New York: Liberal, Conservative, Working and Independent

NEW YORK

• Former NY Liberal Party boss avoids prison (Associated Press, Wall Street Journal) It was Andrew Cuomo who ultimately sunk the Liberal Party. In 2002, Cuomo walked away from his race for governor for lack of support and money. However, he already had the Liberal Party line, and without campaigning Cuomo failed to get the 50,000 votes needed for the Liberal Party to secure its automatic line on state ballots. The progressive branch of the Democratic Party is now the Working Families Party.
• Data and Field Services Pushes Back Against Judge’s Order (By Jon Lentz, City Hall News) DFS also changed some of its board members to strengthen their independence. Ed Ott, former head of the New York City Central Labor Council, which gave the WFP a small donation in 2006, resigned from the board; so did Professor Francis Fox Piven of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. United Nations worker David Carter joined the board.
• In Final Marriage Push, Cuomo Faces Increased Pressure (BY PAUL SCHINDLER, Chelsea Now) On the Republican side, the role of the state’s Conservative Party, a small but sometimes influential minor party, is always a concern on gay rights questions. As Gay City News reported two weeks ago, 12 of the 32 Republicans elected last year, including six of the seven freshmen, relied on the Conservative and Independence Party lines to bring their vote totals over 50 percent. When the state’s gay rights law passed in 2002, however, 11 of the 12 Republicans who voted yes had been endorsed by the Conservative Party in their previous election. Of the eight who sought reelection in 2004, seven had the Conservative line again. Only Joe Bruno, the Republican leader, was punished for his yes vote by being denied the Conservatives’ endorsement. Still, he faced no primary challenger –– and no general election opponent, from either the Conservative or Democratic Party.
• Despite Scant Results, Bloomberg's Anti-Poverty Project Goes National (by Glenn Pasanen, Gotham Gazette) Despite minimal local impact, the center has just received a federal grant to replicate some of its New York programs in other neighborhoods in the five boroughs and in cities across the country. There is, it seems, a fundamental disconnect between the poverty commission's goal and what it has actually done to change anti-poverty policy and practice in the city.