Design the NYC I Voted Sticker!

Two things I love more than almost anything else in this world: New York City and Voting. If I had one iota of artistic ability I would be all over this contest like cream cheese on a bagel. Since I don't I am sharing it with you! Please enter and share widely!

Think NYC Is A Liberal Paradise? Think Again.

Devotees will remember my devotion for (and erstwhile employment by) Working Families Party, a fairly powerful union-backed progressive third party in New York State. From their website:

Working Families is New York’s progressive political party. The Working Families Party is focused on tackling the political, economic, and educational inequality that deprive working and middle class families of opportunity. Our vision is to build a New York that is fair for all of us, not just the wealthy and well-connected.

Part of the genius of WFP, and why it has been able to be effective, is a mechanism known as fusion voting. As I explained in a 2011 post:

Here's how it works: WFP, or another third party, endorses a candidate already in the race. For WFP it is usually, but not always, a Democrat. Voters can vote for the candidate on either the Democratic or the Working Families Party line, and the votes for the candidate from both lines are tallied together. For example, if candidate X receives 30% of the total votes cast on the Democratic Party line and 20% of the total votes on the WFP line, while candidate Y receives 45% of the total votes on the Republican line, candidate X still wins!

This allows voters to exert pressure on politicians to vote in line with the politics of a progressive workers party without risk of "spoiling" the vote. Fusion voting is only legal in a handful of states, most notably New York and Connecticut. New York WFP has had an impressive track record of playing in Democratic primaries.

Although New York City votes overwhelmingly Democratic, it is home to several iterations of the Democratic party (and of course some Republicans). I don't know if you've ever heard this, but quite a few rich people live in New York- rich people who have socially progressive views, but also a vested interest in opposing things like paid sick leave and raising the minimum wage.

It can come as no surprise then that some Scott-Walker-in-sheep's-clothings have been on a cycles-long crusade against WFP, under the guise of enforcing clean elections. There are literally dozens of examples; here is one. But it did come as a surprise to me this morning to find out that the latest phase of this witch hunt involves the impending arrest of my friend and mentor in NYC politics. (I am not including her name to minimize her current Googleability but you can click the link to read.) This person hired me to manage my first campaign, for a WFP-backed candidate to whom she is now Chief of Staff.

These accusations have been around since 2009 and WFP's political opponents have desperately and unsuccessfully been trying to get anything to stick. As the Daily News reported in December,

"Some close to the Working Families Party [including me] accuse Adler [the special prosecutor in the case] of having a longstanding political vendetta against the labor-backed political organization — dating back to his membership on the Kings County judicial screening committee for former Brooklyn Democratic Leader Vito Lopez, a frequent WFP advisary [sic].

Adler critics also note he lost his race for a civil court judgeship partially as a result of a reform ticket pushed by the Working Families Party.

They also point to a never before released 2012 letter from lawyer David Brown to a party official — obtained by the Daily News — which indicates Adler made up his mind two years ago that crimes had been committed and was threatening to expand his probe unless the party agreed to a settlement in the Rose case."

So you know, no conflict of interest there.

Yesterday's New York Times article explains that

for all parties, this is a matter that could have been an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” full of weirdness: what appears to be a first-of-its-kind case brought over errors that happen in many, many campaigns across the city. Normally, these errors are caught by the Campaign Finance Board, which audits political spending. The paperwork is then refiled with the proper information. Everyone lives happily ever after, with no handcuffs or police cars involved.

The article mentions that eight of nine campaigns that were subject to spurious campaign finance accusations were cleared with evidence of either no reporting errors or trivial ones. One of those eight was the campaign I managed. So for several reasons, these accusations hit close to home.

In a world where money is increasingly influential in our elections, the idea that anti-union politicians are persecuting and intimidating pro-union activists under the guise of campaign finance violations is an absolute farce. This is no better than the "beat 'em or cheat 'em" politics that Republicans use to disenfranchise their opponents through voter registration restrictions and voter ID laws. This is some horseshit. Roger Bennett Adler and the corrupt politicians he represents should be ashamed of themselves.

