Post-Primary: Politics STILL Before People

Primary Day saw the biggest turnover of City Council members in many years - with more possibly still to come.

Some ousted Members took their losses gracefully, while others are being dragged kickin' and screamin' out of office. The people spoke loud and clear. Some incumbents lost, while others were given quite a scare - even the Speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn wasn't immune from the brave new world of voters angry about what their government hath wrought as of late. Speaker Quinn still isn't out of the woods - she has a leadership battle looming in the future.

Beyond the city's primary elections, voters are standing up to be heard. No matter which side you fall on the national health care debate, you cannot deny that the people of this country are letting their voice - no matter how shrill it may be - be heard.

The rules of "the game" are changing. The people are speaking loud and clear. The message is that WE set the agenda. WE set the priorities.

Now that Primary Day is over, the election scene shifts to our area. I know I've evaluated our campaign's game plan to listen to what the people's priorities are - I"m sure the Councilman has as well... or maybe not.

If his actions are any indication, it seems like Lew's priorities are different than the people's - again.

Some people just never learn.

Lew's been too busy stumping for other buddies of his, like Bill Thompson (the same Bill Thompson who stole my slogan!) and Mark Green - while at the same time ripping his favorite target, Mayor Bloomberg - or he's counting votes for Darlene Mealy (whose claim to fame in City Council is giving discretionary funds to a "nut job") or any number of other tasks that have nothing to do with our district directly.

Once again - politics before people.

(Here's one of my famous tangents - we desperately need REAL reform of discretionary funding that rewards organizations based on merit and need. Lew Fidler thinks that a system based on such fairness cannot exist because Manhattan will dominate the funding - I say that's a scare tactic to keep the broken system that he "works" so well in place. Talk about seriously underestimating the power of reform!)

And then we'll hear an occasional story about legislation, and how Lew is sitting on the fence.

Lew's priorities have been to further HIS agenda - the Democratic Party's agenda. Like I said earlier, some folks never learn.

On November 3rd, give Lew another Civics lesson - one he won't forget.

Media Blitz!

Something has been happening lately that I haven't seen before in this area of Brooklyn: there is actual coverage of a real political race. And I'm in the middle of it!

Don't just take my word for it - look at the local papers. So few of us do on a regular basis, but check it out. From whatever incarnation of Courier Life Publications (CNG) to the Canarsie Courier, we can all read about a local race where we have a Republican and a Democrat actively campaigning, bringing issues and solutions to the people in the district who care to listen.

And it's not happening in Bay Ridge, either!

Courier Life has jokingly called it the "Fight of the Century" based, in part, on what they call my "pugnacity" and have even created a political caricature to go along with their coverage, for goodness sakes.

When is the last time THAT happened 'round these parts!

This is the start of something big. The papers have started to take notice of this race, and I hope that the people shortly follow.

Another little victory came out of this campaign - politics around here is changing. There is no "token" challenge here, there's a real race. That's a victory we can all share!

I'm still a longshot in this council race - no doubt. But not as much of one as I was yesterday. And as long as we keep getting the word out - through the media, different events, word of mouth, whatever! - those little victories may add up to a really big one in November!