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Anthony Weiner
Slattery ‘Mad’ For Rice
Sep 10th - 5:05 pm
Actor John Slattery, who plays Roger Sterling on AMC’s wildly popular series “Mad Men”, has endorsed Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice for attorney general in a video that her campaign says is linked via an advertisement running on “major” news Wesbites.
The Rice campaign also noted Slattery isn’t the only Hollywood type backing the DA. “Queer as Folk” star Michelle Clunie (who is Sen. Eric Schneiderman’s ex-girlfriend) and Bravo’s Andy Cohen are also supporters.
NOTE: To be fair, Schneiderman has Alec Baldwin and Cynthia Nixon in his corner.
Here’s the Slattery video script:
“Hi, I’m John Slattery and I’ve been friends with Kathleen Rice since we went to college together. I can tell you that she’s smart, she’s tough, she’s compassionate, and I think she’d make an ideal attorney general.”
“She’s been a prosecutor her whole career, has an amazing record of success in important and difficult legal cases, cases involving sexual predators, drunk drivers, public corruption.. I’m voting for Kathleen on Tuesday; I hope you’ll do the same. Thank you.”
Giuliani Stumps For Weiner Opponent
Sep 7th - 1:27 pm
Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani is in Queens today to stump for Bob Turner, the Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner.
Turner’s campaign sent out the following media advisory about two scheduled stops on the Turner-Giuliani tour:
09/07/2010 – Bob Turner and Mayor Rudy Giuliani greet local residents and speak to small business owners about the economy and taxes.
When: Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 4:00pm
What: Bob Turner and Mayor Rudy Giuliani greet local residents
Where: Walbaums Super Market located at 156-01 Cross Bay Blvd, Howard BeachWhen: Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 4:30pm
What: Bob Turner and Mayor Rudy Giuliani speak with small business owners about the economy and taxes
Where: Cross Bay Diner located at 160-31 Cross Bay Blvd, Howard Beach
This is interesting, since Weiner isn’t on the endangered Democrat list – or he wasn’t the last time I checked.
Turner is turning up the heat on the congressman by bringing in a big gun like the former mayor just in time for the Sept. 11 anniversary and also hosting an anti-mosque rally.
That rally is scheduled to take place tonight. There’s no mention of Giuliani attending the event. The former mayor has weighed in – albeit a bit later than some would have liked – on the Park51 project, suggesting it would be insensitive for the backers to build it so close to Ground Zero.
Reps Weiner And Engel For Schneiderman
Sep 7th - 1:26 pm
Attorney General candidate Eric Schneiderman picked up two more endorsements today, claiming a gain in momentum just one week out from the primary election.
Schneiderman’s campaign announced that Reps. Anthony Weiner and Eliot Engel will be supporting the Democrat in the five-way race, making them the sixth and seventh members of the congressional delegation, respectively, to endorse the Manhattan senator for the statewide office.
“I am endorsing Eric Schneiderman for attorney general because he has been a lifelong champion for middle-class families and those struggling to make it into the middle-class,” said Rep. Weiner.
Engel’s district is in the heart of Assemblyman Richard Brodsky’s turf – the lower Hudson Valley. He also has a piece of the Bronx, which overlaps with Schneiderman’s district. The two share a Democratic club – Ben Franklin – which is led by Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz.
Weiner’s district includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn – both of which are considered up for grabs, since there are no outer borough AG candidates in the five-person Democratic field. (This is fixed, thanks readers. – LB).
Schneiderman’s release on Engel notes he’s a leader in the Jewish community. (Schneiderman is also a Jew).
In New York’s congressional delegation, Weiner and Engel join Reps. Jerry Nadler, Charles Rangel, José Serrano, Yvette Clarke and Carolyn Maloney in supporting Schneiderman’s candidacy.
Anti-Mosque Rally Hosted By Weiner Opponent
Sep 6th - 11:00 am
Rep. Anthony Weiner’s long-shot GOP opponent, businessman Bob Turner, has seized on the mosque/Islamic center controversy and is hosting a rally/demonstration tomorrow at the Forest Park Band Shell he says will be “in support of the 9/11 families in our community.”
“Move the mosque,” an ad for the event trumpets. “You have every right to say it’s wrong. Opposing the mosque at Ground Zero is not a challenge to religious freedom.”
(In one of the odd, two degrees of separation situations that pervade NY politics, Turner is neighbors with state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long, who opposes the mosque and is running TV ads on the subject for GOP gubernatorial hopeful Rick Lazio).
Weiner, who has been uncharacteristically muted (at least publicly) on the subject of the mosque, has argued that to weigh in on the subject would be a violation of the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state.
The congressman also wrote in praise of his one-time rival, Mayor Bloomberg, for his outspoken defense of the Park51 project. Bloomberg has invoked the freedom of religion argument in saying the mosque should be built.
Weiner Stands Between Church And State
Aug 11th - 6:11 pm
Rep. Anthony Weiner appeared on “Hard Ball” this evening with Chuck Todd, who is standing in for Chris Matthews, and was lightly grilled on his refusal to take a position on the controversial mosque proposed for construction near Ground Zero.
Weiner insisted this is a “bright line” example of the separation of church and state, explaining: “There is no constitutional interpretation that would ever say a member of Congress should be deciding where a mosque should or should not go.”