Doing Volunteer Appreciation Right

This is from some of my dear friends at the Bill Thompson campaign who threw a post-election party for their volunteers with a sign-in sheet cake! I LOVE the creativity and I love even more that they took the time to celebrate their hard work even though they had a disappointing result. Lots of love to them and congratulations on a hard-fought race!

5 Ridiculous Things That Happened During New York's Primary This Week

As you know, I could not blog about specific campaigns during the New York City primaries because I was working on one and am I'm not an idiot. That didn't stop me from really, really wanting to however. And there was MUCH to blog about. For example, an intern talking to the press (WHAT?) and the Weiner campaign firing back and calling her a "slutbag" (BIGGER WHAT?). Maybe it's because I couldn't write, but there were SO MANY things I wanted to write about. Here are 5 things that happened in the last week alone that I wanted to share with you:

1) Corey Johnson Ad on Grindr

Corey Johnson is an LGBT Activist who beat Yetta Kurland for the New York City Council seat vacated by Christine Quinn. Grindr is a gay, ahem "dating" app, popular in the Chelsea district in which Johnson was running. Now THAT's thinking outside the box. (Zing!)


2) Vito Lopez INSANE sexual harassment flyer

Vito Lopez, a disgraced former Assemblyman better known as the Gargamel of Brooklyn politics lost his bid for a city council seat on Tuesday. Not before someone circulated this disgusting victim-blaming flyer about Lopez's sexual harassment scandals. You know someone is trustworthy when the New York Times quote on their literature is, "Denies all charges." Not bragging, but the flyer went viral when my former boss and FOCS, City Councilman Brad Lander, tweeted it.


3) Lawrence O'Donnell's Anthony Weiner Interview

These final three stories involved Anthony Weiner for whom my schadenfreude steadily dissipated as his public breakdown went from gratifying to cringeworthy. However, I think this story actually makes Weiner look good. Like high schoolers hanging out with ugly people to appear more attractive, O'Donnell's hyper-aggressive line of questioning makes Weiner seem sane. He starts out with "What's wrong with you?" and it goes on from there.

4)Anthony Weiner not on the voter rolls

Even as Boards of Election go, the NYC BOE really seems to be in a class of its own when it comes to incompetence. Say what you will about the former candidate, he is a registered voter. VERY alarming considering that few voters who might find themselves in similar predicament have the same resources or motivation to vote as Weiner, who did ultimately get to cast a ballot. Our Finance Director had to leave her polling place because of massive machine malfunctions and return to vote later in the day. Ask not for whom the bell of disenfrachisement tolls, New York City, it tolls for thee.

5) Weinermobile

This is actually a picture I took a couple of weeks ago, but come on guys, brilliance! Zoom in to see the hot dog truck with pictures of cell phones and Weiner's face.


Time to go get glamorous and beautiful for our GOTV (Get Out the Vodka) party! I missed you guys!

Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy

Truth Is Stranger (Danger) Than Fiction

In case you haven't heard by now, disgraced Congressman and Mayoral candidate. Anthony Weiner confirmed yesterday that he participated more salacious sexting this time under the name of Carlos Danger. Really, the only surprising part here is "Carlos Danger" prompting me to ask the following questions.


1) Is it possible than Anthony Weiner is in fact just a really old looking 15 year old boy?
2) Carlos? He could so not pass for Latino.
3) What were his other options for pseudonyms?
4) At what point do you think he was like "okay, okay, okay I have a foolproof plan not to get caught and it is...?"
5) Do you think he is just being bought off by the stand up comedy lobby?
6) Why is anyone surprised that he's not dropping out? Once you have hubris to run after tweeting your lower case weiner, you pretty much just have the audacity to let it ride.
7) Can you imagine Huma Abadeen's face when he told her this? "Honey, remember that little scandal I got you embroiled in? Well there's just one more thing..."
8) How fast do you think somebody snatched up the Twitter name @carlosdanger?
9) How come all the articles keep calling the messages "sexually tinged"? Is that like a thing people say that I am unaware of?
10) WHO IS VOTING FOR THIS PERSON?

Weiner Danger!

And for your enjoyment, the Carlos Danger name generator.