Posted on 10/08/2012 12:16:01 PM PDT by presidio9
I am an upper West Sider, born and raised. In the most liberal district in the country, I was brought up by the most liberal parents in the entire district. Or so it seemed — I may not have been a red diaper baby, but my diaper was unmistakably pink.
Yet my own politics, early on, took a very different turn, and so I have never voted like an upper West Sider. Call it the consequences of red diaper rash. Or waking up to the bad effects of so much do-goodery. I’ve long believed that radical politics have destroyed the neighborhood I love most.
So why, for the first time, am I registering as a Democrat? Because I want to have a say in the future of my city in the sweeping 2013 elections, where we will vote on a new City Council, a new mayor and a slew of other local offices.
Everyone who wants his or her voice heard should do the same. Just log onto the New York State Board of Elections homepage and fill out a form. Trust me, I’m far from thrilled about it. My politics certainly haven’t changed; I just want my politics to change the city for the better.
Fact is, most of the city’s next round of elected officials will be determined in the 2013 Democratic primaries — in which only registered Democrats can have a say. And only Democrats (and those Republicans and independents in the city who re-register as Democrats before the deadline of Oct. 12) can influence these elections.
In heavily Democratic districts such as the upper West Side, Democrats for local offices are sure to win the general election. The only real voter choice will therefore occur at the primary level. Right now, things don’t look all that different for the mayor’s race, either.
The Democratic machine has long benefited from this narrowing of the voting base. Local candidates emerge from the backrooms of a handful of entrenched Democratic clubs. By mobilizing the party fringe, these clubs then get their candidates on the general ballot.
That’s why New York’s primary laws are some of the most restrictive in the country. The party bosses don’t want to hear from us. Where other states allow voters to declare party affiliation on the day of a primary, New Yorkers must do it a year ahead, when few are focused on the upcoming election.
This time around, let’s prove them wrong. We live in a city where 68% of voters are registered Democrats, outnumbering Republicans 6 to 1. That ratio is even higher in districts like mine. That means that once on the ballot, the Democratic candidate could be the embalmed remains of Boss Tweed and still win. At the same time, the non-Dem voice, with its moderate and conservative points of view, is always silenced in the general election.
Yet in primary races, where only a small number of votes are split among several candidates, that non-Dem voice could be significant — if only we had a vote to cast.
In my district, there are currently 80,000 registered Democrats, 13,000 Republicans and 20,000 nonregistered independents. Considering that fewer than 20,000 voters usually turn out for the Democratic primaries for local office, a push of newly minted Democratic voters from the Republican and independent rolls could make a huge difference.
For decades, the radical fringe has held a lock on my City Council seat. Back in 2009, City Council members struck a bargain with Mayor Bloomberg to give themselves third terms, but after 12 years, the term limits on these seats are finally coming due.
In 2013, we will have an open Democratic primary race for the first time since 2001. Already in my district, it looks like several candidates plan to run, offering a range of positions and opinions. Some are moderates. Others are old-line liberals.
For once, the choice doesn’t have to be made by a few geriatric radicals holed up in the neighborhood’s last rent-controlled classic six apartments. If the Republicans and independents in my district added their votes to the existing Democratic moderates, the results could turn the corner on the neighborhood’s legacy of bad politics.
Registration doesn’t mean losing principles. It means making principles count in the voting booth.
We can still donate to the candidate of our choice, volunteer for our favorite political parties and cast our lot for anybody who makes it into the general election.
Call it strategic affiliation. It’s something our current mayor certainly understands, having gone from a Democrat to a Republican to an independent.
We don’t necessarily have to believe in the Democratic Party to vote in the Democratic primary. We just have to register as Democrats and believe in democracy.
Panero is managing editor of The New Criterion.
This guy has lived in NY too long.
I agree.
Take a vacation in Texas. It’s a real breath of fresh air.
Us Texan’s love our Cadillac’s,
Big Continental’s and Pontiac’s
We’re gonna keep all the gas we can make
And let them Yankee’s shiver and shake
Well, them Yankee’s say they need our oil
And they gotta have gasoline
But don’t you put no refineries way up north
They wanna keep their air real clean
They only got enough Ignite
To last until midnight
Not enough fuel
to keep their beer real cool
But we’ll send you lots of oil, now don’t you fear
If you promise not to move down here
- The Folkel Minority
gak. lignite scanned wrong!
Seems like this guy has a firm grasp of the obvious. I generally vote in the dem primary because that IS the election for local/county offices where I live. Of course, in Ohio, it’s very easy to switch back and forth between the democrats and republicans due to the open primary format.
Pretty smart tactic actually.. or remain a republican with bitching rights to nobody.. (that counts)..
Not so in every city but in some citys and even States it IS SO..
The democrat party could use a few DINOs.. loud mouthed DINOs..
Spreading LOGIC all over the democrat spectrum..
A few Democrats in name only spreading the truth could be toxic to democrat party talking points..
Always half-truths and lies..
My dad told me years ago that a lot of NYC people were dems so they could vote in the primary. Not him and my mom of course. I’m not sure about Dad, but my mother would have cut her throat before she became a Dim.
Many well-entrenched institutions can only be destroyed from the INSIDE.
I saw at their convention how democrats count votes so even if we all joined up and voted in the primaries, I would have no confidence of an honest count.
how is 68% a 6-to-1 ratio? I must have missed school that day.
Can you imagine the fun of spreading the conservative message as a Democrat politician to groups of people who have been taught all their lives to listen to whatever the local Democrat told them to do? And the horrified reaction of the Leftist elites, who would then have to figure out how to teach complete idiots to listen to some Democrats, but not others?
I've always thought conservatives would have a much easier time taking over the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. The authoritarian structures are already there and the serfs are waiting to obey. :)
But.. but... - there will be CHAOS in the ranks!
I was a registered Democrat during the 27 years NYC was my primary residence. NYC is a one-party system. As a Republican, I couldn’t vote in the primaries - the Dems always ran unopposed. So I would vote for the most “conservative” Democrat out there (generally, Ed Koch). Then I would vote Republican (really, conservative) in the general.
Wow.
Times change.
There was a time when everyone in the South was a Democrat, liberals and conservatives alike.
“This time around, let’s prove them wrong. We live in a city where 68% of voters are registered Democrats, outnumbering Republicans 6 to 1. That ratio is even higher in districts like mine. That means that once on the ballot, the Democratic candidate could be the embalmed remains of Boss Tweed and still win. At the same time, the non-Dem voice, with its moderate and conservative points of view, is always silenced in the general election.”
Kind of a smart move.
Sadly, it wont really work. I’ve seen it in action: You have a crazy leftwing marxist, and a sort of normal not-crazy liberal, and its a 50/50 shot who wins the primary.
And then here in Texas, the Democrat liberals finally wised up and realized to win in SBOE races, they have to run RINO fake conservatives. So they did. Messing with the other guy’s party is less expensive than losing a general election.
Anyone standing up to the leftists is doing the Lord’s work, whatever party they are in.
Not all of the 32% are pubbies.
The plural of Cadillac is Cadillacs, not Cadillac’s.
I lived in Upstate NY for two years, the one major election I got to participate was the year Pataki defeated Pontius Mario Cuomo... I fled after that, but goodness it sure felt good taking down a left wing windbag!
I have to admit. I thought about changing my registration earlier this year just so I could start a “Democrats for Romney” group.
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