Year of the Donkey: Mayoral Race 2013, Adolfo Carrion, the NYC Independence Party, and Political Snobbery and Dysfunction

Statement by the Independence Party of New York City on the results of the 2013 Mayoral race

Congratulations to Bill de Blasio and the Working Families Party on their win.

The political coalition taking over City Hall says it will take on the problem of economic inequality and poverty in our city.  We support that 100 percent!

We hope that the new Mayor's agenda will also include taking on political dysfunction.  With voter turnout at a 96-year low and a million independents locked out of primary voting, New York's electoral process clearly needs some drastic reform.  Fairness happens when a process is fair.  We urge Mayor-elect de Blasio to make political inclusion and participation key goals of his administration.


Below are notes by IPNYC Press Secretary Sarah Lyons from interviews after the election between Jackie Salit and the press:

Where is the NYC Independence Party headed post-election? 

The NYC Independence Party is part of a national movement concerned about the state of our political process and about political dysfunction -- a movement seeking nonpartisan reform.  We'll continue to pursue those reforms as we always have.

How we approach that with Bill de Blasio as Mayor is an open question.  After all, unlike Bloomberg, neither de Blasio nor the Working Families Party supports nonpartisan reform.  Quite the contrary.  But when you have a system that produces the lowest voter turnout in 96 years and a million independents locked out of the primaries, there is something very wrong with that system.

Adolfo Carrion received some 8,200 votes. How do you account for the low number of votes? 

First of all, this was the Year of the Donkey, meaning that after 20 years' exile from City Hall, the Democratic Party was going to win the mayoralty under virtually any circumstances.  Consequently, the mayoral election really took place in the Democratic primary, which the city's one million independents were banned from voting in.  To break through for an independent in the Year of the Donkey was nearly Mission Impossible.

That said, the Independence Party took a shot.  We chose not to run a fusion campaign.  We supported Adolfo Carrion, a political leader who is a man of color who had held public office, and served in the Obama administration, but who left the Democratic Party to become an independent.  He is a reformer who came up against huge resistance from all corners of the political marketplace.  The systemic change of nonpartisan elections that we sought during the Bloomberg years would have leveled the playing field in this election.  But, that hasn't been achieved yet.  So the election was tilted from the outset in favor of the major party candidates.

Independence Party members protest exclusion of Carrion from ABC debate

Carrion was excluded from the debates, marginalized by much of the media, and didn't have the financial wealth that Bloomberg had to overcome the differential of being an independent in a town in which the Democratic Party runs the show.  Many of his donors were afraid to support him as an independent, afraid of retribution from the Democrats. 





The fact that de Blasio refused to debate Carrion meant that the Democrats wanted to give the public no opportunity to consider another progressive option.  All of that meant the odds were severely stacked against Adolfo.  We knew that going in.  But we felt it was important to support a Latino independent looking to shake up the system and to carve out a new option.  Don't make the mistake of underestimating the 8,200 people who voted for Carrion this year.  Those who did made a very forward-looking statement about resisting the Democratic Party monopoly on progressive politics.  They are the nucleus or the core of a bottom-up independent movement.  All the independent votes we got for Mike Bloomberg were hugely important, they gave him a mandate for nonpartisan leadership, but they were votes for a winner. Everyone who voted for Carrion knew he couldn't win, but they voted for him to build something.

Won't the low vote total make people look askance at the Independence Party?

People have always looked askance at the IP, whether we got 150,000 votes, as we did for Bloomberg in 2009, or under 10,000 votes, so that isn't an issue for me.  I'm used to the political class looking askance at us.  Actually, I like it when they do.  

Does this vote total mean that the Independence Party's message is invalid? 

No. First of all, most New Yorkers didn't know Adolfo Carrion was running, they never got the message. But more than that, the main way that voters displayed their dislike with the system and their major party options this year was by staying home.  This year's voter turnout was the lowest it's been in 97 years.  That's shocking!  Everybody should look askance at that!  

