Disloyal Democrats are the party’s weak links

In the past week, two events reminded me that just because politicians have big “D” following their names, it doesn’t make them loyal Democrats.

Of course, I have been thinking of “Democratic” State Senators Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate. Those two with their questionable pasts and disregard for the law, never did deserve to represent the Democratic Party and their districts. Now, as part of a Republican-led coalition, they’ve given a deserved black-eye to the Republican Party as well.

While I’m upset that the Democrats may have lost control of the Senate after only five months, I think the party has been somewhat detoxified. Now that the duo’s dirty laundry is headline news, neither Espada or Monserrate really stand a chance to be reelected in 2010; they’ll be lucky not to be sharing a room in a state correctional facility come next November. So, good riddance to bad garbage.

Being victimized by disloyal politicians is not so unlike finding out your significant other has been hitting the town with your rival. At first, you’re shocked by it, and then you’re angry, and then you sojourn into uncertainty without your less-than-faithful companion. Yes, the healing process is the same whether we’re talking about personal relationships or politics.

In Rockland County and in its towns, we’ve had several incidents of party disloyalty and they’ve been heartbreakers. While I think it serves no purpose fingering the politicians involved in this forum, it’s a concept that must be discussed.

A few years ago, I found that two well-known Democratic politicians had made donations to the campaign of Republican State Senator Thomas P. Morahan while another Democrat was running a valiant race against the Senator. I couldn’t stand by without saying something and I brought it to the attention of the County and Town Democratic Committees. My argument was that our Democratic Committees are political clubs organized solely for promoting Democratic values and Democratic candidates and those Democrats that actively promote Republicans should not be afforded membership in our committees.

My worries fell mostly on deaf ears, but were not unfounded. When I looked closer at the financial activities of Citizens for Morahan, I found that the Senator, with uncanny speed after receiving these donations, turned around and made nearly identical contributions to the campaigns of Sen. Joseph Bruno, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, and Rockland County Legislature candidate Paul Valentine.

So, in a roundabout way, these two Democrats voted against core Democratic values. They abandoned not only a party, but the values that it stands for. They unwittingly donated to a sleazy machine politician who has since been indicted for fraud, another who mismanaged our county’s finances (and is now running against our Thom Kleiner), and a vapid ultra-conservative who used his cut of these ill-gotten gains to run a tough campaign against Connie Coker. Run it up the ladder, and you’ll find that their support ended up being fed into the dark anti-Obama and anti-progressive forces at the Republican Party’s core.

I don’t believe for a minute that such party disloyalty is just poor judgment; the problem is core ethics. There are usually promises made or deals struck that we don’t know about. In the case of Morahan’s money, a lot of those campaign contributions came hot on the heels of Morahan writing obscene checks from his discretionary “member items” account to the constituencies of those Democratic politicians. Thus, the “member items” account is nothing more than a slush fund to garner political favors. I may not be able to prove that one act led to another, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck….

As Democrats, can we really trust the fidelity of these politicians going forward? Probably not.

Another incident has arisen in recent weeks where a prominent local Democrat has indicated an interest in giving her support to a Republican line. In hopes that she changes her mind before she makes this imprudent leap, I’ll spare her name from this piece. However, I’m wondering what could be going through this politician’s head. Why would she involve herself in actions that could hurt her own party’s slate? Why is she acting in her own personal self-interest instead of the interests of the party and those voters that have supported the party over many years?

Right now, the Democratic Party is enjoying a tide of voters that has come our way, mostly as a result of current national sentiment. But we’re likely to see our fortunes change again. Locally, we’re best prepared for these hard times by closing our ranks and working on our local party infrastructure. We need to unburden ourselves of Democrats that exhibit such party disloyalty and attract new, loyal members to our committees.

You’ll find the local Republican Committee is not licking their wounds after such a poor showings these past two Novembers. They’re already hard at work on their comeback, trashing the Democratic Party as being “socialist” and “Marxist” and trying to find ways to usurp power in some very undemocratic ways. And unfortunately, this local Democratic politico who is being coaxed into this plot is oblivious to the harm she is doing herself, the Democratic Party and the values it stands for as she allies herself with these demented Sith Lords.

If this Democratic politician does bend to the other side, she’ll be like a folded piece of metal. Her political core will be forever compromised and she’ll become on of the party’s weakest links.

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The news and diaries posted on the Rockland Progressive Dems site are the  individual opinions of the members of the Rockland Progressive Democratic Caucus. They appear on this Web site to provide a progressive forum for Rockland County residents. While the Executive Committee of the caucus may edit some of these posts for clarity, length, and accuracy, it does not necessarily endorse the contents of each post. All members of the Rockland County Democratic Caucus are invited to share their viewpoints and comment on those viewpoints on this site.

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