Give voters in both parties some credit: they feel like they are being treated badly by politicians, and they are pushing back hard. The results in November probably won't be good for Democrats, because Democrats are running things and people tend to vote their pocketbook, but this anti-establishment thing can have some very good effects in it for progressives, too. Yesterday's results were for the most part an example of that.
On the Democratic side of things, there was only one big disappointment for progressives yesterday, and that was Steve Lynch winning his primary against Mac D'Alesandro. Lynch is a pro-war, anti-health care reform, anti-choice Democrat who was running against a strong progressive SEIU organizer. Mac got in late, was dramatically underfunded, and the old machine is still strong in Democratic politics in Boston, so this one was always a long shot, but it would have been great to have won that race. The good news, though, is very, very good:
In the NH seat left open by Paul Hodes running for Senate, strong progressive Ann Kuster shocked the Democratic establishment by beating Joe Lieberman's Presidential campaign co-chair Katrina Swett. Swett is part of one of NH's most powerful Democratic establishment families, and Kuster's win shocked a lot of people. Backed by MoveOn, DFA, PCCC and Blue America, along with many other progressive bloggers and NH's progressive activist community, if she can win her race she will be another strong voice for progressive values in Congress.
Carolyn Maloney utterly crushed the candidate of, by, and for Wall Street, winning her race 81-19 in an anti-incumbent year. Carolyn was a true champion on the credit card regulation bill last year and the financial reform fight this time around, and the big dogs on Wall Street decided they didn't like having such an independent-minded reformer in their back yard, so they recruited Reshma Saujani, a hedge fund lawyer known and trusted by the Street, to take Carolyn on. I guess the message about Carolyn beating up on Wall St too much didn't play so well, even in Wall Street's backyard.
Eric Schneiderman narrowly beat the more establishment (and conservative) Democrat, and former Republican, Kathleen Rice in the NY Attorney General race. This is one of the most important elected positions in the country, as the AG has a great deal of power over who and how to prosecute on Wall Street. If he wins the general election, he will be an aggressive prosecutor of the financial malfeasance perpetrated on us by the biggest banks.
As for the rest of the good news for Democrats, let me turn to the Republican side. Again, give voters some credit: Republican primary electorates have come to be dominated by angry voters just as mad at their own establishment as they are at Democrats, and they are letting their inner dogs howl. As a result, we now have a Delaware Senate seat that has gone from being very uphill for the Democrats to very unlikely for the Republicans in the blink of an eye. And in NH, where the conventional wisdom had AG Kelly Ayotte sweeping to a primary victory and then easily fending off Hodes, the primary there has left a complicated, likely recount election that might not be settled for weeks to come- and whoever comes out of that mess will be damaged and financially depleted.
Given how bad the political climate is, starting out the year, the establishment pols on both sides had assumed DE, NH, NV, CO, KY, and AK would all probably be in the Republican column on election day in November. As of today, Democrats have even or better odds in all those states. Even in FL, where the odds are still against Kendrick Meek, a Republican civil war has given us a chance where we had none. The tide is still against us, but some Republican ships are crashing against the shore, and as a result, Democrats are still alive. As I said last week, this idea of a narrative about Republican extremism is building strength fast, and may be giving us a key to beating them. What we have to remember, though, is that Republican primary voters are not the only ones feeling anti-establishment. Democrats had better seize the populist moment, expose the opposition's insanity but also paint themselves as progressive outsiders determined to clean up corruption in Washington, and fight for the other 98% of us who aren't Wall Street bankers and insurance company execs.
A few months ago I wrote about the prospect of Spitzer running for office again in NYS. Well, it looks like that may happen:
Eliot Spitzer, who stepped down from the governor's office amid scandal, is now strongly considering a run for state comptroller, sources told The Post.
Spitzer has in recent weeks had discussions with some Democratic donors and insiders about the position currently held by Tom DiNapoli.
DiNapoli, a former assemblyman from Long Island, was appointed comptroller in 2007 after his predecessor, Alan Hevesi, pleaded guilty to using state workers as chauffeurs for his wife.
