She says that Cynthia Nixon should not be written off.
Cuomo has raised $30 million, almost all of it from fat cats and Wall Street.
Nixon, unlike Cuomo, is a genuine progressive.
Cuomo has helped Republicans retain control of the State Senate, even though Democrats have a numerical majority. Cuomo has allied himself with a breakaway group of rightwing Democrats (the Independent Democratic Caucus), who side with the Republicans and keep the Republicans in power. At Cuomo’s last election, he persuaded the Working Families Party to endorse him by promising to help Democrats win back the Senate. The day after he won the WFP endorsement, he broke his promise. That is why the leader of the State Senate is a rightwing Republican, John Flanagan, who defeats every progressive measure.
Nixon promises to change Albany’s culture of corruption. One of Cuomo’s closest aides was recently convicted of taking bribes.
She is way ahead of Cuomo on education issues. She went to public school, and she sends her own children to public schools. She understands that the state has failed to fund the public schools in response to court orders. She knows that Cuomo does the bidding of the charter industry, who have given generously to Cuomo. She knows that Cuomo supports vouchers, in a blatant appeal to religious groups. She remembers that Cuomo promised to “break up the public education monopoly” by funding billionaire-backed charters.
Cynthia is intelligent, quick on her feet, and unafraid of Cuomo, who likes to bully people.
At Cuomo’s last Democratic primary four years ago, Zephyr Teachout won 34% of the vote, with no money or media exposure or name recognition. She swept upstate New York. Now she is treasurer of Cynthia Nixon’s campaign.
If Nixon can win Teachout’s 34% by building on her New York City appeal, and add to it with the free media and name recognition that Teachout never had, Cuomo should worry.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Go Cynthia Nixon! Her support of public education is a breath of fresh air.
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I hope public education is a big issue in this year’s campaign (in California, too).
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If Nixon were to win, it would send an undeniable message to the DNC.
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hard to believe that she won’t be swayed, inch by inch, into the Democratic Party’s deeply entrenched DFER fold: so many who start out with a public school protective stance start crumbling with statements about how ‘this choice school is great’ or ‘that choice school is good’, which soon enough turns into ‘we need more choice schools’ and ‘we need more testing…’
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ciedie aech,
That is so defeatist. We can’t elect democrats who are strongly pro-public school because we have already decided they will be co-opted. So instead we should …. what?
Bernie Sanders says exactly those kinds of things about charters and he is not deeply entrenched by the Democratic Party and doesn’t care what they think. Who are all these people who “start out with a public school protective stance and start crumbling…”??
I don’t care about statements saying that some charter is good. And I don’t think there is anything wrong with “choice” schools if they are public schools and part of the system and not “competing” with the system.
I’m not seeing Democrats who are strongly pro-public schools getting co-opted. Do you know what I am seeing? Propaganda campaigns funded by billionaire privatizers to convince voters NOT to support the candidates who strongly support public schools. To convince voters that those candidates are “co-opted” by looking at one tiny action of compromising — which politics is about –instead of the entirety of their actions. There is compromise while doing great good and there is being on the side of privatizers. And if we are defeating the pro-public school candidates before they are even elected, then why are we even bothering to care?
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Of course certain ideological purists will bring up the fact that Cynthia Nixon was a supporter of Hillary, yes, that Hillary, and Obama: ergo unacceptable. That’s not my opinion, if I lived in NY I would happily vote for Nixon; she’s a progressive, she’s pro public education and deplores the income inequality in this nation. I wish her all the best and at the least she will bring attention to these crucial issues regarding education and predatory capitalism.
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Since Cuomo also supported Hillary…
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When it gets closer to the election, I will not be surprised to see those same ideological purists attacking Cynthia Nixon because of some stance that the right wing troll propaganda they read told them was a sign of them being a lying, dishonest fake progressive.
It’s unclear that any candidate would ever be “good enough”.
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Right, it’s progressives who will be attacking Nixon. Just like it was a progressive who called her an “unqualified lesbian”. Sigh.
You are something else, NYCPSP.
BTW, what do you make of the Democratic silence regarding that comment? Is it okay if a Democrat calls someone an “unqualified lesbian”? Why do you think the Democratic Establishment is not up in arms about Quinn’s comment?
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Cuomo is the Democratic Establishment in New York.
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren should endorse Cynthia Nixon, who has made major campaign issues of support for public schools, wealth inequality, and corruption in Albany.
Will national progressives support her or Cuomo?
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dienne77,
Cynthia Nixon and her partner are very close to Bill de Blasio. I have heard you post non-stop about how your spidey sense tingles anytime there is anything the right wing trolls post that you accept without question that tells you that de Blasio is corrupt.
I have no faith that you will not do the same when you start reading the anti-Cynthia Nixon propaganda. After all, she did “consort” with Bill de Blasio, so she is obviously very suspect just like all the other democrats.
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^^An example of your delusion. Every democrat who does not automatically call out Quinn is — by definition — not a real progressive and it’s a good thing if they are defeated.
