dagblog - Comments for "Go Nixon, Go!"

"Is Cynthia Nixon Ready for

AmericanDreamer — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 15:49:57 +0000

"Is Cynthia Nixon Ready for the Spotlight?", Joan Walsh, The Nation magazine https://www.thenation.com/article/cynthia-nixon-ready-spotlight/

The symbolism could not have been more stark: On the opening morning of the New York  State Democratic Party Convention at Hofstra University in May, the progressive caucus had been relegated to a curtained-off area that fit fewer than half the folks who showed up. There were no microphones, and speakers had to yell to be heard. Nearby, hired acts practiced their routines; for a while, a gospel choir soared. Across the way, the party’s powerful executive committee began its meeting in a much roomier space. They had multiple microphones, and their voices boomed over those addressing the progressive faithful. Against this backdrop, upstart gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon strained to make the case that she deserved to have her name put on the primary ballot to challenge two-term incumbent Andrew Cuomo. The governor, she said, has “slashed taxes on the rich, slashed services for everything else, and has run the New York subway into the ground.” Nixon promised to fight for single-payer health care and “real criminal-justice reform,” end the school-to-prison pipeline, legalize marijuana, and “make sure we are enacting all possible protections [for] immigrants.”

She finished to polite but less than rousing applause. Quickly, a delegate pressed her. “I never hear details behind the wish list,” he complained. Talking a bit louder, Nixon repeated some of what she’d said, adding a few more issues like fully funding New York’s public schools and strengthening tenant protections. “We have the wealth, if we would only use it,” she argued. But her answers lacked the policy details that this insider crowd craved. At any rate, her inquisitor appeared unimpressed.

Later that day, Nixon would win less than 5 percent of the delegate vote, far below the 25 percent threshold needed to get on the ballot. But the popular actor counted her visit to “the lion’s den” of the party establishment as a success nonetheless, telling reporters the next day that she always expected she’d have to collect the 15,000 signatures necessary to put her name on the ballot. She’ll far exceed that, promises Joe Dinkin, communications director of the Working Families Party, which has endorsed Nixon: “There’s no doubt she has the volunteer energy, because people know her as a bold and fearless activist, not an actress. She’s been in the trenches [on education, labor, LGBTQ, and civil-rights issues] for decades.”

In 2002, another upstart Democratic gubernatorial candidate likewise used a petition to get on the ballot. The young Andrew Cuomo eventually dropped his campaign against State Comptroller Carl McCall days before the primary, blaming his low standing in the polls on race. “The negative here,” he explained to The New York Times’ Bob Herbert, “is that I was running against the first African-American. It was his turn…. How could I go against Carl McCall? How could you do that? Don’t you like black people?”

Ah, there’s that trademark Cuomo charm! While the governor is widely feared by Democratic insiders, he is warmly backed by few. He has undoubtedly notched some progressive accomplishments, from marriage equality to paid family leave. But his brash contempt for democratic norms, alongside a notable failure to lead on a range of progressive issues, from cleaning up Albany corruption to education funding and tax equity, has left him vulnerable to challenges from the left—first by law professor and activist Zephyr Teachout in 2014, and now by Nixon. “I don’t think people are excited about voting for Andrew Cuomo. I just don’t,” Nixon tells me later in the bright, homey kitchen of her Noho apartment. “We want to get people excited again about the Democratic Party.”

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P.S. Here's how new lefty

artappraiser — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 14:25:40 +0000

In reply to It's just that our

P.S. Here's how new lefty governor of next door neighbor New Jersey is doing so far, also a state government with lots of corruption. And he has boots on the ground experience trying to work the political machine there, he knows a lot of the players.

Edit to add: In New York just transportation, for example, requires knowing how to manipulate a huge entrenched bureaucracy like the Metropolitan Transit Authority And that's not all of it, there's the huge bureaucracy of the interstate Port Authority of New York and New Jersey handling not just the ports but the bridges, tunnels, airports, some commuter railways...through which Chris Christie played some infamous political tricks. You don't just tell entities like this what to do by governor fiat, they won't do it, they'll find a way around you if they don't like it, you've got to have "ties", have some knowledge of who's in charge, have some knowledge of whose in charge in prosecutors' offices, who are your friendlies in the judiciary, etc....

It's just that our

artappraiser — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 13:58:28 +0000

In reply to Yeah, basically that is what

It's just that our legislature in Albany and our state government is a notoriously crooked, complex, and entrenched cesspool of political patronage. It's like many more people like her have to become representatives before a governor that didn't already know his/her way around that mess could accomplish anything except being played. As a citizen, I fear things could get a lot worse with a newbie governor without experience and without patronage backing.

Yeah, basically that is what

tmccarthy0 — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 13:26:01 +0000

In reply to Tmac, how big of a concern to

Yeah, basically that is what I think. She is intellectually curious and smart. I am also not worried if Cuomo wins. I definitely want to see her debate, I’d like to see her policies laid out, etc. If if if she were to win I do believe good solid politicos will want to work for her and that should ease some of her inexperience in terms of managing large entities. But I think actors are very good at reading people and learning, which is a big part of politics.

Tmac, how big of a concern to

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:41:30 +0000

In reply to I know i am late to this, but

Tmac, how big of a concern to you is Nixon's lack of any experience in elected office, running for governor of a large state right out of the chute? Is it something you think can be largely overcome with especially strong staffing?

I know i am late to this, but

tmccarthy0 — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 11:55:18 +0000

In reply to Go Nixon, Go!

I know i am late to this, but I’ve been watching Ms. Nixon, she is very smart and I think she could win if she has a good campaign. The problem for Mr. Cuomo is, he has some real issues with borderline corruption especially when it comes to this subway issue and the weird corruption of the Port Authority. Nixon seemingly knows the issues and has enough money to run a competent campaign.

Elected officials often side with the folks who brung them, so it isn’t shocking that others have come out in support of Cuomo, but if Nixon wins the primary, elected Dem’s will support her, because that is how this game is played, so there is no need to be angry with the other politicians, just make a decision and vote in the primary and see how this plays out. It should be fun to watch!