It’s understandable that partisan politics, even and especially on a local level, can be off-putting for many. Much of what passes for debate and argument in today’s politics is driven by division and personal destruction. However, perhaps the biggest reason that people are turned off by politics is because the issues and debate often seem irrelevant to them. Many people feel that political parties manipulate them because they’re often asked to make hasty choices based upon labels such as “Democrat” or “Republican.”

But the truth is, political divisions are inherent in all political discourse. In Michigan, where I was born and lived until 15 years ago, most municipalities did away with partisan elections decades ago. This, however, did not end of partisan politics in those municipalities. The void left by political parties is now filled with alliances, coalitions, and confederations that are not transparent to the typical voter. Even worse, by their very nature, voters created their own quasi-parties based on racial, ethnic, and religious lines. Without political parties, we default to creating our own political apartheid, making local politics even more off-putting, and voters become even more confused by byzantine schisms within their communities.

Needless to say, it was refreshing when I moved here and found that I could vote for individuals that I could bond with on issues that were grander than the office they sought. When I first moved here, it was good to know that then South Nyack Trustee Tish DuBow was a staunch supporter of women’s rights and that Thom Kleiner once worked advocating for consumers. It was obvious to me that these people shared my core values, and it made it easier for me to vote for them even before I got to know both of them personally.

I understand that most people don’t live their lives identifying their values as being “blue” or “red” just as most people aren’t staunchly religious or secular, pro-management or pro-union, pro-development or pro-environment; we all fall somewhere on the spectrum on many issues.

However, for the people that are politicians, I don’t believe they compromise themselves by aligning and remaining loyal to a party, whether that party be the Democratic, Republican, or Independence Party. I think they do the voters a service by defining not only how they stand on current issues, but by giving their constituents an guideline on how they will respond to matters that nobody has yet considered.

I understand, however, that many people long for a politics where we have real vigorous disagreements and debates about the issues and where party affiliation is not part of the debate. They like politicians that don’t insist on having a monopoly on what is right or wrong, and don’t demonize our political opponents and their followers.

Barack Obama has asked that politicians extend themselves beyond partisan politics by espousing a “fair minded” approach to public service. He believes in a philosophical approach to politics that understands that truth and certainty are not the same thing. It is a philosophical approach that ultimately has as its goal the pursuit of the common good. It’s politics that espouses cooperation above competition. This is how politics should work on all levels, not just the local level.

However, it is also true that President Obama has had to take up the mantle of party leadership when his “common good” politics is attacked by ideologues and hate mongers. The uncomfortable truth is that not everybody, politicians nor citizens, play by these rules and to defend the common good, a politician must often fall back on the comfortable principles and parameters of the political party.

If you went to the polls last year and voted for change, you only scratched the surface. What happens on November 3 can possibly change the course politics, not only locally, but throughout New York as well.

Democratic leaders in Albany and New York City are holding their collective breath while watching our County Executive Race. Statewide Democratic Party leaders have confided to me that the race between Thom Kleiner and C. Scott Vanderhoef for County Executive has ramifications that go way beyond the county’s boundaries. I’m sure that state’s GOP leaders would agree. After all, they’ve hired Karl Rove’s chosen consulting firm to keep the seat in Republican control.

Beyond the local issues of taxes, balanced budgets, pay-for-play, and the New Square Slaughterhouse, political strategists I have talked to believe that the possible election of a Democratic County Executive can change the makeup of Albany. Is this a grand assumption on their part? I don’t think so.

Our County and the 38th State Senate District have similar boundaries. The Senate district is Rockland County plus the Orange County towns of Tuxedo and Warwick. The fact that both our County Executive, Vanderhoef, and State Senator, Thomas P. Morahan, are both Republicans is not a coincidence. Although Rockland County is nearly 7-to-4 Democratic-to-Republican (3-2 when including Tuxedo and Warwick), unseating county-wide incumbents—especially two that have masqueraded as moderates—has been futile in the past.

But recent state history has proven the theory that the election of Democratic County Execs beget the seating of Democratic State Senators and vice-versa. Once a political party has a powerful county-wide elected official, it often follows that they elect another. This is not a knock against Ellen Jaffee, Nancy Low-Hogan, or Greg Julian, our last three county-wide Democratic candidates, but we haven’t had such a strong Democratic and progressive candidate as Thom Kleiner in decades.

And this is how the election of Thom Kleiner as County Executive will help elicit change statewide: The County Executive election will send a message to State party leaders whether the 38th State Senate District is or is not in play. State Democrats, namely the Democratic State Senate Committee (DSSC) did not put a dime into the 2006 and 2008 campaigns of Low-Hogan and Julian and other potential donors followed, so these candidates didn’t stand a chance against Morahan’s biannual half-million dollar warchest.

These races were basically conceded before they began and neither Democratic candidate could eclipse 40 percent of the vote total.