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Are you completely unable to distinguish between “the Democratic Establishment” (my words) vs. “Every democrat” (your words)? Do you understand that those are not the same thing?
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Dienne,
Cynthia Nixon is a genuine progressive. She is running in the Democratic Party. She is trying to change it. You can’t condemn every Democrat when there are candidates like her.
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“At Cuomo’s last election, he persuaded the Working Families Party to endorse him by promising to help Democrats win back the Senate. The day after he won the WFP endorsement, he broke his promise.”
I am certain Zephyr Teachout remembers this… I hope that WFP does…
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Yes, and he was so “convincing” because he got the likes of UFT President Michael Mulgrew and others to threaten to stop contributing to the WFP if they endorsed Teachout.
That would be the same Michael Mulgrew who later stood by silently while Cuomo knee-capped Mayor de Blasio, when the Mayor tried to limit Eva Moskowitz’s hostile takeover of public school facilities.
Mulgrew’s silence spoke volumes about the UFT/AFT mis-leaderships’s enabling of so-called reform over the past thirty-five years, when they have cravenly gone along with virtually every reform policy, no matter how misguided or vicious.
Zephyr, by the way, is Treasurer of Nixon’s campaign.
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Unions are jumping to support Cuomo. Expect the UFT and NYSUT to do the same. They want to stay on Cuomo’s good side because he is vindictive.
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That would be so pathetic if NYSUT endorses the corporatist Cuomo over a candidate that supports public education.
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Indeed, they will, and he is.
But Cuomo is worse than vindictive: he’s a gangster, and the union mis-leaders are like intimidated candy store owners whose windows he’ll break if they don’t pay protection money.
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Yes
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IMHO Cuomo is much worse than Hillary. He called public education a “monopoly.” NYSUT will lose any vestige of credibility left with such an endorsement.
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Zephyr Teachout ran as a Democrat, not third party or independent, not the Green Party and she made a decent showing considering the odds. Maybe Cynthia will do even better and really shake up the Democratic establishment.
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If I could vote, I would vote for Nixon (the good one from Manhattan)!
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I really wish Ms. Nixon good luck in her campaign. But I have a feeling she’ll have trouble in upstate NY which is not as closely aligned with NYC-based candidates. I hope I’m wrong! Something needs to happen in NY state to shake up the people in Albany!
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“When I announced yesterday that I’m running for gov, one of Cuomo’s top surrogates dismissed me as an “unqualified lesbian.” It’s true that I never received my certificate from the Department of Lesbian Affairs, though in my defense there’s a lot of paperwork required.”
–Cynthia Nixon
I like her already. I wish her well.
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“Unqualified lesbian?”
Wow, just wow.
Every time I think that Cuomo couldn’t possibly be more disgusting, he proves me wrong.
And kudos to Cynthia Nixon for responding to Cuomo’s gross homophobia with humor and wit.
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Better yet, after being attacked by Cuomo’s surrogate Christine Quinn, Nixon tweeted an invitation to her launch party at the Stonewall Inn to “all quailed and unqualified lesbians, as well as all those who want fully funded schools, a better subway system, and honest government.” (paraphrase)
As I said, she won’t let Cuomo bully her as he bullies the unions and especially women.
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OMG – brilliant! She is obviously very smart.
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The question I have (although, not really), is why does the Democratic Establishment tolerate this kind of misogyny/homophobia? Had Trump said something like that, every Democrat from Chuck Schumer to Maggie Hassan to Claire McCaskill, etc. would have been up in arms about it and my inbox would be lighting up with outraged Act Blue emails. Is it okay that a Democrat said that? Why are fellow Democrats not calling for Quinn’s head?
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Quinn presumably thinks she has a bit of latitude with the use of that term because she, too, is a lesbian. The full quote, which contains a reference to Nixon’s previous opposition to Chris Quinn’s failed mayoral campaign, is:
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dienne77,
What position do you think Quinn holds in the democratic party?
I missed Bernie Sanders calling for her head, too. But maybe he was too busy sitting next to Andrew Cuomo praising him for his wonderful “free college” plan* (*restrictions apply) because Bernie was happy to offer some progressive cred to those types of democrats!
But she is pals with Bill de Blasio, so she must be just a corrupt as he is.
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Quinn is vice-chair of the State Democratic Party, Which is supposed to be neutral in primary races. Will progressives call on her to resign, as they demanded Debbie Wasserman Schultz resign for favoring HRC?
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FLERP!,
Nothing says Quinn is qualified more than her whining “I’m the real lesbian politician and I should have won”.
Quinn lost — among other reasons — because NYC voters rejected her pro-charter stance. That explains why she hates Cynthia Nixon so much. Another one of those nasty public school parents who won’t listen to “experienced politicians” like Quinn telling them that public education just sucks in NYC and needs to be handed over to privatizers.
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Christine Quinn did whatever the billionaire mayor told her to do.
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exactly! Which is why she lost the primary. Quinn was rabidly pro-charter as her vehement defense of Andrew Cuomo demonstrates.
As I said above, I hope this election is about public education.
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Is she running for Chief Lesbian or governor?
