NY-Sen: Gillibrand Endorsed By Koch

Why would anyone want to crow about (4.00 / 2)

being endorsed by Ed fucking Koch? Really? I mean Grandpa Ed also endorsed Bush.

I'll most likely support Gillibrand, but this is the kind of endorsement that smart Democratic campaigns should probably not make too much noise about.

I'm not gonna rock the boat. Rockin' the boat's a drag. What you do is sink the boat!
- Truth and Soul, Inc.

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by: Putney Swope @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 19:28:00 PM UTC

maybe Koch likes gingham dresses now? (0.00 / 0)

What was the quote about Upstate?  

"wasting time in a pickup truck when you have to drive 20 miles to buy a gingham dress or a Sears, Roebuck suit..."

Something like that.

I'm so glad he wasn't Governor.

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by: simonstl @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 19:31:16 PM UTC

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Koch, the Bush endorser. (0.00 / 0)

When's KG going to roll out her D'Amato endorsement?

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by: Hudson @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 20:02:34 PM UTC

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Hudson Appears (4.00 / 1)

Of course Hudson had to zone in on the latest Gillibrand thread to add his reliable brand of irrelevant negativity. You keep reaching back several years for material--running out of insults?

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by: fran20 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 01:23:10 AM UTC

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Koch also endorsed Spitzer... (0.00 / 0)

And that endorsement came after Koch had endorsed Bush.

Yes, Koch has endorsed Republicans. He went through this period where he endorsed Republicans. His reasoning for backing Bush was likely connected to his support for the war, which he turned his back on a couple of years ago.

She was clearly playing to a certain base here. It might not be what you think "smart Democratic campaigns" would make noise about (and they really didn't make that much noise about it - it was a short press release and that was it) but if he was good enough for Spitzer, he's good enough for Gillibrand.

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by: robert.harding @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 20:25:28 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I challenge you... (4.00 / 1)

... to find a single voter in the entire State of New York who was pushed off the fence to vote for Spitzer by the endorsement of Ed Koch.

(But you might find someone who was persuaded not to vote for Spitzer because of Ed Koch...)

Yeah, it was the all-important Koch endorsement which really put Eliot over the top. Spitzer really owed him big time.

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by: Hudson @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 20:45:06 PM UTC

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And you just proved... (0.00 / 0)

Why it's ridiculous to assume that this is some "big endorsement" announcement by Gillibrand. It isn't. It's just another current or former elected official that is backing her. It's no different than Sharpton or any other endorsement.

The point is that Spitzer was endorsed by the Bush-endorsing Koch too. Did that make Spitzer a worse candidate?

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by: robert.harding @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 20:51:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

from here (4.00 / 1)

It looked at least as "big endorsement" as all the other Gillibrand endorsements rolling across the TAP front page.

On the bright side, though, at least the army of Gillibrand-only commenters hasn't shown up on this one yet.

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by: simonstl @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 20:56:05 PM UTC

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Newsflash: TAP covers news going on in New York politics. (4.00 / 1)

And the font is one size fits all.  

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by: Adama @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:10:06 PM UTC

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it's not the font, but more the gushing (0.00 / 0)

which I have to admit gets wearying after a while.  I guess I'm not your typical voter, but reading about endorsement after endorsement generally makes me less interested in a candidate.  (Ed Koch in particular, of course.)

The "Greek chorus" of praise echoing these hasn't helped, either.

It's a good week for cynicism in any event, I guess.  

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by: simonstl @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:23:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Meh. (0.00 / 0)

I don't particularly give a crap about endorsements as such, though they do make an interesting picture of where the various elements of the party are coming down on things. But I for one do not run TAP, and those who have the keys to the front page may find it more newsworthy--or they just want to break up the endless stories about the state senate.

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by: Adama @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:31:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Adama... (4.00 / 1)

I did post it mainly to break away from the state senate talk. Lord knows that is what has been keeping us all busy lately.

