Speaker Quinn, Councilwoman Dickens To Be Honored At 3/24 MYD Event

As you can see from the banner above, we’re throwing an exciting event on Wednesday, March 24th from 7pm-10pm at ultra-luxurious nightclub NIKKI Beach Midtown. MYD will be honoring individuals and groups who have made significant contributions to closing the gender gap. We expect a strong showing of like-minded Democrats as well as a myriad of elected officials in attendance. Drink specials all night, and music by the legendary DJO.

We are happy to announce the addition of the Honorable Christine Quinn, New York City Council Speaker, and Councilwoman Inez E. Dickens to our list of honorees. It is going to be a great night, with more guests to be announced, so you should come out. We’re also happy to announce that the New York Women’s Foundation’s Committee For the Future will be an honoree.

Our other organizational honorees are the Service Women’s Action Network, the White House Project, and Planned Parenthood’s Political Action Group.

You can join our facebook event here.

To join the host committee, please contact MYD Finance Director Alex Leopold: finance [at] gomyd [dot] com

The ticket pricing will be:
$20 for MYD membership and free admission
$5 for MYD members
$15 for non-members

You can purchase tickets securely online via ActBlue.

Rahm: The Man, The Myth, The Failure?

There has been a lot of talk recently about Obama’s inner circle and its effectiveness. Particularly in the news recently has been Rahm Emanuel. The discussions began months ago, but I’d begin with Dana Milbank’s column, where he argued that the problem in the White House isn’t Rahm, but that the President doesn’t listen to him. He begins by pointing to other articles that serve as a good preface to this discussion:

It is the current fashion to blame President Obama’s disappointing first year on his chief of staff. “First, remove Rahm Emanuel,” writes Leslie Gelb in the Daily Beast, because he lacks “the management skills and discipline to run the White House.”

The Financial Times’s Ed Luce reports that the “famously irascible” Emanuel has “alienated many of Mr. Obama’s closest outside supporters,” while the New America Foundation’s Steve Clemons lumps Emanuel in with the “Core Chicago Team Sinking Obama Presidency.”

They join liberal interests who despised Emanuel long before he branded them “retarded.” Jane Hamsher of firedoglake.com, together with conservative activist Grover Norquist, demanded a Justice Department investigation into Emanuel, who is “far too compromised to serve as gatekeeper to the president.”

His argument in the end is, however, that

“Obama’s first year fell apart in large part because he didn’t follow his chief of staff’s advice on crucial matters. Arguably, Emanuel is the only person keeping Obama from becoming Jimmy Carter.”

This was followed up by a new story from the Washington Post by Jason Horowitz, which had as its thrust that Rahm is doing an alright job. Then David Broder, the so-called dean of the Washington press corps, attacked his own paper’s reporting and Dana, which is surprising, as you wouldn’t expect “the Post’s marquee political writer of the past 40 years [to] beat up on the Post.”

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Sexy Charter Changes Coming

I have been challenged to make the Charter Revision Commission announced Thursday sexy. I am not sure I’ll reach that bar, but I am going to try to make it interesting.

What is the City Charter? Think of it as the constitution of the city. It is the document that decides how the city works–everything from the existence of a City Council to what The Long Term Planning and Sustainability Office should be doing.

It is quite long, with 356 pages and 74 sections. You can read it here, if you’d like.

Two years ago, the Mayor promised that he would appoint a Commission to look at city government holistically, from his 2008 State of the City:

Modernizing City government also requires a comprehensive look at its structure and operations, something that hasn’t happened since Mayor Koch appointed a Charter Revision Commission 20 years ago. Since then, a lot has changed, and we’ve come to see redundancies, antiquated regulations, and areas for cost-savings. It’s time to apply those lessons in order to make government more open, accountable, and efficient – not just this year, but permanently. Today, I am pleased to announce that we will appoint a new Charter Revision Commission that will conduct a top-to-bottom review of City government over the next 18 months.

He had not done much to follow up with that claim. Last year, during the fight over whether terms limits should be extended from two to three terms, the Mayor promised a seat on the commission to billionaire Ronald Lauder, a strong proponent of term limits. Other than that, there isn’t been much movement on it. In the end the commission exists, although Lauder opted out–he prefers to prod from the outside than to handle the difficult work of work.

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More Paterson Revalations And The Accidental Lieutenant

Last week  in my post I said that “if Paterson as well as his State Police protection intimated a victim of domestic violence, I think impeachment needs to be used in this situation if he will not resign.”  Today we are getting more and more indication that Paterson used state resources to engage in what may well be obstruction of justice. It is important to note, as the Times does, that “the governor’s state of knowledge about the alleged assault and personal involvement in the administration’s handling of it have remained murky.” Either way though, Paterson spoke with the woman, and now at least four state employees spoke directly with her about the case, some of them under Paterson’s direct “orders.”

