[Update: The Squadron campaign emails over their endorsement by the Communications Workers of America (CWA, Local 1), and I now have my own tag with the New York Observer [1].]
This has already been discussed here [2] and here [3], but I'd like to chime in along with Messrs. Anderson and Harding on some recent developments in the Progressive Movement.
First, on DFNYC's primary endorsements [4]: I'm not sure I get it. That organization, the local chapter of Democracy for America [5], adds to its list of incomprehensible endorsements - Tasini over Clinton comes to mind, because that was such a winnable fight, or DFNYC's phase as the committee to elect Norman Siegel [6] - with their newest round, in which they decided to back Powell over Towns in the Tenth CD, Henry over Newell and Silver in the Sixty-Fourth AD, and took a pass on the Twenty-fifth SD, featuring Connor versus Squadron. I'm going to reserve judgment on the Tenth, given that neither of the Democrats running is really all that much to write home about; Towns has been co-opted by a Washington culture of the moneyed interest and regularly votes against the interest of his constituents, and Powell has a history that is marred by some episodes best not discussed. In the Sixty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth, however, the choices are clear: Luke Henry is a very pleasant guy, no question, but there's a discernible gravitas gap, organizational gap, stature gap, money gap, and any number of related gaps between Henry and Paul Newell, the Blue to Bluer [7] netroots candidate. Maybe the good people at DFNYC see something I don't, but what is clear is that their Henry endorsement splits the Progressive community on the arguably most important race in this state. I fail to see how this helps in the larger strategic effort, frankly.
As to the Squadron-Connor race, there's a strategic imperative as well, and it runs like this: Connor is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the worst of Albany's incumbents. But the Albany incumbency as a whole could use some shaking up, insulated as it is from the concerns of the citizenry. We need, as a state, to infuse fresh blood into both chambers of the legislature; Dan Squadron's campaign could be the first ripple of a wave of new fresh faces who are suddenly considering public service. With the Senate about to flip, membership in that body will become very attractive to some smart younger people who could transform it into a bastion of Progressive leadership. First up to the bat is Dan Squadron. There's a reason the Working Families Party [8] is practically entranced by that race, and this is it.
Then, of course, there's the newest Dahroug email from the Third SD, which reads in part:
Literally 30 minutes before the Suffolk County Democratic Convention, Brian Foley announced to me that he was throwing his hat into the ring for this race. This news also came as a surprise to local activists and Democratic Party leaders.
I'm sure the Republicans in Albany let out a big cheer when they heard the announcement. After all, Brian's last-minute entry into the race is certain to distract voters from our real opponent: Senator Trunzo and the Republican majority in the Senate.
Even if it isn't a wise choice, Brian has every right to run. It may mean just a bit more effort on our part, but such is the small price for democracy. With your help, we can - and will - win the Primary.
I'm pretty sure the republicans in Albany didn't cheer, frankly, because Foley will put together a better, and better-funded, campaign than Jimmy could or ever has. But the larger question is, again, one of strategic choices.
Now, we can have a hard-fought primary with all the vitriol that is characteristic of this race. Or Jimmy can decide whether the effort involved here - and he's very good and very smart when he's backed into a corner - is the best use of everyone's time. Brian Foley is no Chris Bodkin, and I'm pretty confident that he's going to outraise, outspend, out-organize and out-work Jimmy Dahroug. Whether this is a fight that New York's Progressives should engage, I'm not sure, not least because Jimmy really does not, right now, have the campaign in place to wage it. And with the Powers That Be lining up against him [9], witness the recent spate of endorsements for his opponent [10], I'm not sure that's going to change for the better. That in turn makes Jimmy a weaker candidate than he could be, for the primary and the general. So the question becomes whether this race is really the one where we need to plant the banner of the Progressive Movement.
Overall, I'm detecting something very troubling in New York's Progressive Movement, and that's a discernible lack of focus on winning. Now, winning is by no means everything in politics; some fights you get into because it's the right thing to do. This is right and fitting and proper. But conversely, you can't lose every fight you get yourself into, and these fights, Powell, Henry, Dahroug, I'm pretty sure we're going to lose, because we're out-organized, out-raised, out-everythinged. It's not the case, certainly, that there is no competition in the political marketplace for the dollars and shoe leather of Progressives [11].
And given how desperately New York needs a vibrant and effective Progressive Movement, one that is taken seriously in Albany's marbled corridors of power, that's not a good thing.
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