For four hours on Saturday, the W.F.P.’s convention was a collective group therapy session, where dozens of members of the left-wing of New York’s Democratic party aired their long-building displeasure with Cuomo.
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It was a bizarro version of the Democratic convention earlier in May, where Cuomo was the unquestioned star and lawmakers carefully avoided criticizing him.
At the Desmond, Cuomo was target practice.
He won the line, but not before many W.F.P. members took the podium at the hotel to flog him publicly, repeatedly calling him a “liar” who’d abandoned his own party.
Among the dissidents was former ACORN head Bertha Lewis. She took the podium and said of Cuomo’s nomination, “Well, I beg to differ.”
“We gave him four years and we said then, never again,” she said.
She brought the crowd to its feet.
In a brutal speech in support of Teachout, Capital Region delegate Susan Weber decried Cuomo’s support for charter schools run by “rich bastards” and urged the party not to accept the deal with Cuomo.
“What's the problem with that deal? He’s a liar,” she said referring to Cuomo. “He won’t keep his promise. He’ll figure out a way to squirm out of it.”
“I was under the impression we were never going to do the same thing we’ve done before and expect a different result,” she said.
“There's a word for that and it’s called psychosis. We are not psychotic!”
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Pro-Cuomo speeches were frequently interrupted by cries of “coward!” and “bullshit!” from the audience.
None of the rank-and-file party members spoke on Cuomo’s behalf.
In the end, Cuomo got what he wanted - the WFP ballot line and no WFP candidate running from his left in the general election.
And Cuomo made no bones about that today:
On Sunday, Cuomo was in New York City to march in a parade in honor of Israel. He told reporters that the fight on Saturday night didn’t matter.
“It’s very simple at these political conventions: you either win or you lose,” he said.
“You know, the Democratic Party, we have a big tent, we have a lot of people with a lot of opinions and everybody has a voice and everybody wants to use it. So, part of being a Democrat is the lively debate among the people in the party.”
“But at the end of the day I won the endorsement and that’s what really relevant.”
And he has a point about that.
But the anger that was displayed at the WFP convention last night, as so ably covered by Laura Nahmias in her Capital NY article, as demonstrated in last night's tweets from reporters and other observers at the convention, is not going to go away just because Cuomo won the WFP endorsement.
In fact, if anything, it's going to simmer and bubble to a boil, particularly as the arrogant Cuomo continues to treat liberals and progressives around the state with disdain and scorn.
What happens with that anger after that, well, it's anybody's guess.
But if Cuomo thinks he put to rest his problems from the left with last night's rigged WFP convention vote, he's got another thing coming.
Here is the "Bullshit" email I received from The WFP State Director Bill Lipton after the endorsement... (I am not a member nor have I donated to them. After reading the below I unsubscribed from the list serv.
ReplyDeletePeter,
Last night, we secured a major win. Not for the Working Families Party, not for Governor Andrew Cuomo, but for the working families of the state of New York.
Faced with a challenge from Zephyr Teachout -– a Working Families Democrat if there ever was one -- for the Working Families Party endorsement, Gov. Cuomo declared for the first time that he will join the effort to secure a Democratic-Working Families majority.
We have disagreed a lot with the Governor's economic and education policies over the last four years. On many issues, he has not governed as a progressive. But we do agree with the platform he committed to fighting for last night, which will help transform the lives of millions of people, and even set the stage for still further gains:
passing comprehensive public financing of elections to fight the influence of big-money in our democracy
passing the Dream Act, so all New Yorkers can access higher education
decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, so we can stop jailing our youth, especially young people of color
passing the full 10-point Women's Equality Agenda, to protect and ensure women's equality
raising New York's minimum wage to $10.10/hour, indexed to inflation, and allowing cities and counties to raise wages 30% higher than the state level
increasing the state's investment in community schools to improve educational opportunities in high-need districts. But the Governor still fell far short of what's needed -- we need to comply with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court order and fully fund our schools.
The Governor's pledge to fight for this vision of New York is why the WFP State Committee voted last night to endorse Andrew Cuomo for Governor of New York.
Now, the hard work begins. We will hold the Governor accountable to his commitment, but we'll need your help. Can we count on you?
Yes, count me in. I will work to hold Governor Cuomo to the promise he made for a more progressive New York.
We are honored that a leader and organizer like Zephyr Teachout sought out our endorsement and inspired so many Working Families Party members with her courage and tenacity. This WFP Convention will go down in history for having produced an actual unscripted, un-edited, unsanitized political debate -- imagine that!
Last night, the Working Families Party and countless other allies like Mayor Bill de Blasio, unions and progressive organizations stood in unity with the Governor around a progressive vision and strategy for making New York work for everyone. But we’ll have to keep fighting together to win it -- can we count on you?
Be proud of the Party that you have helped build. I know I am.
Thank you, so much, for your support.
Bill Lipton
State Director, Working Families Party