So we have a new mayor, a so-called progressive mayor, who won yesterday's election by an overwhelming margin over his GOP challenger.
Exit polls showed 3 out of 4 New Yorkers want the city to go in a different direction from where Bloomberg took it in his 12 years.
And Bill de Blasio ran as just that candidate and was rewarded for it at the ballot box.
Yet, I feel a tinge of concern over this de Blasio fellow.
His friendship with corporatist Democrat Andrew Cuomo, his working for corporatist Democrat Bill Clinton, his running corporatist Democrat Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign, his reaching out to Rahm Emanuel for transition advice, his calling Rahm Emanuel a "great mayor" who he looks forward to working with "very closely" - all are red flags that give me pause in my celebration of last night's de Blasio victory.
Especially the visit with Rahm Emanuel and the declaration of Rahmbo as a "great mayor."
The optimist in me tells me to ignore the red flags and just "believe" the progressive platform de Blasio ran on in the election will be the blueprint for his mayoral administration.
The cynic in me tells me the red flags are something to be concerned about, something to watch very, very closely as de Blasio now turns to his transition team and begins to choose members of his administration.
Right now, I'm leaning toward listening to the cynic inside telling me to watch this guy very, very closely.
Yeah, he talks a good game in his speeches.
But those meetings he has behind the scenes with pals like "great mayor" Rahm Emanuel have me wondering how much of that speech stuff is real.
Couple de Blasio's praise of Emanuel with Tish James's reaching out to DFER-favorite Reshman Saujani for her transition team and I can already see the signs of the two "progressives" who were elected last night turning rightward after the election.
By all means, let us celebrate the end of the Bloomberg Era.
But let's not get too excited about the de Blasio Era just yet.
Hopefully, James' putting DFER-ite on her transition team is intended to misdirect and mollify the so-called reformers, in the same way that Obama's putting Linda Darling-Hammond on his in 2008 team fooled his supporters into thinking he actually intended to oppose the hostile takeover of the public schools.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, we're back to more betrayal by the political class...
It may be pay back for Saujani endorsing James against Squadron. We'll see. But don't forget, de Blasio hired her as deputy public advocate too - he wanted her ties to Wall Street to help him raise cash for his 2013 City Hall run. Expediency all around...
DeleteThe writing is on the wall, meetings with Obama and Rahm spell it out. There was no reason for him to meet with them, other than to show his true colors.
ReplyDeleteI ask again, will we get him to meet with Karen Lewis. Lewis can tell him a thing or two about Rahm Emmanuel, the great mayor.
The meeting with Rahm is very troubling, as is calling him a "great mayor" and saying he looks forward to working closely with him. We'll see how it goes. But it's a problem in my mind, that's for sure.
DeleteSeems to be the way to go these days. No more Bush and Cheney, upfront about who they were. Now we have the Neo-Liberals.
ReplyDeleteNeo-Liberals speak out of one side of their mouth for the little guy, their nominal constituency, and the other side of their mouth for the plutocracy, their real constituency.
That's it - in some ways, it's nice having Bush or Cheney in power - it galvanizes the so-called left against them. When Obama and Cuomo are pushing through the same corporatist policies Bush and Cheney did, the Daily Kossaks and other liberals find excuses for why the sell outs you're seeing aren't really sell outs.
DeleteGiven the clinical insanity of the Tea Party and the grip it has on the Republican Party, its traditional business class backers are finding a comfy home among the Democrats.
ReplyDeleteUnless working and middle class people get involved in some "disruptive innovation" of their own, in the streets and workplace, we'll continue to be screwed.
Obama would have been a Republican back in the day. Very conservative.
DeleteSo now the real fun begins, and the Tish thing is disturbing. That's why I supported the professor who publically stated she was pro union, and pro pensions when other candidates refused to answer. It's unfortunate how we brand the honest candidates. But, if this does happen, teachers everywhere, Dems and Repubs, need to have a demonstration outside of the Bd of Elections by changing their status to Independent. Not that the Independent leaders aren't any better than the Dems. but it will scare the hell out of Democrats around the nation because we will be in control of the agenda and demand change before promises.
ReplyDeleteWe will watch them closely and make no mistake, as soon as the sell outs start, I start getting shrill. There will be no making excuses for these two. They do not govern a center-right country. They govern a center left-city.
DeleteThis is why I didn't support James in the primary. She wouldn't answer any question directly the way the professor did. We are all getting fooled.
ReplyDeleteI disliked the professor a lot. Something about her gave me the creeps. Might have been when she said she supported NSA spying because it "keeps us safe."
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