A party whose stated agenda, supported by labor and liberal activists, is to push the Democratic Party leftward, has backed a gubernatorial candidate who stands for everything it opposes and is all but certain to win a second term. The Working Families Party during its convention Saturday, publicly rejected polls noting liberal disgust with Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and endorsed him after pressure from unions and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.... Cuomo’s tenure has been marked by championing schools privatization and fighting de Blasio’s attempts to tax the wealthy. He likened his opposition to the millionaire’s tax to his father’s opposition to the death penalty, all while working with an alliance of business interests called the Committee to Save New York, which saw weakening labor power as necessary to helping the economy.... And Cuomo recently invited the unwelcome scrutiny of Preet Bharara, the aggressive but straight-shooting Manhattan federal prosecutor, after Cuomo suddenly shut down a state commission to investigate corruption. With Cuomo’s assertiveness and national name recognition he is widely considered to the face of a Democratic Party that leans on social liberalism but depends on the commitment of corporate contributions while shedding its commitment to the New Deal. The WFP, which progressives nationwide see as a model for enacting things higher wage ordinances and unseating conservative Democratic incumbents, stood accused of selling out in 2010 when it endorsed Cuomo despite his anti-labor rhetoric.... At the start of his term, Cuomo angered the two largest state unions, the Public Employees Federation and the Civil Service Employees Union, when he imposed contracts on them that included wage freezes and other concessions. Cuomo’s freezing of property taxes have put a strain on upstate teachers unions.... But the lack of WFP challenger helps another third party leftist who could attract the WFP voters who were itching to break with Cuomo. Cuomo faces Westchester County Executive Rob Astorinoin the governors race. Howie Hawkins of the Green Party, who came in third in 2010 with 60,000 votes, believes that in a post-Occupy Wall Street landscape will be able to pull more support since he had almost no downstate campaign presence four years ago. This time, the Syracuse-based UPS driver and Teamster activist chose as his running mate Brian Jones, a leader in the United Federation of Teacher’s dissident MORE caucus and is well known among city radicals. I think it’ll be much larger scale, Hawkins told VICE News.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 23:20:33 +0000
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