT McFarland from the jackals of the press. While it’s true that her candidacy is a joke as she has no chance to win and the initial press she received was absurdly out of proportion to what she deserved, now both the Times & Post are going overboard the otherway. Last week’s Times story that said she lying about her resume was disproved by the quotes from the Deputy Secretary of Defense who she worked for. Saturday’s Post story about her "crazy" comments about Hllary spying on her was weakly sourced. No Post reporter was there. KT claimed she was joking about Hillary and that everyone knew it. The only people quoted by name as saying she wasn’t joking were 2 supporters of her GOP opponent John Spencer. That didn’t stop the Post from doing a followup story & an editorial on Sunday.

Brooklyn’s Congressional Races Warming Up

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Candidates from Brooklyn’s 10th Congressional race faced off in a public debate last weekend. NYC council member Charles Barron, Assemblyman Roger Green and Hip-hop entrepeneur Kevin Powell appeared before an audience of about sixty community residents at Grace memorial Baptist Church. One week earlier, candidates from the 11thCongressional District appeared before the same crowd, as Pastor Underwood continues to hold these forums, in hopes of awakening public interest in the upcoming races.

Jets Stadium

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Some recent events have highlighted how completely full of it, Mike & Doctoroff & the Jets were last year in pushing for the West Side stadium.

#1 – Cablevision has announced they want to build a new MSG near the new Post Office. Anybody want to bet on whether Mike will offer them millions in subsidies even though last year Cablevision was attacked by the Administration for not paying enough taxes.

#2 – Corzine wants to re-open negotiations on the new stadium for the the Giants & Jets and he thinks maybe it should have a dome, so it can be used more often. Both the Giants & Jets don’t want a dome and say it would be a deal breaker. The West Side stadium was supposed to have a dome and Mike & Dan & Jay Cross claimed that  the dome would make the stadium much more succesful.

#3 – Last year, the NFL pulled the NFL draft from MSG because Cablevision was an enemt of footbal fans. This year, the draft will be held at Radio City, another Cablevision property. What changed?