It should be noted that there were a few endorsements I did not write about that Gillibrand received earlier this week. I picked this one just so I could talk about something else for once.  

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by: robert.harding @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:43:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Monday's endorsement by two more (4.00 / 3)

Members of Congress from the city -- Ed Towns and Nydia Velazquez -- is more newsworthy than Koch's, IMHO.

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by: devtob @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 22:05:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Especially Velasquez (4.00 / 3)

If I'm not mistaken, I read somewhere Maloney said it would be "over" if Velasquez endorsed Gillibrand.

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 01:35:25 AM UTC

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It would be nice if (0.00 / 0)

you could find a link for that.

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by: devtob @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 04:10:25 AM UTC

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I've been looking (0.00 / 0)

but I swear I saw it. I don't really know if it's true, but I'm thinking it was over long before Velazquez endorsed.  

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 04:33:09 AM UTC

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I will tell you what I told the rest... (4.00 / 3)

Simon, when Maloney starts sending me stuff, you will hear about her endorsements too. But she might want to start with a declaration of her candidacy, which she hasn't done yet. Once that happens, people will hear about it.

I don't know what posts you have read here, but we always have a balance of pro and anti-Gillibrand commenters.  

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by: robert.harding @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:41:38 PM UTC

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I'm not looking forward to press releases from Maloney either (0.00 / 0)

I just don't find a stream of PR interesting as a major component of the playlist.

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by: simonstl @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:50:14 PM UTC

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Reliable Negative Voices (0.00 / 0)

I see the reliable Gillibrand detractors are here though. Where's Arken?

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by: fran20 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 01:25:53 AM UTC

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ah - the army is arriving (0.00 / 0)

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by: simonstl @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 01:32:57 AM UTC

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My apologies for being late... (4.00 / 1)

Sorry, simon, I had an outing to go to the Yankees/Red Sox game and a kids thing, so I missed this.  Yes, indeed, I only found the community here during the Murphy race and also have a passing interest in Gillibrand.  As to my desire to post on every twist and turn of Senators being Senators ... well, more will need to change in the Senate than a vote or two before that becomes substantive, so for now I'll hold my tongue and just watch the entertainment. So, until things heat up in a little race in the high country, I'll just show up now and then to "gush" and be glad it's a nice change from the days when being blue upstate meant ... well, being blue.

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by: Hyde @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 17:18:31 PM UTC

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you actually have posted on other subjects (0.00 / 0)

It's the folks who seem exclusively to appear to defend or praise Gillibrand who make me wonder about whether The Albany Project is getting Astroturfed.

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by: simonstl @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 17:24:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Evidently you (or someone) considered it big enough... (4.00 / 1)

... for it to be a front page story on this site.

But that's understandable, since there is nothing else going on in Albany right now. I mean, it's not like there was a recent coup in the Senate or anythi--oh.

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by: Hudson @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:18:11 PM UTC

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I went through a period (0.00 / 0)

where I endorsed Republicans too.

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 02:33:39 AM UTC

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Koch Used to Represent Maloney's Seat In Congress (4.00 / 2)

and is known to be close to Maloney.  That's why Gillibrand is touting it.

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by: JMNYC @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:42:44 PM UTC

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Koch represented Maloney's House District (4.00 / 1)

in the 1970's.

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 01:30:21 AM UTC

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This Is A Big Deal Because Koch Has Always Been (4.00 / 4)

a Maloney supporter.  He has endorsed her for almost everything she has run for.  

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by: JMNYC @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:39:31 PM UTC

Thanks (4.00 / 1)

That provides some badly-needed context to what was otherwise a purely annoying endorsement.

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by: simonstl @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:47:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well, that part makes sense (4.00 / 1)

for some NYC types.

I'm a Gillibrand supporter, but I'm underwhelmed by an endorsement from an old pol who has also endorsed Giuliani, D'Amato, Pataki, Bloomberg and Bush, and whose weekly column is posted at newsmax.com, home to dead-end birther conspiracists.