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She is running for Governor Against Cuomo. She did not bring up the gay issue. One of Cuomo’s thug surrogates did and Cynthia is not backing down or running away.
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That was tongue in cheek.
“Unqualified lesbian” makes it sound like she is unqualified to lead lesbians.
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Obviously Nixon is the only viable choice for anyone in the state concerned about public education and working teachers.
That said, some important points to consider:
1) New York state politics IS and functions in EVERY WAY like an organize crime establishment. Nothing about power and holding it in the state is blurry or subject to wild democracy. Cuomo quite literally grew up in this system and is a master of it. Teachout’s 34% was just that, a loss.
2) Education issues are not central state-wide nor will they become so. The fact is that working NY state teachers who have any consciousness (definitely nowhere near a majority) realize that Janus and the Supreme Court’s inevitable ruling say much more about their future than Cuomo. Besides, Cuomo has been quiet for the most part on education and teachers lately. He correctly realizes that privatization via “technology in the classroom” and Janus will be doing everything he wanted to do to organized teachers…..which is to say, destroy them.
3) NYSUT is dead man walking. See comments re. Janus above. Beyond that, it and its leadership ceased being a meaningful player in any of this years ago. They are dead. A reflection of this will be their shunning of Nixon for sure. That said, they are dead. Meaningless entity.
4) The outcome of a Cuomo re-election campaign is beyond question. He will win. Just as surely as the Supreme Court will rule in favor of further union busting via Janus.
All of that said, I will certainly be actively supporting Nixon. Thats more about my own dignity though. Achieving an equivalent to Teachout’s 34%, maybe even 35% would be good to see.
Organized teachers and supporters of public education in NY State….well, it may be that that ship already sailed. West Virginia teachers are made of sterner stuff than their New York equivalents. Something about their daddy’s being involved in strikes…..
It turns out that history matters.
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I have to comment on this to say that I am old enough to still feel startled to read the words “Obviously Nixon is the only viable choice…”
Somehow that feels so wrong! Ah well, fingers crossed that her last name doesn’t hurt her. Maybe she’ll pick up some unwitting upstate conservative old fogeys who aren’t paying close attention…
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Haaaaa!
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Ms. Nixon has already organized a great team, the treasurer is the individual who gave Cuomo a run for his money the last election cycle. WE haven’t had good luck with these career politicians and it is time to look at these same issues with a new lens. Ms. Nixon has a great trait she actually cares and wants to see change. Maybe that is not important to the status quo of greed,corruption and self importance of the Albany elite but it is refreshing for the common person to hear her speak. Mr. Cuomo has never been a democrat he has been an opportunist and if he was doing his job, we wouldn’t have the same issues decades later that we have now.
Ms. Nixon is no Trump and shouldn’t be lumped into that category.
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When Mario Cuomo ran for Mayor of New York City (before he won the Governorship), he ran against Ed Koch in 1977 in the Democratic primary. Campaign signs popped up around the city, with no attribution, that said, “Vote for Cuomo, not the Homo.” No one claimed credit for these signs. Andrew Cuomo ran his father’s campaign. Cuomo lost. Koch never forgave or forgot this dirty trick.
http://amp.gothamist.com/amp/articles/create?article_id=587963dbf2e5bd0001c651cc
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Teachout never had a chance of becoming governor, unfortunately. Cuomo controlled ALL the levers of power. Anyone who didn’t support him got their hands chopped off. Teachout couldn’t raise money because people/players feared what Cuomo would do to them when he found out. She only raised around $500,000, compared to Cuomo’s $24 million.
Yet, such was the simmering hatred of Democratic voters for Cuomo in upstate NY that Teachout won almost every upstate county — on a shoestring, and with the active opposition of the Democratic Party establishment that Cuomo controls. That hatred will not change. Nixon will win big upstate — bigger than Zephyr, in part because she will have more money and will have twice as much time (six months vs three months) to introduce herself to voters.She also has the ability to garner lots of free media because of her celebrity, which will be enough to counterbalance Cuomo’s millions, at least upstate.
In 2014, NYC and the suburbs (2/3 of the vote) went pretty strongly for Cuomo, in large part because most voters hadn’t heard much about Teachout. And most city and suburban Democrats had a hazy “he’s ok” opinion of Cuomo. Now that Cuomo has an acid-tongued, smart and well-funded opponent — and assuming he will continue to put his foot in his mouth — THE TRUTH about Cuomo will finally come out, ESPECIALLY his anti-public school actions of the past eight years. Recall, if you will, that Cuomo was the major promoter of uber-testing and using tests to evaluate teachers. Once voters are reminded of that evil work, Cuomo will be ESPECIALLY unpopular in the NYC suburbs, where Opt Out was a powerful force.
I am cautiously optimistic that Nixon — and the rest of us pro-public school folks — will help people see Cuomo as the school-privatizing Trump Democrat he is.
My friends, I see a path to victory. I believe Nixon CAN win, if everything falls into place in this Very Angry at Corporate Democrats political year, In any event, she will do “surprisingly” well against Cuomo. Mark my words.
‘
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