Fear and voting
From left, Democratic attorney general contenders Letitia James, Sean Patrick Maloney, Leecia Eve and Zephyr Teachout debate on Aug. 28 at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Manhattan. Credit: The New York Times via AP, Pool / Holly Pickett
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Quick Points
Chapter and verse
- When President Donald Trump complained to author Bob Woodward about not having had a chance to talk to Woodward for his upcoming book, “Fear,” Woodward said he had spoken to six or seven people about setting up an interview, and Trump responded, “It’s really too bad, because nobody told me about it, and I would’ve loved to have spoken to you.” In the same sense that he would love to talk to special counsel Robert Mueller.
- So the good relationship between Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Suffolk PBA president Noel DiGerolamo is on the rocks, according to DiGerolamo. Given the cost of the PBA contract and health concessions from the union that haven’t come through yet, should taxpayers be upset about this?
- Nassau County Executive Laura Curran now wants to reassess her reassessment plan. Why does that sound like a double negative?
- Former Secretary of State John Kerry says he has not ruled out a second presidential run in 2020. What would he need to know?
- Ohio Gov. John Kasich says if he runs for president in 2020, he will do so as a Republican. Would he care to define the label?
Michael Dobie
Daily Point
AG candidates focus on Long Island
Leecia Eve told the Newsday editorial board Tuesday afternoon that she spent Friday and Saturday of the holiday weekend campaigning on Long Island in her long-shot campaign to win the Democratic nomination for attorney general.
Eve took the Long Island Rail Road and Lyft to our Melville office. She spoke about the housing affordability crisis, and how she would implement a different solution to dealing with zombie homes here: She would have the homes rehabbed and sold here as opposed to upstate, where there are plenty of abandoned residences that are best torn down.
Eve made a point of noting that neither she nor her three opponents have any specific roots in Nassau and Suffolk counties, but she said her work as a counsel and homeland security adviser to former Sen. Hillary Clinton, as well as her work for the Empire State Develpment Corp., gave her a deep understanding of Long Island issues.
Eve got a late start in the race, which seems wide open among NYC Public Advocate Tish James, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and law professor Zephyr Teachout. However, James, who was relatively late in getting her TV ads up compared with Maloney, seems to be spending the most time on Long Island in the hope it will give her the winning margin. James is expected to be in Nassau County twice this week, campaigning with Taylor Raynor, the candidate challenging Earlene Hooper in the 18th Assembly District, and holding a rally Saturday in Westbury.
Rita Ciolli
Pencil Point
Jumping into the deep end
Talking Point
The de Blasios’ 1-2 punch
Mayor Bill de Blasio has repeatedly refused to offer an endorsement in New York’s upcoming Democratic gubernatorial and attorney general primaries. But now his wife, Chirlane McCray, is out with her support for AG candidate Zephyr Teachout, a prominent critic of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
It was her decision, says McCray, who had recently flirted with a possible (non-mayoral) political run now that de Blasio is term-limited. But it’s hard not to see de Blasio’s not exactly subtle hand in this endorsement, given his ongoing Cuomo rivalry.
De Blasio and McCray have often operated as a joint political force. McCray chairs the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York and is the relentless face of the city’s ThriveNYC mental health initiative. In February, she and de Blasio announced the appointment of a deputy mayor for strategic policy initiatives. Ads currently active and paid for by the City of New York’s Facebook page come from the voice of both spouses: “Chirlane and I want every family to be able to get the health care and health coverage that they need.”
Last week, his new Fairness PAC (whose website has a tab titled “THE DE BLASIOS”) sent a fundraising appeal for the Georgia gubernatorial campaign of Stacey Abrams. Outside of New York, the mayor seems less inhibited by the need to play this kind of three-card endorsement monte.
Mark Chiusano