The big tent really stretches for a guy like Koch.

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by: devtob @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 21:59:04 PM UTC

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Yeah but this endorsement is all about geography (0.00 / 0)

Koch's political base is Maloney's...the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

This would be like if say Yvette Clarke decided to run against Gillibrand and Major Ownes endorsed Gillibrand...or something like that.

You get what I'm saying.  

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 01:33:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Once upon a time, (0.00 / 0)

the Village Independent Democratic club was Koch's base.

Still Manhattan, but somewhat different from the Upper East Side.

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by: devtob @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 02:13:37 AM UTC

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Still the Upper East Side (0.00 / 0)

is where he got elected to Congress multiple times.

Slightly OT, does anyone know where we can find past congressional district maps? I was trying to see what Koch's district looked like in the 1970s and why the hell Bill Green got elected there so many times.

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 02:37:13 AM UTC

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Re: Bill Green (0.00 / 0)

It helped that he was a multi-millionaire self-funder, and a moderate Republican.

At a time when the mayor of New York was more like a moderate Republican than a liberal Democrat.

You know who I'm talking about.

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by: devtob @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 04:08:56 AM UTC

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Different Era (0.00 / 0)

The East Side of Manhattan was dominated by liberal Republicans for decades and the last one held office until 2002 (John Ravitz).  The maps won't tell you a thing.  It was largely cultural.  It's a highly educated area and a lot of people liked the idea of being able to split tickets somewhere along the line since the East Side Rs ran away from the national party.

The appearance of Gingrich on the national scene and then Bush finally undid them.  They couldn't run away from their party as they had for decades.

With regards to Bill Green , he won in the special to succeed Koch in 1978 b/c the Dems nominated Bella Abzug rather than Councilman Carter Burden.  Burden would have held the seat but Abzug was too polarizing a personality for the area.  After that, Green used a combination of incumbency and  poor candidates (Mark Green was one of his opponents) to hold the seat throughout the 1980s.  

In 1992 the combination of a strong candidate in Maloney, a Clinton landslide and the addition of areas of Queens and Brooklyn in redistricting did Green in.
 

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by: JMNYC @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 15:45:49 PM UTC

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Actually Koch Still Has A Following (0.00 / 0)

amongst older NYC Jews throughout the 5 boroughs who vote in higher numbers than the percent of population they represent.  It is a lot bigger than Major Owens endorsing Yvette Clarke - no one knows Owens outside his Congressional District.  

Like him, hate him - Koch is almost universally known.  People still seek out his endorsement b/c they know it helps with downstate older Jewish voters.  

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by: JMNYC @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 15:33:39 PM UTC

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I can't believe its butter!!!! (4.00 / 2)

While listening to Chartock this afternoon he attempted to give Maloney's in house poll legitimacy, saying, in effect, "There are polls out there that say Maloney can beat Senator Gillibrand".  

Of course, he then went on to say the he and Maloney previously worked together in the NYS Senate when he was a young professor hard up for cash (which is certainly not the case now).  

If wonder if, at the time, he was enamored by Carolyn's "sweet Carolina twang"?

You would think he was considering the amount of air time he gives her at WAMC.

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by: hawkny @ Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 22:36:19 PM UTC

Chartock underestimated Gillibrand in 2006, (4.00 / 1)

and he's still doing it today.

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by: devtob @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 02:14:39 AM UTC

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Maloney an embarrassment (0.00 / 0)

Watching Maloney on Channel One explains why Koch supports Gillibrand.  Maloney was a total embarrassment.

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by: UES @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 02:20:05 AM UTC

What did she say? (0.00 / 0)

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 02:23:41 AM UTC

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Nevermind I saw it (4.00 / 1)

Maloney thinks she's going to defeat Gillibrand running on Gillibrand's opposition to TARP? Really? Doesn't she realize how unpopular TARP is, even if it was needed?

Geez, the Josh Isay crap communications team is showing it's face already.  

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by: nrafter530 @ Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 02:27:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]