Why I will vote for Tasini for Senator, and Hillary for President.

[readmoreoften]

New York is one of the most progressive cities in the nation. H. Clinton is progressive on many issues, but by New York standards she is moderate to conservative. There is no reason that one of the most progressive areas in the nation can't have and extremely progressive representative.

This is not to bash Hillary Clinton. I would be happy to have her as President. But that is because the nation is more conservative than NY, and there will not be a Tasini-style progressive in the oval office any time soon.

John Tasini is not a 3rd party candidate. He is a progressive democrat running in a primary race with a progressive-moderate democrat. Tasini is pro-gay marriage. John Tasini is not a Washington insider. He is a long-time labor activist. I went to jail with John Tasini. John Tasini came out and took a day off from working on his campaign to go to JAIL with me to fight against one of the most powerful pseudo-liberal institutions in NYC. John Tasini came to our picket line when we were on strike.

Hillary Clinton, after visits from AFL-CIO lobbyists and much begging and pleading, only wrote a brief letter in support. She is not terribly aware of the needs of her specific constituency.

Let's sum this up:

1) spends a day in jail with people fighting for justice
2) after long deliberations with hired lobbyists (over a month) a brief letter of support is written.

Who should be my senator? Who represents me? Who cares about me as a NYer?

Tasini will probably lose because he has no brand recognition. It's a shame. He would make an excellent senator and Hillary will be busy running for president.

[5thJames]

1. she's no conservative

I come from a conservative perspective, and I see no way Hilary could be called a conservative. Maybe not as far left as some would like, but no way she's a conservative. Not even a "moderate" conservative.

[readmoreoften]

2. Well, thanks for your honesty...

Ain't that a hoot, I agree with a conservative. Thanks for being polite. Welcome.

[Swamp Rat]

6. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[newyawker99]

27. Hi 5thJames!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[sandnsea]

3. Pataki, Giuliani, Bloomberg

Seems to me she's pretty liberal for a New York politician.

[pnwmom]

5. I think it's easy for some New Yorkers to forget about upstate.

In fact, it's easy for a LOT of us to forget about upstate. But it's a different world up there.

[readmoreoften]

8. Even upstate isn't gonna go for a puke in the senate, though. /nt

[WePurrsevere]

19. I've found this to be very true. The reason mod Repub's like Pataki

and moderate appearing Dems like Hillary get elected in New York State is because, averaged out over the whole state and all of it's voters, NY is actually rather moderate even while we seem to be more progressive on social issues.

[H2O Man]

23. On Pataki and republicans .....

Upstate New York has a significant republican majority. In several counties, I have had friends register as republican, because they have been frustrated by the inability to get things accomplished as democrats. In many counties, the boards of town supervisors are 95% republican. And to give them their due, they are pretty well organized. They can get out the vote.

I had been told not long after Pataki was last re-elected that he had decided it would be his last term as governor. He will likely continue to play a role in politics, though I think he anticipated being active on the national level. He reportedly believed that Bush was going to find a spot for him in his administration, but is considered too liberal by the president's people.

[readmoreoften]

7. Yeah, NYers vote these idiots in and then hate them. I don't get it.

Pataki is HATED and will be replaced by the beloved Eliot Spitzer. Our choices for Mayor were REALLY UNPOLISHED. People will still vote for the fiscal republican over the unpolished democrat in NY. Also, the Republicans OWN the media, so they get to push for their overlords.

I don't think Clinton is BAD, I just think Tasini is AMAZING. He is everything I want in a senator.

But there is NO WAY that NY is gonna send a Republican to the U.S. senate right now. Any (D) will beat an (R) for the NY seat. I say, hell, let's do it up and get a washington outsider with ideals in there.

[sandnsea]

9. Pataki won 3 terms

He isn't running for a 4th and I wouldn't bet against him if he was. Just saying, as liberal as New Yorkers claim to be, they sure have a habit of electing centrist politicians. I mean Ed Koch was out there whoring for Bush too. I just don't see a lot of room for New Yorkres to criticize Hillary based on her political views, her views seem to fit right in with the rest.

[readmoreoften]

10. I have no idea how Pataki is where he is.

NYers also don't fix things if they aren't broken because things can get SO BROKEN in NY. Incumbents are highly favored in local politics. The theory is if you can manage things without everything utterly disintegrating then... hey thanks!!!!

On Tasini's side is the fact that many NYers want a real opposition candidate in the Senate. What's not on his side is the fact that many might be terrified that an unbranded candidate could lose the seat. Also, people will just vote for the Clinton brand.

I also live in NYC. I have lobbied in Albany, though, so I know some folks there. In polls, 72% of NYers are Anti-Bush.

Bloomberg got in again because the dem candidates were extremely unappealing and unsavvy.

[sandnsea]

11. And Hillary will win

And you can come back and tell me all the reasons why Tasini didn't win. I don't even know the guy, I'm just sayin', New York doesn't seem to be anywhere near ready to send a lefty to DC. I find it ironic with all the bashing of red states that New York doesn't do a very good job at electing Democrats itself.

[readmoreoften]

12. Did I say I don't think Hillary will win?

I just said I'm voting for Tasini. NY progressives would be better off voting for him because he is a real man of the people, that's all I'm saying.

