Today, BlogPac is thrilled to announce our first endorsement in the Blue to Bluer campaign: Paul Newell for New York State Assembly. Newell is running against New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the Democratic primary, which will take place on September, so we will have a lot of time to grow familiar with Paul, and work on this campaign. You can visit Paul's website here.
Throughout Blue to Bluer, BlogPac will be relying on local bloggers for their insight. In the case of this campaign, here is the nomination I received from Phillip Anderson of The Albany Project:
"While the single largest impediment to reforming the New York state legislature, a body dubbed "the most dysfunctional in the nation" by NYU's Brenna Center for Justice, is certainly our state Senate Majority Leader, Republican Joe Bruno, a close second would be our Assembly Speaker, Democrat Sheldon Silver. Silver, along with Bruno and our new governor, David Paterson, is one of the infamous "three men in a room" that control most everything in Albany.
This race is well suited, if not perfectly so for BlogPAC's Blue to Bluer program because it offers a fantastic bang for buck potential. In a solidly blue city like New York, our only meaningful elections are primaries. They are almost always low turnout affairs and often have huge consequences. A swing of roughly 6,000 votes in this district could radically effect the lives of over 19 million New Yorkers. This race will be won the old fashioned way, the way elections in dense urban districts often are, through street by street, building by building organizing. Because of the ridiculously expensive media market, not even Silver, one of the three most powerful men in New York will be doing television spots. This race offers ample opportunities for real people powered, neighbor to neighbor ground work which, given the absurd gerrymandering and campaign finance regulations of New York, is really the only way it can be won.
The district is tailor-made for Silver who drew it himself and has larded it with pork for three decades. He hasn't even had a token primary challenge in well over 20 years. Until now.
While there are actually two Democratic challengers to Shelly this cycle, I have nominated community organizer Paul Newell for Blue to Bluer. I believe that he offers the best chance, certainly the best chance since the 80s, to unseat one of those "three men" and break a large part of the logjam that keeps our state government a national laughingstock.
Newell, besides being a staunch progressive and genuine reformer, has an ambitious and I feel quite shrewd plan to swing those 6K votes. He's quite clear eyed about the difficulty of the task ahead of him. Primary challenges in New York are always a long shot and a challenge against the Assembly Speaker is even more so. The system that Silver and a bipartisan group of legislators going back a century or so is designed for one thing above all, incumbent protection. This race certainly will not be easily won, but it is doable and I think Newell is the man who can do it. But he'll need our help.
Sheldon Silver, then 32, the same age as Newell is today, first ran for the Assembly in 1976 and he did so as an insurgent reformer. He has now become the very embodiment of everything he ran to oppose all those years ago. Silver has certainly changed over the years and so has his district. Silver long ago abandoned his constituents in favor of playing Albany power broker. The district (and the nation, for that matter) are primed for change. You can help change life for the better for almost 20 million New Yorkers by helping Paul Newell win 6K votes in lower Manhattan.
cheers,
phillip"
Here is a video of Paul Newell introducting himself to the online community:
New York is one of the bluest states in the nation, and as such should be a national leader when it comes to progressive policy. In 2009, after Democrats take control of the State Senate (right now, they are only one seat away), it is imperative that Democrats have progressive leadership in the State Assembly that can make it happen along with Governor David Paterson. It is in this way that defeating Sheldon Silver can help bring progressive change across the entire nation, and not just to New York State.
So, Paul Newell for New York State Assembly! No ask for activism today--just an introduction. In the coming days, BlogPac will be unveiling more endorsements in Blue to Bluer, and also offer more ways to become familiar with the endorsed candidates. If you have more candidate suggestions in your local area, please email me at christopher_j_bowers@yahoo.com. Together, we need to keep building the progressive movement around the country.
