A Once In A Blue Moon Election In Queens
By MICHAEL SCHENKLER
Every once in a blue moon a story comes along that has the ability to sway an election.
Now New York’s 9th Congressional District has had several Blue Moon stories in, well, less than a Blue Moon.
“Once in a Blue Moon” is a common way of saying not very often, however, it was not easy to determine exactly what a Blue Moon is.
There will be 41 months that have two Full Moons in every century, so by common definition and math, once in a Blue Moon actually means once every two-and-a-half years.” In fact, “Once in a blue moon” is most frequently used colloquially to mean “a rare event.”
Blue Moon Story 1: First and foremost was the Anthony Weiner Sexting story which stood the news media on its head and rivaled in coverage the bizarre adventures of the likes of Charlie Sheen, Dominique Kahn and Lindsay Lohan. It’s effect not only resulted in the resignation of Anthony Weiner from Congress, but it eliminated him from the 2012 Mayoral race where he was the perceived frontrunner.
Blue Moon Story 2: Former Mayor Ed Koch comes along and makes an election that should be an easy win for almost any Democrat over almost any Republican, a personal crusade against President Obama’s stance on Israel. He opposes the Democrat David Weprin (with a history of support for Israel) to back Bob Turner, the Republican with little or no record on very much – especially Israel. Koch’s ongoing barrage manages to bring what should be more than a 10 point victory by Weprin down to what polls are reporting as a 6 point lead. In fact, 6 points can evaporate quickly, even without a Blue Moon Story.
Well, the Koch effect behind us, and the boredom beginning to creep in, this writer assumed the normal patterns would evolve and the race would soon be back to a close-to-10-point Democratic win to represent the political leanings of a District which heavily leans towards Democrats in registration with some recent right wing influence. Couple this with the effectiveness of the Queens County Democratic Organization, the proven fundraising ability of Weprin who amassed impressive amounts as a comptroller candidate in 2009 and adding the Weprin family network, we could have dismissed this as the race that never was.
Well, we haven’t seen the candidates financial filings – they’re due Sept. 1 — but it doesn’t appear Weprin is spending as much as Turner. Sources tell us that the Democratic and Republican Congressional Campaign Committees do not intend to invest in this district, which is likely to be sacrificed in the upcoming redistricting. And there are still 3 weeks for Weprin to spend and lengthen his unimpressive lead.
Remember, Turner was the Republican Candidate against Anthony Weiner in 2010 and we assumed he showed us his best back then.
Hold onto your hats. Turner has done it again.
Blue Moon Story 3: The Daily News reported on Sunday on a two decade old, high profile story about an AIDS-stricken Brooklyn woman’s quest to find new parents for her son:
“A dying Rosemary Holmstrom got offers from people around the world who wanted to take in her then-8-year-old C.J.
The Queens couple who adopted the boy and made him part of their family never wanted to be identified - until now.
Bob Turner, the Republican nominee for disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s vacant Brooklyn-Queens seat, and his wife Peggy, raised C.J., now 26.
“This was not a tough decision,” Bob Turner said. “It wasn’t ‘should we or should we not.’ It was the right thing to do.”
“He was so cute. He was adorable,” added Peggy Turner, remembering C.J. as a young boy.”
A picture of candidate Bob, wife Peggy flanking 26-year-old C.J. Turner accompanied the heart-wrenching story.
Now the story may have been released on Bob Turner’s timetable, but the selfless deed was done by the Turners 20 years earlier, before Turner dreamed of elective office.
What will be the effect from this story, which we believe will take center stage, in an election where the economy, the debt ceiling differences of the parties and jobs in New York should be the issues? Well, the Democratic side has not demonstrated an ability to focus on the differences between Weprin and Turner. In fact, they have been on the defensive since Ed Koch poked his nose across his bridge that used to be ours.
Now, can the Weprin camp keep his left-leaning vote in line with a candidate who has demostrated he has the heart, soul and compassion usually belonging to the Democrats?
Weprin and his campaign team have their task cut out for them. They must take control of the message of this campaign from the Turner camp, which has been in control for the past month. They must differentiate between the stances of the candidates. They must differentiate between the beliefs of the parties.
And only once in many Blue Moons can it be expected to deviate from the pattern.
Follow me on Twitter @MSchenkler
MSchenkler@QueensTribune.com
Will The Legislature Do What’s Right For All?
By HENRY STERN
It is an ancient truism that the first law of nature is self-preservation. The thought was expressed elegantly by Andrew Marvell in 1675 in England in a metaphysical poem, “Hodge’s Vision from the Monument”: “Self-preservation, nature’s first great law, / All the creatures, except man, doth awe.”
The relevance of this to today’s politics arises when we consider the decennial issue of redistricting.
New York State is historically noted for egregious gerrymandering. For roughly the last half century, the Assembly has been districted to elect Democrats, whereas the Senate lines favor Republicans. The steady growth in allegiance to the Democrats and the relative depopulation of upstate has made it increasingly difficult to draw Senate lines to keep the Republican Senate majority.
In 2008, the Democrats actually gained a Senate majority because of the high vote for President Obama. They managed their majority so shamefully and corruptly that the Republicans narrowly regained control in 2010. During the campaign, all the Republicans promised in writing to support an independent redistricting commission in order to win the approval of Mayor Koch and an organization he and others formed called New York Uprising.
After the Republican victory, they concluded that the independent commission they promised to support could not come into effect until the state Constitution was amended, an event that would not take place before 2013, at the earliest, and would not apply until the 2022 election. What happened, of course, was that once they had a majority, the Republicans repudiated their pledge, as it was no longer in their self-interest to honor it.
Governor Cuomo has repeatedly pledged to veto any districting plan that is not prepared by an independent commission. He does, however, leave himself some wiggle room by requiring that the plan be fair, reasonable and nonpartisan, without re-emphasizing the necessity for an independent commission.
To his credit, the Governor has stated that he does not believe that the committee of state legislators charged with statutory authority to draw the lines, the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR), can see past their own personal and political interests and create district that are equitable.
To his credit, the Governor has stated that he does not believe that the committee of state legislators charged with statutory authority to draw the lines, the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR), can see past their own personal and political interests and create district that are equitable.
The aim of this strategy would be for the legislature to make the case to the courts, which would then be charged with drawing the lines, that there would not be enough time before the April 24, 2012 primary date to come up with new lines, and thus there would be no alternative but to adopt the LATFOR lines.
To thwart this potential manipulation, Governor Cuomo should appoint a nonpartisan, independent commission now that would draw up equitable lines. This commission’s recommendations would not be binding, nor would they carry official weight, but they would be valuable if the redistricting battle winds up in the courts, and the judiciary needs a viable alternative to the LATFOR lines.
Common Cause New York deserves praise for the substantial labor that it is currently performing to create their own set of lines, drawn up according to the principles commonly held by good government groups. Basic fairness requires that legislative districts be compact, contiguous, equal in population, reflect communities of interest, and not be stacked, packed, hacked or cracked, which are terms used to describing either stuffing members of one group into a district in order to control it, or breaking up natural concentrations of people to diminish their power to elect a member of their group.
There is still a possibility that the Legislature will honor its pledge and hold a special session to appoint an independent commission in place of LATFOR. That is, however, highly unlikely as it would almost certainly frustrate the Senate Republicans’s desire to maintain their majority, which they may lose unless President Obama’s defeat in 2012 is massive.
The voters have a right to choose their elected officials. The officials do not have a right to choose their voters, although in fact they try to do just that. Sometimes they even succeed. In New York State they usually do.
StarQuest@NYCivic.org
