> Nathan and any other NYC folks who vote -
>
> Any reason I should vote for any of the people running in the NYC
> mayoral primary? I think I pay pretty close attention to city
> politics but can't figure it out. Most of them seem to talk the talk
> on housing and some other issues, but some seem like corrupt hacks.
> All seem blindingly unremarkable and possibly a bit dim. Am I missing
> something? <snip>
While I agree with much of Chuck's analysis and of Carrol's, and share everyone's (well, almost everyone's) anger at the national Democrats who without a noticable voice of dissent oppose withdrawing the US invading forces in Iraq (some particularly scummy ones even want to send more troops!), local elections are different. As opposed to the Feds we elect judges (who can't change the big stuff, but can alleviate the suffering in individual cases) and sometimes our elected officials have some degree of control over the local police. In our district there is one TRULY lesser evil.
Bob Morgenthau's office has been pretty supine to the police since Giuliani, but every now and then does the right thing. In any event he's a ruling class liberal with all sorts of connections via family with decent civil liberties types. Not a pushover for the Homeland Security Federal gestapo. The women running against him I've known since she was an assistant in his office in the days of the Rap Brown case, and then after not seeing her for a couple of decades found myself in her court when she was supervising the voir dire (I was in the panel) in a drug case being brought by a unit of the Federal secret police ("DEA") but in NYSupreme. I've watched her work, and I've heard about her from other practising lawyers. She was bad in the 70s and, on the basis of what I saw and what everyone who knows says, she would be a complete and vicious tool of the Homeland Security Federal secret police. It's like the difference between Severing whose police beat the shit out of May Day demonstrators and Himmler who arrested, tortured and murdered them. This one is important. If she gets in it will be difficult to get her out again. If Morgenthau wins we can at least hope to prepare to replace him with someone who is not a fascist.
Also in our district Kris Glen is running for Surrogate. She is a long time NLG lawyer, and previously dean of the City University Law School. Kris (like me) has made her mistakes, but she is a (small c of course) comrade and deserves our votes.
As for Bloomberg, please please don't forget the way our friends were dealt with by his police at the Republican National Convention and the way the critical mass bike riders are still being smashed up by his cops. We've gotten used to lots of heavyshit from the police, but this has been worse than Giuliani.
john mage