IP is part of a very young movement that is in its infancy.  The Working Families Party, now being touted as having eclipsed the IP as the major minor party in New York City, is not an independent party.  It's an arm of the Democratic Party.  The Democratic Party has had a 200-year head start over the independents.  We are playing a long game, and this campaign was one moment in that long game.

We shouldn't forget that New York isn't even a bipartisan town, it's a one-party town.  The Republican Party did poorly because it has no message and no soul.  The Independence Party has both, but it's young, it's under-funded, it's considered illegitimate and it's operating in a city that is run by one party.

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A note from The Hankster:

In a one-party town, what do you do? You organize, and build build build. It was a pleasure working with all of you on the campaign. Onward!

NH

NYC Mayor Race Count Down: Day 5 - Jo Coskie Independence Party Rally for Adolfo Carrion - Teachers for Carrion!

Queens Executive Member of the NYC Independence Party, retired teacher, Jo Coskie speaks about her organizing Teachers for Carrion.

"Mr. Carrion is passionate about improving our schools, recognizes the need to empower teachers, and has a visionary plan. Last month at a press conference on the steps of City Hall, he unveiled a bold comprehensive policy to transform our schools. Adolfo would place our schools at the center of the community to maximize their use. In addition, recognizing that after school development is a key to unlocking our young people's potential, Adolfo has made it a central component of his plan. I could go on. He has the best educational platform of any candidate. It's no wonder Bill de Blasio doesn't want to debate him!"

[Video by Coco Cheung]

Independents turn out for Adolfo Carrion! ABC - shame on you!

A few snippets from the street before ABC's "debate" excluding NYC Mayoral Independence Party candidate Adolfo Carrion.

The government is shut down, 40% of Americans are independent, and the "fourth estate" has become inert -- and anti-democratic. Well, how about that!?

 

 

 

 Stay tuned! More to come!

Fulani: I don't support Bill de Blasio's mayoral campaign, but not because he supported the Sandinistas.

Statement by Dr. Lenora Fulani on

Bill de Blasio's History as a Progressive

September 24, 2013

"The political mudslinging against Bill de Blasio by the New York Times and some mayoral candidates is a sad commentary on the quality of political dialogue in New York.  Mr. de Blasio's history as a progressive activist who spoke out against reactionary policies of the U.S. government in Latin America and its support of brutal and greedy dictatorships is something he can be proud of." 

"I don't support Bill de Blasio's mayoral campaign, but not because he supported the Sandinistas. I have not endorsed him because I am an independent and he supports the Democratic Party, which has its own dictatorial chokehold on the communities of color. There is much to say about the problem of poverty and underdevelopment in this city and we need to have a serious debate about how to address it and about why the Democratic Party has failed to impact. But attacks on progressives for being progressives is simply unacceptable in my book."

Right on, Dr. Fulani! The effort for human development continues! - NH

Also see CapitalNY, IVN, and NY Times... and this video from the African American Day Parade last Sunday...

Fulani: Mayoral Candidate Bill de Blasio Can Be Proud of Progressive Activist History

From today's Capital New York:

Lenora Fulani, one of the city's best known Independence Party figures, released a statement today criticizing the New York Times, which reported on de Blasio's work in Nicaragua, and "some mayoral candidates" for "political mudslinging" against de Blasio over his Sandinista advocacy.

"Mr. de Blasio's history as a progressive activist who spoke out against reactionary policies of the U.S. government in Latin America and its support of brutal and greedy dictatorships is something he can be proud of," Fulani said.

Lenora Fulani says de Blasio's Sandinista work is 'something he can be proud of'

By Azi Paybarah

11:39 am Sep. 24, 2013

Bill de Blasio's opponents in the mayor's race are trying to broaden the narrative about his work in Nicaragua, in support of the Sandinista rebels in the 1980s.
After attacking de Blasio yesterday, Republican candidate Joe Lhota issued another statement this morning, saying de Blasio "needs to explain himself [to] the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who escaped Marxist tyranny in Asia, Central America, and from behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe."
Lhota sought to connect de Blasio's work in Central America to his current mayoral agenda, saying de Blasio's "class warfare strategy" is "directly out of the Marxist playbook. Now we know why."

