Last Wednesday I was trying to figure out which LinkUp to show up for.
I started out at the East Village one because that looked the largest. Recently I have switchd to the West Village one that Dana runs. But the LinkUp this past week looked different. There were all these guest speakers. A few were running for the US Senate against Hillary. I immediately discounted them out. I don't like the idea of people running against Hillary. But I figured this is the DFNYC leadership's plot to bring in Hillary herself down the line. "Senator, we have been parading candidates for the US Senate. You are next!" Smart move. I have seen Howard Dean, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, but not yet Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama. I am sure they look like in their photos, but there is something to be said to meeting in person.
So I find myself choosing between two candidates running for New York Attorney General, the job Eliot Spitzer has so famously glamorized. I google their names. There is a woman who is showing up at the West Village venue.
But then there is Sean Maloney. He had Harriet Miers' job in the Clinton White House. Miers of course got nominated for the Supreme Court by Bush. He left her out to sizzle for a while. "We Democrats don't take good care of our own," Maloney quipped.
Maloney reminds me of Leecia Eve. Eve happens to be African American, she happens to be a woman. Maloney happens to be gay. He has the distinction of being the first openly gay person in a senior White House position. Maloney is going to be a total asset in 2008. From my political point of view, it is not enough to be gay, it is not enough to be openly gay, it is not enough to be gay, and out of the closet, and politically vocal. You also have to navigate the electorate and the system to be of the best possible service for the gay rights issue. You need that sophistication. Being right is not enough, you also got to win. And for the most part you do that by beating the opponent by being as good or better on most other issues. You win, you keep slugging it out, win or lose.
Leecia Eve was not Spitzer's choice for Lieutenant Governor. (Mixer For Ferrer, Who Is Leecia Eve?) Maloney is third in polls, at around 5%. Andrew Cuomo with a famous last name and having been a Clinton cabinet member and Mark Green, the almost Mayor of New York, are in the run and are ahead of him (A Great Mixer). They both are better well known. They are both brand names, wheres Maloney is much younger and only starting out.
But Maloney's got it. He is qualified, he is passionate, he could shake things up. I found him very impressive.
I had a lot of fun during the question answer session. I asked him two questions, one normal, and one "elongated," Lewis Cohen's word for it. And then one after question after he casually mentioned if anyone wanted to know more about his children.
"It is not enough to have the guts to pick the fights, you also have to have the skills to win them. What have you learned from Eliot Spitzer on winning?"
"You say you are third in polls. How do you hope to bridge the gap and pull ahead?"
Someone in the audience asked, "What exactly does an Attorney General do?" Fair enough.
Maloney came across as someone smitten with the DFA. He seemed to be using the DFA network for many of his appearances across the state.
This was the LinkUp on the Upper East Side that Lewis Cohen hosts.
After Maloney left, the LinkUp group had this wonderful conversation on the possibilities of a national Democratic resurgence. I just sat back and listened. I could not believe my ears. And I had been thinking for a few weeks that DFNYC was a local group. (A Huge Mixer: Happy New Year)
On The Web
seanmaloney.com > Sean Patrick Maloney, Democrat for New York ...
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Sean Patrick Maloney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
happily stuck in Ithaca: Sean Patrick Maloney visits Ithaca
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute - Events
Sean Patrick Maloney: Information From Answers.com
Windy City Times
New York's Premier Alternative Newspaper. Arts, Music, Food ...
DanielFTL of Fort Lauderdale talks about his life, his education ...
blogJosh: Sean Maloney Seeks AG Seat
Sean Patrick Maloney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Politics1 - Online Guide to New York Politics
New York Blade Online
Rivals Spar at Gay Democrats' Forum - New York Times
Slant Point: Dem Maloney Enters State AG Race
In The News
Pirro stands strong in attorney general campaign Auburn Citizen, NY -
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I bought a 1 GB memory card for my camera on eBay from a merchant in Singapore. I get to pick it up at the post office tomorrow morning. Now my camera could do one hour of video in one go as opposed to the less than 9 minutes it has so far in the past. I also ordered an extra battery at the same time that arrived last week.
This blog is going multimedia and pay per view down the line.
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