You can see the The New York Post’s reporting here.

The Daily News is reporting that Paterson might be a little distant from the reality of the circumstance:

In Gov. Paterson’s world, he’s the victim.

In his first comments since pulling the plug last Friday on his election bid, Paterson insisted “there is a hysteria that I’ve been a victim of.”

In reality, Paterson and the state police are under investigation for contacting a woman who accused his top aide, David Johnson, of slapping her around last Halloween.

This seems about the time that we should ask: who is Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch? Read more

Paterson Will Not Run for Reelection

After yesterday’s story that Governor Paterson intervened in a domestic violence case involving one of his aides, The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza is reporting that:

Embattled New York Gov. David Paterson (D) will not seek re-election this fall, a bow to the inevitable given his low poll numbers and a recent controversy surrounding one of his top aides.

“It’s done,” state Senator Bill Perkins told the Post’s Jason Horowitz. “The governor is not going to be running for reelection.”

The Daily News is also reporting that he will not resign, but will not run. The formal announcement is expected this afternoon.

MYD Happy Hour With The Caucus of Color Last Evening

Last night the Manhattan Young Democrats and the New York State Young Democrats Caucus of Color held a happy hour at Legends Bar & Grill in midtown. Turnout was better than the recent Illinois primaries, as old and new friends convened for a night of camaraderie and political discussion. Check out the pictures from this event:

PAC Set To Fight Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage

The Times this morning reported a new political action committee, called Fight Back New York, which is planning to raise “high six figures” in multiple State Senate races this year to fight all those who opposed the same-sex marriage bill.

The campaigns first “target” is Hiram Monserrate, who is running in the special election for the seat he was thrown out of earlier this month.

They are playing for keeps:

The committee will start going after Mr. Monserrate, who was convicted of assaulting his female companion in a confrontation that left her requiring more than 20 stitches, by mailing fliers this week to voters in his district. The flier shows still frames of a surveillance video that shows him dragging his companion, Karla Giraldo, through the hallway of his apartment building in Jackson Heights, Queens. He was acquitted of a felony assault charge by a judge, who convicted him of misdemeanor assault.

“He brutally assaulted a woman and tried to cover up his crime,” the flier says. “Now he has the nerve to run again. Many of us have voted for Hiram before. But we cannot vote for him again.”

In the three weeks that remain before the election, Fight Back New York expects to send out at least five different fliers, upwards of 100,000 pieces of mail. The district’s population is around 300,000, but voter turnout in special elections is typically quite low.

Fight Back New York hasn’t decided which senators it will target in the fall, but I think it’s clear that some of the incumbents will be regretting their votes.

Paterson Intervenes in Domestic Violence Case

Update: I stand by  my comment about how serious the issues are if the story’s implications are correct, but the NYTPicker does a good job of pointing out some of the questions marks left open by the story and the changes that were made between web and print editions. Hat tip to Andrew.

The New York Times is reporting that last fall a woman who had repeatedly pressed her case of domestic violence involving David Johnson, an aide to the governor, backed down after a call from Paterson.

The unidentified woman claims Johnson violently assaulted her. She went to court three times seeking protection from him. She twice complained that the State Police harassed her and that they had demanded she drop the case. Paterson then called her, or she called Paterson, depending on whose account you believe, and the day following that conversation she failed to show up for a hearing and the Court dismissed the case. Her lawyer admits the case was never mentioned directly in her phone call with the Governor, although I am not sure why that matters. The Governor offered his “assistance” or whatever in a case involving one of his closest aides; I am sure she got the message.

Just to be clear on the assault, the woman reportedly told police Johnson “choked her, stripped her of much of her clothing, smashed her against a mirrored dresser and [took] two telephones from her to prevent her from calling for help.”

Yesterday, Paterson suspended Johnson without pay and asked Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate whether state police tried to “improperly influence” the woman, according to the Daily News.

This seems like the most serious charge that the Times has been able to levy against Paterson. As Chas wrote earlier, the Times ran two articles on Paterson last week, one on Johnson’s quick rise to power and the second on Paterson’s relative inability to govern. This final story, though, ties it all together in a tragic way. The aide that has risen so quickly was likely “brutally assaulting” his girlfriend, and then the Governor and his State Police intervened to intimidate the woman.

