Today is primary day and 3.5 million Flori

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Kresky: Race Relations, Nonpartisan Elections, and Electoral Politics in New York City

Hankster continuing inside coverage of the fight for nonpartisan elections in New York City.

Part 2 of Harry Kresky at the Brooklyn Social Therapy Group Community Education Series community conversations hosted by Dr. Rafael Mendez. "What's Happening in Electoral Reform in a Time of Realignment?" August 6, 2010. Segment discusses nonpartisan elections relative to minority representation, the Democratic Party and partisan politics. "Why not do something big?" Kresky asks. "Why wait your turn?" That won't help do something about poverty."


Stay tuned -- it's a real New York City throwdown!

1 comment:

Brian said...

Not really familiar with Harry Kresky as I don't really follow local New York politics much at all... or any local politics for that matter. I don't even get into St. Louis politics much. Every now and then I may delve into something... but not often (maybe a couple of times a year on my blog). Perhaps I should follow it more. According to "Tip" O'Neill, all politics is local. But I don't completely buy into that...never really have. Although there was truth in his statement for his era. O'Neill made that statement before the age of the the global interconnectedness of the internet came along, before modern globalization took off in the 1990's, before the fall of the USSR which turned international politics into a multi-polar environment, and before 9/11. Politics, for me, is very much national and international. If you look at our problems right now...(national debt, overspending, war, corrupt politics, unsustainable foreign policy, immigration, the collapse of the economy, energy, trouble adjusting to globalization, etc) most of them stem from the consequences of national and international events. Local politics are so distorted and complicated...and corruption often runs so deep, that I just can't take it all in and am put off by most of it. And (surprisingly) local urban politics tend to be less diverse than the national scene. Not so for New York... but in most areas. That is because Dems tend to control politics in most big cities....so you are most often choosing between Democrats (in some cases corrupt Democrats). Rural areas deal with the same thing, but the reverse...there it's Republicans. Local politics = a constant circus to me...worse than the national scene.

But I like what he is trying to do regarding election reform/more access for independent candidates.
(Liked what he said in the second video).

New York is an excellent test bed... because it is the most diverse city in the nation. It is the perfect example for the need for a more diverse pool of political parties/candidates and more ballot access... more participation in debates, etc. But i'm not so sure that it could catch on nationally. New York tends to be a political island unto itself. What happens in New York (politically) tends to stay there. Example... a Republican like Bloomberg... who has to be moderate enough to appeal to so many different constituencies - you probably couldn't find a Republican like that in any other part of the Country. He basically had to morph into an independent because circumstances demanded it. There are some signs that this kind of politics is catching on.... Crist in Florida....and Schwarzenegger in California (both being moderates and forced into a more independent style of politics). But I haven't seen many politicians doing this voluntarily because it is the smart & reasonable thing to do. In most cases, the moderation and the formal switch to independent candidacies ....or even the occasional non-formal switch towards independence...(as is the case for Schwarzenegger) is forced. They do it as a last resort to save their political skin. I don't see enough politicians making this switch on their own. They do it because they have to.

Until there is a bigger shift... and a unified national movement to create rivals to the 2-party monopoly...then I don't know how far this can really go. But it is good to see it happening on any level.

Maybe you could enlighten me more about what is going on in New York regarding independent efforts... Kresky, Fulani, etc. I have seen several of your videos/posts, but haven't had time to see every single one of them. Wish I could give you a more informed commentary... but local politics gives me an upset stomach..and migraine. lol

You'll have to school me on this stuff.