A Democrat who spoke with Spitzer said, "He's seriously thinking about it."
"He wants to run if he can," said another source. "He's still talking about it."
Gov. Paterson backed the idea.
"The type of way that former Gov. Spitzer managed would be most useful these days in the finance area rather than in law enforcement," Paterson said. "As you can see our biggest problems are - and the current comptroller has handled them very well, warning the Legislature over and over again what's going to happen if we don't act - so those who want to make change I think would be inclined to move in the finance area."
DiNapoli, who was a former Assemblyman appointed to the position by the legislature, is, aside from Paterson (who may not be the nominee), the weak link in the NYS-2010 ticket- even if Cuomo abandons the AG spot to run for Governor. His polling numbers and name ID are still low. And personally, I'm way over Spitzer's scandal, which is now a few years old (and not uncommon in politics, or personal life) and I'm all for him getting back into politics. He is a bar fight primary kind of Democrat, someone who seeks confrontation rather than conciliation first, and in the midst of all this Wall Street mess (his specialty), anyone the Chamber of Commerce declared a "War on Spitzerism" over is someone we could use. He also campaigned on the stump in support of marriage equality when running for Governor in 2006.
The interesting thing is if he took a Jerry Brown-esque approach to get back to the Governor's mansion some years from now. For now, though, he would be a great Comptroller, and I hope he runs.
To follow up on my post re former AG and Gov. Spitzer considering a comeback, the musing and maneuvering has begun. Immediately after The Hill and Danny Hakim at the NYTimes reported he was considering it, Spitzer came out with a full denial Tuesday night, then announced yesterday he was planning on teaching a course on law and public policy at City College of New York. Of course, this doesn't preclude doing a campaign as well, but it does try to bat down the rumors. Meanwhile, Survey USA did a snap poll, finding that 62% of New Yorkers would definitely or consider voting for Spitzer if he ran again for public office. It also found that 41% of voters think Spitzer is more qualified than Paterson to be governor, with 31% going for Paterson and 35% unsure. This follows up on a May poll finding 51% would rather have Spitzer as Governor over Paterson. While Spitzer's numbers do tank against Giuliani (if he runs) in the SUSA poll, and this is all speculation until Cuomo makes up his mind on running for Governor or not, I think there is some positive sign there that he could definitely run for office again and win, perhaps for Comptroller.
I should also mention that the New York State Comptroller is a guy named Thomas DiNapoli, who was most recently a member of the Assembly until chosen by his peers to replace the previous Comptroller over a scandal. An August 24th Siena poll found a whopping 74% had no opinion of DiNapoli, despite taking office in early 2007. To be honest, he's maintained a low profile, and I think can be beaten in a primary. I see that, or running for Attorney General if Cuomo opts to run for Governor, as the most likely possibilities.
The one other thing I did want to address was opinion over respect and forgiveness. After the news came out Tuesday evening on speculation that he might run again, I chatted with my mom and my sister about it. My mom was previously a die-hard Spitzer supporter. I interned in his Buffalo office when he was AG many years ago, and the same office intervened on our behalf when a car dealership tried to screw her out of their warranty obligation when the car was broken. And, as she would say, he's a good Jewish boy.
I was shocked by the flat refusal to support him (at least, in a Dem primary), and it was because of the prostitution issue. To me, I don't care about his personal life to any extent, unless he's using state resources or severely breaking the law, or it's rape. To her, and my sister, cheating on your partner is one thing, but cheating on your partner via prostitution is another. It's supporting an illicit industry, I was told, condoning a lifestyle that shouldn't be condoned, even if it's to support a child. It's taking advantage of women, even if it's consensual. It's interesting to note my mother and my sister are both die-hard feminists and Hillary backers (their reactions to the McCain campaign's targeting of Hillary supporters by picking Palin inspired me to write this piece last year analyzing the effects of it), so perhaps that has something to do with it. Each is entitled to their own opinion, but I am concerned this may by more prevalent than expected, at least among women or a certain demographic of women. It would certainly an important concern in any Spitzer campaign.