Ben Smith, of the The Politico, speculates that the case “appears likely to end the governor’s tottering political career.” If the Governor had just had his staff intervene in a domestic violence dispute then that would be enough for me to think he should resign; however, he went even beyond that, he called the woman himself to intimate her. In fact, resignation might not be enough, as the actions might constitute criminal intimidation of a witness. Paterson seems to agree with me, as the Times points out:

Mr. Paterson, who has championed the cause of battered women, [] made extended remarks on the case of Hiram Monserrate, the former state senator who was convicted of misdemeanor assault against his companion and ousted from the Legislature. Mr. Paterson said he was offended that while the woman had been granted an order of protection against Mr. Monserrate, the senator’s aides had continued to have contact with her and assist her.

“The order of protection is designed to allow for independence of the victim,” he said. “This victim apparently had no independence.”

He said the conduct of the aides warranted a criminal investigation, perhaps for witness intimidation.

The State Senate did the right thing when they tossed out Monserrate. Domestic violence is not a trivial problem—it deserves punishment. Intimidation is the tool used to prevent women from seeking the rights they should have. If the story is true, he likely should be prosecuted. I am not sure if that will happen, but I suggest reading the Times article in full so you can see how awful the accusations are, and then ask yourself whether Paterson should really be our governor until January 1. If this article is true, if Paterson as well as his State Police protection intimated a victim of domestic violence, I think impeachment needs to be used in this situation if he will not resign. I do not want to see it have to become political like that but it seems that at worst he conspired to intimate an assaulted woman for an aide of his and at best he just intimated her himself.

Judge Denies Monserrate’s Case to Stay in New York State Senate

As Alex V wrote, former State Senator Hiram Monserrate was expelled from the State Senate earlier this month for being convicted of misdemeanor assault on his girlfriend. He was the first state legislator to be from office since the early part of the last century. His response was to sue a bunch of state officials arguing that the Senate had no power to expel him. Further he and voters from his district claim in the suit that by expelling him the State Senate denied the rights of the voters who elected him.  Today Judge William H. Pauley denied those claims. You can read the decision on the NY Times site here.

My favorite quotation from the the decision:

In an ironic twist, [Moserrate's] attorneys characterize the Senate’s action as an “unlawful coup” and argue that the voters in the 13th Senatorial District have been disenfranchises by this removal.

Let hope that the appeals court also finds more irony than merit in Monserrate’s suit. Pauly continues:

While this Court concludes it has no legal basis to preliminarily enjoin the decision of the Senate, a ‘fundamental principle of our representative democracy is, in (Alexander) Hamilton’s words, ‘that the people should choose whom they please to govern them…Thus, the March 16 special election furthers the goals of Plaintiffs’ current application to protect the voters of the 13th Senatorial District more effectively than judicial intervention.

The judge also said “expulsion of a sitting legislator is infrequent and the power of a body to determine the fitness of its members is embedded in American democracy.”

Harold Ford, Jr. On Meet The Press

Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. has been considering running for U.S. Senate in the special election against Gillibrand here in New York. There has been a lot of discussion about whether Ford is a New Yorker, what his positions really are, and whether he would be a good Senator from New York. Gillibrand’s campaign and the Ford camp have already been trading barbs. Both Ford and Gillibrand have also been courting donors.

Ford recently told NY1 that he would file his first tax return in New York this year. He reiterated that fact this morning on Meet the Press when he said “[I] [p]aid taxes on all New York income the last two years. And, for the first time, in ‘09 my wife and I will file as residents of New York.”

He also spoke about his traveling around New York: “[my] travels around the state have been great, [I have been] encouraged, humbled by what people are saying.  The press and the pundits are focused on carpetbagging and some of the politics around it, but people in New York are expressing the same concerns that have been–that we’ve been expressing around the table,” which include jobs and the economy.

He was also asked several times by David Gregory about the size of his bonus from Merrill Lynch, which he refused to disclose. He also spoke about his support for parental notification when minors receive abortions.

You can watch the entire interview in this video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

You can see more of Ford in the full Meet the Press round table, which also included Rachel Maddow smacking down the youngest Congressman, Illinois Republican Aaron Schock. I enjoyed this comment:

…just this week you [Representative Schock] were at a community college touting a $350,000 green technology education program, talking about how great that was going to be for your district. You voted against the bill that created that grant. And so that’s happening a lot with Republicans sort of taking credit for things that Democratic bills do, and then Republicans simultaneously touting their votes against them and trashing them. That’s, I think, a, a, a problem that needs to be resolved within, within your caucus, because, I mean, you seem like a very nice person, but that’s [sic] very hypocritical stance to take.

You can watch the full clips below.
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