I'm with you 100%.
Posted on 09/26/2005 3:26:49 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Craig Livingston, a Caribbean-American real estate developer and Democrat who lives in Harlem, has never voted for a Republican in his life. But on Nov. 8, he is prepared to do just that, casting his ballot in the New York City mayoral race for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg over his Democratic opponent, Fernando Ferrer.
Mr. Livingston feels that the mayor has been accountable on his chief concern, improving the public schools, while Mr. Ferrer has failed to demonstrate that he is more than a lifelong politician.
But there is no consensus among black voters in his circle.
His cousin is voting for Mr. Bloomberg. One of his friends, Hakeem Jeffries, 35, a politically active lawyer from Brooklyn, supports Mr. Ferrer.
Mr. Jeffries sees a split in the black vote in his own life. His parents are backing Mr. Ferrer. A friend is critical of Mr. Ferrer but undecided. And Bill Howell, a deacon at Mr. Jeffries's Baptist church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, is such a fan of the mayor's that he joined the newly formed African-Americans for Bloomberg.
"This is the first time that I know of in my lifetime where the black electorate has been this receptive to the Republican agenda, and in New York City that is huge," said Mr. Livingston, 35.
Mr. Ferrer's victory in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary has provided Latinos with an historic opportunity to flex their political muscle, as Mr. Ferrer tries to become the city's first Hispanic mayor.
But to win City Hall, Mr. Ferrer's strategists believe he must build a multiracial coalition, a feat requiring him to capture a significant percentage of the black vote. Interviews with dozens of black voters suggest that that may pose a formidable hurdle, as the nature of the black electorate changes...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Caribbean blacks are more receptive to the GOP than American blacks. They are more culturally conservative as well.
During the Bloomberg years there has been no Amadou Diallo or (what was the name of the incident where the black man was sodomized with a tailpipe by four white cops ?) style incident of out of control police behavior. Racial tensions have thereby diminished.
I'm with you 100%.
Abner Louima. And it was the handle of a plunger. 4 guys were tried, but I think the upshot was that it was one guy who did it and one was convicted of covering it up. The other two were just pulled in by the lawyers. As I recall, Hannity made a cause celebre out of the guy who was jailed for the coverup. I recall that the case against him was pretty thin gruel.
Of course voting for Bloomberg counts for voting Republican about as much as going to McDonalds for a burger counts as going "out to dinner."
I dunno about that...there's hope.
Especially when Ken Blackwell (current OH Secretary of State, a real conservative and Black Republican) wins the Ohio Gubernatorial race in 2006 and gets 25% of the Black vote...essentially creaming his opponent.
Hey a guy can dream, can't he??
I don't know that voting for Bloomberg constitutes openness to traditional Republican policies or concerns.
Ken Blackwell WILL win.....he is fabulous!
Doesn't the name Craig Livingston ring a bell?
I plan to vote for him from Illinois..
I did a double take also, until I read this one was a "Caribbean-American". Am I the only American-American left in this country? ;)
You're right...but at least it's a baby step in the right direction.
James Estrin/The New York Times
Craig Livingston, left, a real estate
developer, said he would vote for
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a
Republican, while his friend
Hakeem Jeffries, a lawyer, said his
choice was Fernando Ferrer, a
Democrat.
I'm actually rooting for Ferrer in this race.
OK--I'll bite: Why? You miss crime?
Mzaybe we will get 20%--someday. But I fear that blacks are like the Jews: the will vote Democrat just because all their friends vote Democrat. They vote in a frenzy, like all those old Jewish ladies in Florida who were so eager to vote for Gore that they voted for Buchanan.
Because I have an intense dislike for Bloomberg both politically and personally. He's an elitist borderline sociopath who is a cancer on the Republican Party.
I don't love the guy either, but, as they say, "Better the devil you know than the one you don't know."
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