UWS Education
Favorite lines: "I'm basically a socialist. I'm as left as you get." Mike Lupinacci
"I manage a class full of teenagers; its not that much different [from joining the Assembly]." Emily Csendes Going into the Feb. 28 election, Linda Rosenthal is boasting of almost every major endorsement, including that of the UFT. Impressive, considering there are two educators in the race. But the UFT endorsed Linda without interviewing any of her challengers, her three opponents have said.
Hmm.And one more education related hmmm. Linda and one other candidate, Mike Lupinacci, said at last week's forum they favored keeping the current cap on the number of charter schools in the state [time clarified]. Mike and Joel Klein have said they need the cap raised.
Remember City Hall's whispering campaign against that state senator they said was interfering with the City's goals in Albany? He was in Queens. This race is in territory more familiar to Mike. The UWS is where he launched Democrats for Bloomberg.
--Azi Paybarah
I was at the forum last night, and I know that Mike Lupinacci did not say that he was against raising the cap on charter schools.
By the way does it concern anyone else that almost 25% of the State Assembly was elected through special elections?
The UFT also endorsed Bklyn DA Joe Hynes and his 2005 re-elect efforts (1) after pledging to say neutral and (2) not interviewing any of his opponents....
You forgot to mention that Lupinacci is Lenora Fulani's candidate in the race. Hmmm . . . isn't the UWS a kind of strange place for her to be running a candidate?
Not really. It's where Fred Newman and she first made their bones, in fact. It's hard to imagine the New Alliance Party/"social therapy" crowd taking root anywhere else, in fact. Thank God there's an East Side for sane Manhattanites to dwell in!
Since the UWS is overwhelmingly Jewish, isn't it kind of strange that an unknown candidate running in that area would attach himself by the hip to an anti-Semite like Fulani who contols the Manhattan Independence Party.
Hey 12:18,
Fulani is out with the independece party. Mike acceped the line only after he created his own party and petitioned his way onto the ballot.
Unfortunately there is no primary for a special election. So Lupinacci who after all is a registered Democrat is running on other lines.
The Democratic Party establishment handed the nomination to insider and longtime Nadler aide Linda Rosenthal.
I think the danger of letting 240 people decide who gets the Democratic line, is far greater than any imagined threat from the disgraced former leader of the independence party.
Your obviously Not in the Know. Fulani is still very much in charge of the Manhattan Independence Party. As for the others in control of the party, they've been her partners for years. What have they been doing being associated with her? Bloomberg should not have acccepted the line, he didn't need it. But the reality is, she is the boss of the Manhattan Independence Party. It's her party regardless of any windowdressing.
I think it's laughable that anyone would characterize Mike Lupinacci as joined at the hip with anyone.
He has been talking about his own ideas for how to reform education in this state and has stayed away from baseless accusations.
I guess some staffers are realy scared of Mike abd feel te need to try him by association. Unfortunately for them Mike is innocent.
Lupinacci is a disgrace. He has no chance of being elected and noone is afraid of him. Noone dumb enough to join himself at the hip to an anti-Semite while running in an overwhelmingly Jewsish district is going to last two seconds in politics.
I'm glad that Charles Simon is proud to spend his own money, but I think this race shows a true need for campaign finance reform.
noone is not a word.
Pardon the typo Eats. Maybe you can go through all the comments on this blog. You can feast on that.
For reference:
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/noone.html
Congratulations Eats. You have located a typo on a blog.
If Lupinacci had any courage or independence, he would not have accepted the Independence Party line. It looks like that might hvae cost him the Times' endorsement. The Times called it an act of desperation.
If I had Charles Simon's money, I'd spend it on something more a little more lucrative and a little less egocentric.
Linda Rosenthal is fine for the holdout powerbrokers of West Side politics. She looks a little like Velma from Scooby Doo, I think. Which is perfect because West Side politics is stuck in the 70s!
At some point the guard will change and the young, middle-class singles and (gasp!) FAMILIES moving into Trump and the other developments will register to vote and be far more open to new faces like Simon, Lupinacci (who I doubt is actually a socialist) and even the occasional Republican.
What do you mean by the old guard and why would anyone want to support someone who tries to makes his entry into politics via Fulani? As for his being a socialist, this is at least the second time during this campaign that Lupinacci has publicly referred to himself as one. This loser is very likely to be gone from politics after Tuesday.
Actually I kind of like this theme: Rosenthal is Velma, Gale Brewer could be Daphne, Stringer is Shaggy and Schneiderman is Fred!
Lupinacci tried to get the Dem line but was denied by county. I agree taking the Independence line is a bad move, but it definitely wasn't his first choice for "making his entry into politics." Tom Weiss, the only Orthodox Jew who ran, also interviewed for the Independence line.
The old guard are cynical, humorless ultra-liberal West Side clubhouse people. Their political understanding begins with the New Deal and ends with Watergate. Since then, any Republican or moderate Dem is not to be trusted or respected. There is zero nuance to their thinking.
Luckily, the old guard is thinning out and being replaced by much more independent voters-- did you know Bush got 30% more votes on the West Side in 2004 than in 2000, but Kerry only got 12% more than Gore?
I'm not saying the UWS will ever become Republican, but there is far more open-mindedness there than there was 10 or 15 years ago.
The point is that the Independence Party is exactly how he has chosen to make his entry into politics. What other people is for them to defend, if they can. Fulani and her group decided Lupinacci was their kind of guy and he took the line. He is responsible for his own actions.
And likes it's really a surprise that Fulani and her group preferred Lupinacci over a Jewish candidate. Weiss doesn't have Bloomberg's money.
So who is this person obsessed with the independene party? By my count you have posted 8 times.
So who is this person obsessed with counting? You sound like you should be on a team with Eats. Oh, that's right, you're probably the same person. My what a clever disguise. Looks like the Lupinacci campaign is so resigned to defeat that it's just hitting the blogs days away from the election.
Funny, Simon is not the new guard. He's from the old old guard.
(By the way does it concern anyone else that almost 25% of the State Assembly was elected through special elections?)
Yes. And that's a pretty tolerant use of the word "elections." I'm quite worried. Is it our fault for letting it happen, or theirs for doing it?
I just read about a new retail chain Cereality, where you can go to eat your choice of cold cereal. They're booming. Not only are Americans no longer willing to slave over a hot stove, but pouring cereal and milk seems to be too much for us.
That's an excellent point about special elections in general.
(Lupinacci tried to get the Dem line but was denied by county. I agree taking the Independence line is a bad move, but it definitely wasn't his first choice for "making his entry into politics." Tom Weiss, the only Orthodox Jew who ran, also interviewed for the Independence line.)
By the way, is anyone aware that to get on the ballot as an independent candidate it takes THREE TIMES as many signatures, collected in less time, that are required of a major party incumbent?
So you are stuck with minor parties (which generally just back major party incumbents anyway) in one party districts, which are just about all of them. Otherwise there is really no election at all, which of course is always the case.
The election process isn't my thing, but I actually read the election law once. What a crock it is!
He got onto the ballot on his own made-up party line through petitions which is the traditional way it's done in special elections. He didn't need the Independence Party line to be on the ballot. Charles Simon also got on through peitions with a made-up party.
Cranky to answer your question - "Is it our fault for letting it happen, or theirs for doing it?". It's their fault. Since NY does not inititative & referendum, it's up to the pols in Albany to change the system.