When Todd pointedly asked Weiner – a Jew whose new bride, Huma Abedin, is a Muslim – whether he’s trying to save political face by dodging a hot-button issue, the Brooklyn/Queens congressman replied:
“This is about…Look, people who are supporting the mosque certainly aren’t happy with my position…Look, what I’ve said is that I believe this is a dangerous place for a member of Congress to be. This is not like deciding whether a cop-killer bullet banning it violates the Second Amendment this is about as clear as it gets.”
Todd tried one more time to get Weiner to take a position, appealing not to the congressman, but to the “New Yorker.” Weiner didn’t budge.
“I don’t believe that a member of Congress should be weighing in on this stuff. Can I ask you something? What is it I take a position I say yes it should be here or there, no I don’t think it should be there? How is that not a violation of the clear separation of church and state? I mean that’s as clear as it gets.”
Weiner: ‘We’re Not Yelling Enough’
Aug 4th - 2:34 pm
Rep. Anthony Weiner, who took to the Times this morning to explain his angry outburst on the House floor over the defeat of the Zadroga Act, told attendees at a union convention today that more Democrats should follow his lead.
“I don’t think people are turning on the TV and saying, ‘The Democrats are too outraged,’” Weiner said during a speech at the RWDSU convention in Orlando, Fla. “I think the problem is that we’re not yelling enough.”
Weiner said Democrats too often shy away from taking the battle to the Republicans, adding: “We sometimes come into knife fights carrying library books,” adding: “I’m sick and tired of sitting at the altar of Olympia Snowe and Joe Lieberman.”
The Brooklyn/Queens congressman has taken some heat for his display, during which he directed the bulk of his vitriol at his fellow New Yorker, Republican Rep. Peter King, another sponsor of the bill, for failing to whip sufficient votes for its passage.
The battle between the two lawmakers continued in subsequent interviews.
King criticized Weiner and his fellow Democrats for requiring a two-thirds majority to pass the bill, protecting marginals from having to take a potentially dangerous vote on a GOP amendment that would prevent any first responders who were illegal immigrants from collecting the health benefits.
Weiner vs. King, Take II
Jul 30th - 11:56 am
Here we have the definition of good TV: Reps. Anthony Weiner (D, Brooklyn/Queens) and Peter King (R, Long Island) continuing their verbal slugfest, which started on the floor of the House last night, over the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.
My favorite line, which is so quintessentially Weiner: “One at a time, and it’s my turn.”
King gives as good as he gets later on in the segment, saying: “Anthony, be quiet for a second.” (Not unsurprisingly, much as he refused to yield during the debate, Weiner mostly just talks right over his GOP colleague, and belittles his whipping capabilities for good measure).
(H/T Fox News via TPM via NYO).
Republican Polls Against Weiner
Jun 24th - 8:53 am
A reader e-mailed shortly after 6 p.m. last night to report receiving a phone poll that appeared to be testing the chances of a little-known Republican challenger to Brooklyn/Queens Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner.
The reader said the call included the following questions:
1) Do you approve/disapprove of the job done by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Obama and Weiner?
2) Are you more likely/less likely to vote for Weiner knowing he voted in favor of health care reform and cap & trade legislation? (Actually, after abandoning his second mayoral bid, Weiner became very outspoken during the health care debate and pushed hard for a Medicare-for-all proposal that didn’t pass muster).
3) Are you more/less likely to vote for Bob Turner because he is not a career politician, is a businessman, knows how to create jobs, will cut government spending, etc.?
Bob Turner, in case you weren’t aware, is this guy. I can’t find him in the FEC database.
Someone Missed The Memo
May 26th - 4:23 pm
Rick Lazio’s campaign pulled an unfortunate quote from Brooklyn Democratic Chairman Vito Lopez’s interview last night on NY1′s “Inside City Hall” that demonstrates not everyone has internalized the whole Andrew Cuomo-as-outsider theme.
Asked by Elizabeth Kaledin about the biggest “difference in style” between Cuomo and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer that might make the push for reform by the former more successful than what the latter tried to do during his truncated tenure in Albany, Lopez replied:
“You pass the bills in the Assembly and you pass them in the Senate and the Governor has to go along with it. That is how it works in Albany. No matter who you are, you are not going to change that.”
“And I believe Andrew knows that. He’s a product of Albany.”
“He worked closely with his father. He knows he has to sit down. And Shelly is very astute at what he is doing. So, I think it’s going to be an exciting year next year.”
Woops.
(Note: In case you’re confused…the quote was circulated in a press release from the Lazio campaign).
Hinchey Buffs Brodsky’s Rural Credentials
Apr 30th - 1:16 pm
The Democratic hopefuls have been pulling out all the stops to demonstrate their concern for rural communities in advance of this weekend’s straw poll, and the latest missive comes from one of the many would-be AGs, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.
Brodsky announced he has landed the endorsement of Rep. Maurice Hinchey, whose district (NY-22) stretches from the Hudson Valley to Binghamton (albeit not in anything that resembles a straight line).
This is the first congressional endorsement for the Westchester County Democrat, who included the following letter from Hinchey in his press release:
“It’s my pleasure to endorse my friend Richard Brodsky in his effort to be the next Attorney General.”
“As a strong environmentalist, as a strong progressive, as an outspoken leader in the struggle for fair property taxes, civil rights and civil liberties, he has been an extraordinary leader for our state. ”
“His special concern for rural communities, his work on Indian Point and on economic justice, qualify him to be an outstanding peoples lawyer in every sense of the word.”
“The Democratic Party needs his leadership. I look forward to working with him for many years. “
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