New York Conservatives met tonight in Staten Island to endorse a candidate to replace disgraced and retiring Rep. Vito Fossella, but they couldn’t agree on a pick, according to the Staten Island Advance.
Brooklyn Conservatives and state party chair Michael Long want to support Republican Frank Powers, but Staten Island Conservatives want to see their line given to Democrat Mike McMahon:
Borough President James P. Molinaro, who did not attend the convention because he is out of town, minced no words about his choice, calling McMahon “the better man for the job.”
“He knows the problems of Staten Island better than anyone,” Molinaro said. “He’s shown he can get things done.” […]
But Long and Brooklyn Conservative leaders are vetoing McMahon because he voted in favor of property-tax hikes and congestion pricing, and because he favors abortion rights.
“He has not put together a Conservative record,” Long, a Brooklynite, told the Advance tonight. “He voted for every tax that came down the pike in the Council.”
Long said, “I don’t want to give [Democratic House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi another vote.”
The disagreement leaves the coveted endorsement up in the air for now:
Island and Brooklyn Conservatives will continue to debate the endorsement. If the two sides can’t agree, the question will go before the state Conservative executive committee in July, where Long will hold great sway.
In the meantime, it is believed that Island Conservatives will gather petition signatures for McMahon. Kassar said he will gather signatures for Powers on the Brooklyn side.
“I think we will have success getting Frank Powers on the ballot,” he said.
In other news, Libertarian hopeful Fran Powers (son of Frank) is dismayed that his father has begun questioning his “lifestyle” in the press.
He appeals to us on his opposition to gay marriage, and he told us he continues to support U.S. action in Iraq.”
– Conservative Party Chairman Jerry Kassar
http://www.politico.com/news/s…
But when asked in a recent interview his view on tax increases (18.5% tax increase), Mr. McMahon, the Democratic incumbent city councilman from Staten Island’s north shore, asked, ”Can we talk about some other things first?”
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/f…
On Staten Island, Councilman Michael McMahon, who claimed he was leaning against congestion pricing, stunned most insiders by flipping at the last moment.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new…
McMahon was in the Top 5 in the New York City Council slush fund scandal.
http://www.gothamgazette.com/a…
..not that it matters at this point with the GOP self-destructing. He can get the conservative party endorsement from the Staten Island leadership for pragmatic or personal reasons but if it comes down to a Conservative Party primary I can’t see the far more ideological membership not going with the Republican.
Was hoping they’d at least endorse Paul Atanasio and hopefully that will be a compromise they’ll consider.
But NYC politics is f***ed up.
This is the best race in the country for entertainment value!
The leading comment here, which is ripe with Republican talking points, divisive politics at its worst, and outright misleading campaign rhetoric, has only solidified my support as a blogger for Mike McMahon.
It is clear to me that Steve Harrison probably holds the more progressive positions in this case, but I agree with what has been posted in that we need to establish a permanency in the seats that we can and that Harrison can’t do that.
I have long thought that Harrison was a weak candidate that only came close to Fossella due to the anti-Republican climate. Many of the marginal seats that we took were due to that but we have taken them with candidates that have a good probability to hold those seats. Steve Harrison will be crushed once the anti-Republican environment lifts, which it will do at some point.
With keeping this seat longterm in mind, I’m supporting Mike McMahon for Congress.
The district will be gerrymandered Democrat in 2010, so the long term argument doesn’t cut it. The County leadership also threatened people’s jobs if they didn’t support McMahon during the hand raising vote at the Staten Island Democratic County Committee endorsement. No just their leadership positions, which would have been slimy in its own right, but their actual jobs. Many Harrison supporters didn’t show up because they wanted to remain employed and didn’t want to vote for McMahon. One threatened Harrison supporter who voted for McMahon during the Soviet Style proceedings said he felt like he needed a bath afterwards.