9 out of 31 of our congressional leaders are Dems. I think that's pretty good.

[sandnsea]

13. I'm not saying don't vote for Tasini

I'm just saying New Yorkers shouldn't be surprised about Hillary's politics considering who they tend to elect. And 1/3 of your Reps are Dems? We've only got 5, but 4 are Dems. I'm surprised that number is so low. Explains a lot about Schumer and Clinton actually.

Good luck and I hope a bunch of progressives get out there and really let the people see the difference in political views.

[readmoreoften]

15. No other way around, sorry. 9 out of 31 are republicans.

I'm serious. I don't go "gaga" over politicians. But I really really like Tasini. This guy was a labor activist with a moral conscience long before political aspirations came along. He's not a politician type. He's an activist who is so sick of it that he's standing up to take responsibility. Like I said, I went to jail with him. And it wasn't a publicity stunt because there was no press around it. It was just John getting arrested. We're all facing 15 days in jail for protesting union busting tactics in NYC.

[sandnsea]

16. Oh that's much better!

Whew! 9 Dems out of 31 seats freaked me out!

I do think Spitzer will win too, so maybe that will help get a stronger liberal voice out to the country and NY Dems too. Good luck with your campaign!

[pnwmom]

4. Then it sounds that, if Tasini loses, then he would be

the perfect person to run again to fill her position if she does become President.

[wakeme2008]

14. I will never vote for Hillary

I do not vote repug... :shrug:

[WI_DEM]

17. I had no idea that Hillary was a repug

it must be news to Bill too.

[H2O Man]

18. In the past,

I invested both time and money in Senator Clinton's campaign. While I did not agree with her on everything, I was proud to support her. But because of her position on Iraq, I no longer am willing to support her. I will not donate a penny to her, and will not invest time campaigning for her.

Of course, any time I vote, and the choice is between a democrat and a republican, I'm going to vote for the democrat. But not only do I find her position on Iraq to be wrong, but I was offended when one of her advisors was on MSNBC, and said that they weren't concerned with the left being upset by her war stance, because they had no other option. That is a form of stupidity that could easily come back to haunt them.

The main reason that the thought of her being president is a good thing is because Robert Kennedy Jr. is thinking of running for what was his father's seat in the US Senate.

[sandnsea]

20. I thought he gave that idea up

Is there still talk of him running at some point? It would be great, I like the way he words thing and builds his case, but I thought he had decided politics was too much of a personal toll or something.

[H2O Man]

21. Previously he had

said that he would not be running for office. When Moynihan decided to retire, he gave it some thought, but opted not to. In the past month, he has said he may run for the Senate if Clinton is elected president.

There are, of course, very real advantages in having Robert stay outside of politics. At the same time, the country needs more people like him to run for office.

[sandnsea]

22. Will be interesting to see

I'd certainly rather have him in DC than Schumer or Clinton. Although it is true he may have more freedom outside politics and he isn't quite the target either. OTOH, I'd hate to see the Senate without a Kennedy at all, I hope they're all thinking about that.

[H2O Man]

25. In his environmental work,

he always stayed above involvement in the democrat vs republican conflicts. As I'm sure you know, he took the position that all children have the right to clean air, and water that is safe to drink, no matter what their parents believed about politics. It's given him a unique status even in upstate New York. The republicans here have a lot of respect for him. I think people would be confident that Robert would do his best to represent everyone in the state .... and his best is mighty good!

[Clark2008]

24. You're correct in the assertion that the rest of the country -

at least the South and the mid-West - are more conservative than New York, which is why Hillary can't be elected president.

For all the comments on this board and other liberal boards, the fact remains that the rest of the country sees Sen. Clinton as far-left. She's been vilified for 14 years. She's been made to be some raging femi-Nazi in the South and mid-West (mainly because we only have right-wing radio in spades).

And, because of this, she won't flip one red state - and may even lose a couple of purplish blue states.

Isn't it better to pick a liberal who's thought of as a moderate than a moderate who's thought of as a liberal?

[Armstead]

29. Conservative in what way?

On the core issues of Power and Money, what passes for conservatism today is nothing but a giant con job.

Regardless of what people may feel on social wedge issues, most people are progressive populists in their guts. The only reason they think otehrwise is because our side is too stupid and weasly to actually fight for the principles of economic fairness and justice.

[DiverDave]

26. Geez, this AGAIN??

I don't recognize the name Tasini, not being from New York, but if you believe that Hillary could win the presidential race, I got a big 'ol bridge to sell ya...it's in New York too.

[Armstead]

28. I must disagree with your premise

The only reason "there will not be a Tasini-style progressive in the oval office any time soon" is because we (Democrats/liberals/progressives) are a bunchg of defeatist wimps.

Do you really think turning the economy into a Corporate Feudal State, undermiining the middle class and decimating the poor,gutting Social Security, turning our public sector over to Enron style pyramid schemes, going to useless wars based on lies, etc. etc. etc. are REALLY majority positions?

Get real. The only reason someone like Tasini seems to be too "fringe" for the rest of the country is because we have given up the battle.

The only way that will change is if wer STOP thinking that we are somehow out of the mainstream.