Independence Party mayoral candidate Adolfo Carrion criticized de Blasio too, saying in a statement yesterday that de Blasio was "busy propping up a brutal dictatorship in Central America" in the 1980s, and that "in the early 90’s he even chose to honeymoon in Cuba in what would appear to be a violation of Federal Law. It may not seem as important today, but it sends a clear message about who he is and his worldview."

But de Blasio has one defender, from a surprising corner.

Lenora Fulani, one of the city's best known Independence Party figures, released a statement today criticizing the New York Times, which reported on de Blasio's work in Nicaragua, and "some mayoral candidates" for "political mudslinging" against de Blasio over his Sandinista advocacy.

"Mr. de Blasio's history as a progressive activist who spoke out against reactionary policies of the U.S. government in Latin America and its support of brutal and greedy dictatorships is something he can be proud of," Fulani said.

Fulani has her own controversial past in her own right, having briefly embraced Pat Buchanan as a presidential campaign, and sought elected office herself. She apologized in 2007 for anti-Semitic comments she made back in 1989.

Fulani: The Real Progressive in the NYC Mayoral Race is Adolfo Carrion

In case you missed the Black Star News today, read here:

The Democratic Party's de Blasio will ask you to celebrate the return of progressivism to City Hall.  Don't be fooled.  Progressivism is something born in the streets, not in the centers of power.

There is a new progressivism being built in New York today.  It is visionary, it is nonpartisan, it is inclusionary, it is multi-racial, it is Independent.  Its mayoral candidate is Adolfo Carrion.

Give him your vote on November 5th.

Fulani: If New Yorkers Want True Progressive, Vote Adolfo Carrion 

Now that the mayoral race has taken shape, it's time to take a harder look at the candidates, the choices, and the politics built into this race.

I am a supporter of Adolfo Carrion, the Independence Party's mayoral candidate.  He is neither a Democrat nor a Republican, he's something else altogether and that is a good thing.  Unless we can create a new way of doing things politically, we will not be able to touch the problems that New Yorkers face, let alone solve them.

The Democratic Party and its nominee, Bill de Blasio, have put themselves forward as that new and "beautiful" thing. At the unity rally on Tuesday where Bill Thompson folded his campaign even though the votes had not been fully counted, de Blasio said, "There is nothing more beautiful than Democratic unity."

I have to admit, I was taken aback by this pronouncement.  There are so many things on this earth more beautiful than that.  When poor Black kids who have been struggling to achieve in the classroom and in life manage to get the support they need to learn to read, that is a beautiful thing.  When a life is saved by a first responder, that is a beautiful thing. When a child is born, or people fall in love, these are beautiful things.  When violence is averted because people in the neighborhood had the skills needed to step back from the edge, that is a beautiful thing.  (By the way, I include President Obama's recent moves in Syria as an example.)

You get my point here.  I have met Bill de Blasio.  We've seen each other in the streets for years.  He has visited my youth programs, the All Stars Project, and we've discussed the importance of afterschool and youth development.  He cares about these things and I respect that.  But my problem with Bill de Blasio's mayoral campaign is that it is based on the idea that what we should care about most of all is the Democratic Party.  This is something that every New Yorker, but particularly the communities of color, need to be very concerned about.

Putting your political party above all else is no way to run a city.  It leads to bad decisions.  It invariably leads to the poor being left behind.  The Democrats always take care of their organized constituencies at the expense of the poor and unrepresented.

I was struck by several other things at the unity press conference.  Bill Thompson expressed his outrage at the failure of the Board of Elections to have counted all the votes, one week after the election.  He said, "This electoral process has to be improved, there has to be fundamental reform."  Of course, he's right, there does have to be fundamental election reform.  I've fought for that for decades, prompting bitter opposition from Democrats, including Bill de Blasio and Bill Thompson.

