Lewis Cohen Has Been Behind Ferrer Since Summer 2004

Lewis Cohen: "I have been and am a member of the 2005 New Yorkers for Ferrer Finance Committee since the summer of 2004. I, and Bernadette Evangelist, have been the only Directors of Democracy for NYC who have openly and enthusiastically supported Ferrer since the beginning of the campaign."

A few points of clarification are due on my part. This is the second time. The first time was with Norman Siegel.

A Not So Little Norman Fact
A Little Siegel Incident

Tracey had to educate me on Norman Siegel's ethnicity. That was some major hole she had to plug. I think she was amused. There was that look on my face.

DFNYC members in their individual capacities may go for any candidate of their choice, that is the democratic spirit. We don't lose our individual identities just because we are members of DFNYC.

This is not the official DFNYC blog or anything of that sort. This is one person's blog, he just so happens to be a staunch member of the DFNYC.

A blog is not a newspaper gone online. A blog is a blog. It is more casual, conversational, intimate. This is not an attempt at objectivity. Actually, it is more like one person's views and observations given voice, there actually might be a tendency toward subjectivity. It is not here to show off my knowledge, or ignorance. It is more a window into my thought processes, more akin to a reality show. There is no emphasis on fact-checking. If I mess up on some facts in one blog entry, I don't go back and correct it later, I just post a new blog entry. At another blog I wrote about Sonia Gandhi after her Congress party cruised to a victory in India. An Italian born was going to be leading India, I said. She chose not to go for it. I never went back to that blog entry to correct it. That blog entry was a snapshot of many people's thinking at that point in time. Everyone just assumed Sonia was going to be Prime Minister.

I think I am trying to get to the voice part of the One Person, One Vote, One Voice superstructure. At the one voice level, you just talk. It is you. It is not the group yet. You say whatever you want to say. You take the stands on issues the way you want. I think that is important. Or we might end up with groupthink. There should be ample room for original thinking at the One Voice level. That precedes the one person, one vote mechanism, or the consensus mechanism through which we make decisions, either on policy or candidates, or campaign details. And once the group has decided, we all come around to supporting and contributing. Ideally. Sometimes a person might still not go with the majority if she feels strongly about her outvoted position. That is there.

And I am totally for DFNYC taking votes among members before endorsing candidates when more than one choice is available. That is the democratic spirit. DFNYC members had the option to take the organization behind Bloomberg, but we chose Ferrer by a wide margin, and so we are solidly behind Ferrer. And our man Dean is possibly the biggest boost Ferrer has got. Dean has been Ferrer's rocket fuel. We are key. And Ferrer knows it and appreciates it. Ferrer appreciates the importance of the primaries more than any of us. He can not possibly be begrudging having had to wade through it.

DFNYC endorsed Gifford Miller for the primaries, and I was not here when that happened. But we have nothing to apologize for. Miller was Speaker of the City Council. Ferrer had not been in any office in a few years. I can see how Miller might have come across as appealing. And there is an article somewhere that talks how Miller did not use his sex appeal to his advantage or he would have won! The members went for who they went for. And now we are enthusiastically behind Ferrer. We are the strong wind behind his sails. We contest the primaries, but then we all get together behind the winner of the primaries. That is the democratic spirit.

Slowly and surely I am learning more and more about city politics.

It was not that obvious Ferrer was going to win the primaries. And Directors of DFNYC who might supervise our internal vote taking on policies and candidates have nothing to apologize for. The mechanism has to stay oiled.

We are better off because of the primaries. Ferrer is better off. And he knows it.

And looks like we already have friends in high places with Lewis and Bernadette. Makes our work for Ferrer so much easier.

The key now is to get Ferrer to win. It will be nice to have a Mayor Ferrer when Dean 2008 sets up shop in the city. This is a major act of self-interest for us.

Ferrer 2005 is of national importance.

Going On The Offensive For Ferrer

Only a few days back I read a comment by Heather (DFNYC In The News) on MyDD that was making fun of a "prominent" local Democrat's claim that no prominent Democrat in the city seemed to be for Ferrer. How prominent can he be? I never heard of him.

But Howard Dean is behind Ferrer, and that is the next President Of The United States. I have heard of him. And DFNYC is solidly behind Ferrer with 81% of the votes. And we just so happen to be the largest Dean group in the country. We are the prominent Democrats in town. Don't make us whip up our mailing lists! Nobody quit after 2004, many of them just went into hiding. They are all sharpening their claws, waiting to pounce.

