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Daily Point

Looking back at Bill Clinton's DNC speeches

When former President Bill Clinton’s speech airs during the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, it will mark an extraordinary achievement: 11 consecutive DNC’s as a featured speaker. There have been good speeches and one legendarily bad one, but more losers than winners. Clinton has spoken in support of four victorious campaigns, two of them his own, and six losing causes, one of them his wife’s. 

It is possible that Tuesday night’s convention speech will be his last, but he may also appear again in the future, depending on what Democrats need and whether the political parties keep having these conventions.

A look at the highlights of his most notable convention speeches is a trip through recent electoral history. 

Talking Point

Schumer’s live job interview

New Yorkers again are in the spotlight at Tuesday night’s Democratic nominating convention as the conversation moves to outlining a specific legislative agenda. And Sen. Chuck Schumer will make the case for national unity and essentially for him getting a new job.

That’s why he repeatedly rehearsed his live, three-minute speech Tuesday morning on the Long Island Expressway as he drove with aide Angelo Roefaro to East Meadow for an event with Long Island veterans, who said they are worried about shake-ups by the U.S.. Postal Service that would delay the delivery of medications. Schumer has hammered away at the Trump administration, exploiting a major Trump campaign faux pas that let Democrats claim the Postal Service was being crippled by work-rules changes that would hamper the delivery of mail-in ballots.

According to Roefaro, Schumer was back at his Brooklyn home Tuesday afternoon and the job rehearsal continued as Schumer awaited a call from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Raising a white flag to stop the political bloodletting, DeJoy put out a statement earlier Tuesday that said no changes at the USPS will take place before the November election. 

Around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, standing at a Brooklyn waterfront site that frames the Statue of Liberty in the background, Schumer will stress the importance of electing a new class of Democratic senators to take control of the chamber to enact legislation that will address climate change and overhaul immigration laws. Schumer will harken back to 2013, when he had a role in the passage of bipartisan immigration reform and promise that it can happen again. 

And if Democrats do pick up four U.S. Senate seats in November, the current minority leader is expected to get that new job as majority leader.

—Rita Ciolli @RitaCiolli

Pencil Point

No exit

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Final Point

Young LIers: “We’re losing trust in the idea of affordable housing”

nextLI conducted a COVID-19 impact survey with public opinion firm YouGov. The survey polled more than 1,000 Long Islanders from June to July on the Island’s future in areas of the economy, child care, education, race and the environment. When analyzed by age, the survey found that those between ages 18 to 39:

• Are significantly more optimistic about Long Island’s economic future at 48%, compared to 40% of 40 to 59 year olds.

• Have had to change their major life plans the most. The top three life disruptions are: (1) Changing career plans or type of work you do (2) Changing jobs (3) Buying a home.

• Are most likely to consider “moving to a more affordable area of Long Island” compared to older Long Islanders. 

• Are most motivated by the pandemic and the George Floyd protests to vote.

These findings and more survey results were the topic of a nextLI webinar Monday afternoon, when young Long Islanders discussed Gen Z and millennial perspectives. Moderated by Coralie Saint-Louis, nextLI’s outreach and engagement manager, the webinar included Nassau County Legis. Josh Lafazan, the youngest elected official on Long Island; Daniel Lloyd, president of Minority Millennials; Jimmy Coughlan, development analyst for Tritec Real Estate; and Nicole Ki, nextLI data intern.

Lloyd said young Long Islanders' experiences with COVID-19 vary greatly by age, but also race.

“I think we forget our generation has experienced two epic crises, we did have the recession in 2009 and now we’re dealing with a pandemic only 10 years [later]. And now our highest earning age bracket, we’ve been forced to hold back on this idea of the American dream –– that’s millennials as a whole.”

Coughlan, 25, said Long Island has a concerning housing shortage and that the future for the next generation lies in building more mixed-use areas with affordable housing accessible to public transit and within walking distance to shops. 

Lafazan said we need to work on the trust deficit with young residents' faith in local government.

“The reason progress is not moving forward is because young people have not demanded their local elected officials to move it forward,” said Lafazan.  “Every elected official at one point in their career has said, ‘We have to look out for the next generation,’ but have we ever asked a follow-up question, ‘So what are you doing for us?’ ” 

Watch the full discussion here.

—Nicole Ki @_nicoleki