Sheldon Silver's Opponent Hunts for Small Donors
In this campaign video, one of Sheldon Silver’s opponents, Luke Henry, hits the street to push his fund-raising philosophy.
“A lot of my time is spent raising money," he tells one resident. "I have to go lock myself in a room, call a list of people, ask them for donations. And that’s a bad system.”
Then, the (low-dollar) pitch:
“Would you give me five dollars -- donate five dollars to my campaign?”
One person replies:
“Are you really running? 'Cause I just met you on the street.”
Obama Vs. McCain Polling Data
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 46.1
- 41.9
- Obama +4.2
Favorable Ratings
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 55.7
- 32.7
- +23.0
- McCain
- 52.4
- 34.7
- +17.7
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Seems Luke Henry isn't all he claims to be. A little research reveals he's connected with the right-wing landlord-friendly Village Reform Democratic Club ... home of Ray Cline ... and at the same time, strangely enough, connected with the LES CODA Club (home of community sell-out Margarita Lopez) and the M. Lopez Astroturf group East Side Community Coalition (EVCC) which is trying to shove bad zoning onto the LES.
I don't like Silver, but Henry isn't a real alternative.
Actually, unlike Silver, Luke isn't trying to hide anything. Luke has publicly posted on his website the groups that he is involved with, so you can just go to his website to check them out: www.lukehenry.org. If one anonymous poster has some weird issue with some of these groups, that's not Luke's problem.
Luke is a serious candidate who's winning people over one at a time. His ability to connect with voters is clear from the video. I think he has a real chance to give Silver a real run for his money. And speaking of money, I admire is commitment to Clean Money Clean Elections -- it's an important issue and Luke is all over it.
The previous poster's (anonymous) comment is ludicrous. I don't know who wrote it, or what their agenda is, but it is highly insulting to the members of VRDC and CODA, who work hard to preserve their communities and are constantly fighting real estate developers, whether its landlords raising rent, or development projects being permitted to run rampant over our downtown neighborhoods.
If you've met Luke on the street, or, for that matter, read his website at all, it is readily apparent that he is a progressive Democrat, and exactly what the 64th AD needs. His support for Clean Money Clean Elections reform is a terrific example of that.
Asking for money on YouTube doesn't convince me that Luke Henry isnt trying to hide anything.
I don't get the move to push Silver out of office. Seems to me, he's been the only thing standing between Bloomberg's crazy develop-and-destroy agenda and middle class New Yorkers. Without Silver, we'd have the West Side stadium and congestion pricing, both of which were huge boondoggles that the Assembly, with Silver as Speaker, rightly said no to.
Reasonable people could differ on congestion pricing - I supported it, but even so, thought the plan needed some adjustments - but what is particularly appalling about Silver's behavior with respect to congestion pricing is that there wasn't even an open vote for or against. With Silver in control, if he doesn't support an issue, he can just table it by never letting it get to the floor for a vote. So all the reforms that individual legislators are trying to bring to Albany, all the positive things for the state and the city that they would like to push forward, are just subject to his whim. Any time anyone has tried to end corruption in Albany, Silver has killed it. And we still don't have good education, or housing reform, or campaign finance reform, or critically, access to healthcare. Government by Silver, Bruno and the governor only is not working for New Yorkers.
Albany is broken has been for years. Silver isn't going to fix it -- he has enough clout that he could make real progress if he wanted to, but he doesn't want to. He'd rather keep his caucus happy to stay in power.
Luke Henry is a serious candidate who's making real inroads in the district. I hope he can pull it off.
The problem is you get someone who claims to be a community-minded reformer, i.e., Christine Quinn (one of many examples). Once they are in office that's when the real estate money starts flowing (just like with Quinn) and that's when they support bad projects (just like Quinn). Remember Margarita Lopez? I supported her in 1997. Soon as she got in she started lining up with Peter Vallone and later Gif Miller. She supported developers in big ways. And she came from CODA which claimed a progressive mantel. Now a fair number of the CODA people like Rosie Mendez make no secret about being developer-friendly. And who really is Like Henry? Is there a history of several decades that you normally see with local community activists? I haven't seen it.
It's silly to expect someone who is 33 to have a history of "several decades" of activism. Moreover, while Luke has been active in the progressive community, and has done pro bono legal work, he's an attorney, not a "local community activist".
Given the current state of NY politics, I can understand why you're cynical, but there is no reason to attack Luke on that basis. He has specifically criticized Silver for weakening tenant protections and his pro-tenant platform is very clear. He wants to repeal vacancy control, repeal the Urstadt laws, cap building heights, and institute stronger laws protecting tenants. If some of the CODA people are developer friendly - and I haven't seen that, but let's say they are for the sake of the argument - it is very clear that Luke is not.
Campaign finance reform (like Clean Money Clean Elections) is KEY to making sure that politicians are answerable to their constituents, and not to corporate interests. The same is true for financial disclosure. Silver, of course, continues to refuse to release his tax return.
Kate- well spoken. Thank you.