Bloomberg is feeling the Dean heat already. He knows deep in his heart that he can lose. Around the time Dean was last in town, Bloomberg was at a press conference. And a plane was heard in the sky. And Bloomberg said in an exasperated aside, "That is Howard Dean in the DNC corporate jet." That man is so scared he thinks he is facing Dean aerial attacks. But that man is so out of touch, he does not know Dean flies commercial.

I just went to the DFNYC site and there is a message from Heather about another Ferrer-Dean event tomorow. Is Howard Dean Fernando Ferrer's running mate or what? (Dean Was In Town Yesterday) If he is going to keep showing up like this, Ferrer sure is going to cross the line. And it will be nice to have Ferrer as Mayor when Dean 2008 sets up its headquarters in the city. (2008: Some Thoughts)

Join Fernando Ferrer and Howard Dean at the Union Square Farmer's Market!

Meet on the NE corner of Union Square Park TIME: 2:30 pm.

Wow, this is just so cool. I will be there. I am meeting Robet Mayer of Publius Pundit for lunch tomorrow, him and about 10 of his Boston friends. Robert is at the Bentley College in the Boston suburbs. They have some kind of a college break, and they are in town. Robert and I got to know each other through Charlie Szrom of the Students for Global Democracy. Charlie is in Indiana, in Bloomington, where I considered settling down before I decided on NYC. (Bloomington, IN, As An Option, Possibly Moving To NYC) And I get to meet Charlie within a week. He will be in town too for some kind of a scholarship interview. We go sightseeing together. I am so excited about these two and their organization. They speak to the total global democracy messenger in me. This is to do with my Nepal work. (What's Going On In Nepal)

I started this blog entry to chalk up a strategy.

Going on the offensive for Ferrer.

Martha Kenton of the Cesnik 2005 fame is leading the DFNYC effort. (Some Suggestions To The Cesnik Campaign, Eric Cesnik For City Council)

Larry and Dino have some great work going on with their sites. I mean, the Bloomberg ads are offensive. One that I am forced to see - since I don't own a TV - when I am out reading news at the Yahoo site shows this beautiful Manhattan landscape unfurl, and the message is, Vote for Bloomberg. Admire the beauty and vote for Bloomberg. Wow. Not even the pompous Donald Trump would stoop so low.

I just got an email from Dino not long back. Their new site is out, Ferrer Four.

This is what I am suggesting.

Truth On Bloomberg, and Ferrer Four both do great work on policy logic.

I see three big holes in the effort though.

One, we need one site that compares and contrasts the Ferrer management style with the Bloomberg management style. I have not had the chance to dig in and do some research myself. But from the little I know, I can already draw a few conclusions. Ferrer was Bronx Borough President. Bloomberg's disadvantage is that his leadership style is corporate. He cuts some major corners on social expenditures so he can build a stadium. Don't blame him: that has been his life's training. It is hard to change course mid-stream. Ferrer on the other hand has an exective style that is more political. He is more in tune with the common people. He is not a machine politician, rather he is a politician who knows the system, he knows the voters, and their various organized groups, he knows how to work the system. And that is who you want in the executive office.

Two, the three sites need to cross link to each other prominently. Have three button links at the top of each site, on each page at the site.

Three, whip up the DFNYC mailing list to send traffic to these sites after all three sites are up and running. I hear the core DFNYC mailing list is 2400 strong, Tracey told me at the last MeetUp. (Tracey Denton Of DFNYC) There would be a short message that displays the three sites, and briefly summarizes them. And a request to members to forward the email to everyone in the city they personally know, and to request them to do the same. This email viral marketing does not cost a dime, and is more effective and respectful than TV ads. Effective because people receive emails only from people they personally know, respectful because there is an invitation to an intelligent conversation. We are not trying to play mind games like clever ad people, we are talking policy. 2400 people send it out to 20 people each who send it out to 10 people each, that is 480,000. That is half a million people. If our message has oomph, this is all it will take to elect Ferrer. Although I do not suggest not doing everything else we will be doing, that the Ferrer campaign team is doing, with the emphasis on the get out the votes efforts. And be at the ready to handle all that traffic. The sites should not crash!

So Dino, Larry, whip it up, baby.

And do not miss the DFNYC Monthly Mixer with Freddy Ferrer. Tuesday, October 25.

Take Back The City 2005.
Take Back The Congress 2006.
Take Back The White House 2008.

Bloomberg Is No Democrat
Fernando Ferrer