When you think about it, the results of the Democratic primary were deeply influenced by flaws, faults, even fixes by election bureaucrats.  When the CFB withheld matching funds from John Liu, they substituted themselves for the voters and destroyed Liu's campaign.  When the Board of Elections couldn't manage to count the votes on Primary Day, the door was left open to party bigwigs muscling Thompson out of the race, which they promptly did.  In neither case did the voters get to decide.

Rev. Al Sharpton played a part in the Democratic Muscle Machine, tamping down any potential anger or frustration in the Black community at Thompson being sidelined.  He made an appeal to moving beyond "identity politics" by pointing out that half of Black voters had cast ballots for de Blasio rather than Thompson.  Of course, I completely support Sharpton's call to move beyond identity politics.  I've been telling the Black community that for years.  However, let's not forget that when I organized 47 percent of Black voters to abandon the Democratic Party in 2005 and vote for the independent Mike Bloomberg, no Democrat gave any grand speech about moving beyond identity politics; no Democrat called me up and said, "Dr. Fulani, thank you for moving us to a new place!"

It was Governor Cuomo, though, who provided the grand finale to the Democratic unity rally.  Having spent close to two terms repressing any semblance of Black and Latino empowerment in the state legislature, Cuomo arrived on the scene to tell New Yorkers that the suffering is over because we can now put a progressive in City Hall.  What is Cuomo's progressive agenda?  Improving public education, passing sensible gun laws, having an open immigration policy, and making the city the capital of commerce and diversity.

For the record, that was Mike Bloomberg's agenda.  However, because the Democrats are poised to retake City Hall, the past must be rewritten to fit their script.   The main thing that distinguishes Mike Bloomberg's agenda from Cuomo's "progressive agenda" is that Bloomberg fought alongside me (not always comfortably!) for the electoral reform that Bill Thompson, in his farewell address, finally said we desperately need.  Bloomberg wasn't a perfect mayor.  But he sure as hell was an independent one.

At the risk of being branded a radical (actually there is no risk because it's already happened and it's true) let me remind us of the cautionary words of Malcolm X.  He said to us, "You put the Democrats first and the Democrats put you last."  In this election, more than any other in my lifetime, we need to take those words to heart.

Adolfo Carrion, a former public school teacher, from humble beginnings, rose through the ranks of the Democratic Party to serve on the City Council, as Bronx Borough President and in the Obama White House.  For his entire career, poverty, the lack of opportunity and the need to create economic and social development that benefits everyone have been his life's mission.

He was considered a model Democrat, a pro-growth, anti-poverty activist, a man of color, the son of a man of the cloth.  Everyone believed he would go far.  Last year the Democrats offered him the comptroller position in this year's election, having heard rumblings he might want to run for mayor.  It wasn't his turn, they said.  (Sound familiar?)  He turned it down.

Adolfo Carrion didn't want to wait.  He believed, based on his experience, that far from being the embodiment of progressivism, the Democratic Party had become its greatest obstacle.  And so, he became an independent.  He came to the Independence Party, to me, to ask for our support.  He said to us that we must have a new progressive coalition in New York City and I want to help lead it.  We said yes.

For the next seven weeks, you will hear a lot from the Republican Joe Lhota.  Many say that Lhota is a capable person.  But the New York City Republican Party is dead as a doornail.  Its vision is non-existent.  It barely exists.  It is no threat.

The Democratic Party's de Blasio will ask you to celebrate the return of progressivism to City Hall.  Don't be fooled.  Progressivism is something born in the streets, not in the centers of power.

There is a new progressivism being built in New York today.  It is visionary, it is nonpartisan, it is inclusionary, it is multi-racial, it is Independent.  Its mayoral candidate is Adolfo Carrion.

Give him your vote on November 5th.