The election of Kleiner will convince the DSSC and other non-partisan statewide reform organizations to take notice. Morahan, who has recently taken a staunch anti-gay rights stance and who has been consistently against ethics and election reform in Albany, will finally meet a strong opponent in 2010. It will also convince Democratic turncoats such as County Legislator Ilan Schoenberger, Clarkstown Executive Alex Gromack, and Nyack Mayor John Sheilds, all of which supported Morahan in the past, to support the candidate that shares progressive and Democratic ideals. The Morahan fiefdom will be in jeopardy.

The Brennan Center for Justice calls New York’s State Senate the nation’s “most dysfunctional,” and it’s no wonder. Right now, the New York State Senate remains in a partisan and ethical deadlock where Morahan plays a starring role. Progressive State Senate Democrats have been working hard for reform, which includes public-funding for elections and the elimination of member items, a pay-for-play slush-fund system that political experts call “incumbency insurance.” Morahan has been one of the biggest abusers and buys off the loyalty of politicians and constituents, giving “gifts” to local institutions, towns and villages (including the village of Nyack), in the weeks before an election to help cement a November victory. In essence, it’s been legal for politicians like Morahan to use our tax money for their reelection campaigns.

State Senate reform advocates say there’s a lot of work to be done to make Albany less dysfunctional, and it all starts with getting a strong, progressive Democratic majority in the State Senate. A weak Democratic majority where the ethically-challenged Pedro Espada, Jr. and convicted batterer Hiram Monserrate rule the roost cannot bring us the change we need. Both change their party loyalties to suit their mood and they are perfectly happy in continuing to filibuster reform.

State Democratic Committee insiders and reformers agree that Rockland is a bellwether county. If we’re going to see reform on a state level, it’s critical that we have a strong Democratic majority with a progressive State Senator from the 38th Senate District.

So, when voting on November 3, remember that a vote for Kleiner is also a vote for legislative reform on a state level.

The truth about this bill is that it was a “poison pill” presented by Stoner, who is opposing Kleiner with a placeholder candidate.  Kleiner was faced with opposing a liberal issue or risking the wrath of an overtaxed workforce.

Ellen Jaffee successfully avoided this trap when Stoner tried to push her on the “Living Wage” bill.  That bill was killed twice under mysterious circumstances, when a Democrat mysteriously defected.  Stoner’s WFP ran two spoiler candidates in the last county legislative rounds, preventing the Democrats from winning a veto-proof majority and putting their money where their mouth is on the living wage issue.

The WFP membership is dominated by the ultra-orthodox religious sect in Ramapo, and Tom Stoner follows the advice of their senior legislator, Ilan Schoenberger.  Kleiner has no chance of getting this “Bloc” vote, and Stoner’s successful manipulation of Kleiner with the “Workforce Housing” issue was designed to reduce support from the many Rocklanders who dislike Vanderhoef for his pandering to the “Bloc” voters.

It should be noted that the State WFP frowns on running spoiler candidates, and Rockland is unique in that the WFP line has been used to both prevent a veto-proof Democratic Legislature and now to oppose a Progressive Democrat for County Executive.  The Rockland WFP chapter was officially disbanded in 2007 as the vice-chair resigned over Stoner’s strong-arm tactics, and membership was below the amount needed to maintain a chapter.

The the help of numerous supporters, Kleiner was able to get more than 6,000 signatures on his designating petition for County Executive. That’s more than three times the required number and quite unprecedented. Rockland Progressive Democratic Caucus members can pat themselves on the back. They carried dozens of these petitions and many petitions were downloaded as PDFs from our Web site.

Probably even more outstanding than the petitioning success is that Kleiner recently released his second-quarter report, and the campaign now has more than $350,000 cash on hand compared to Republican incumbent C. Scott Vanderhoef’s $194,000. It’s very obvious that change is in the air and momentum is favoring Kleiner’s campaign. However, it’s going to take even more to unseat an entrenched incumbent with 16 years in the office. As Kleiner recently said in an email to constituents, “we can and must do better.”

The two months between the filing of petitions and the September primaries is no time for us to become complacent. We need to continue to talk to and email our friends, knock on some doors, make phone calls, host house parties and continue to raise funds for Kleiner. We must keep the campaign momentum swinging in our direction.

At our last Progressive Dems meeting, Kleiner’s Campaign distributed volunteering forms to those in attendance. For those of you that couldn’t attend that meeting, we’ve got online versions of the forms that you can use to let the campaign know how you can help. Please take the time to fill out the form by clicking the link below:

http://rock-prog.org/?p=478

Thank you, I hope you continue to have a wonderful and safe summer. We will have our next “Rock Progs” meeting in September.

The major focus of our meeting will be to mobilize our organization for Thom Kleiner, the Democratic candidate for County Executive.

Representatives from Kleiner’s campaign will be there to help us coordinate a grassroots “get out the vote” effort. We will discuss petitioning, canvassing, phone banking and other critical campaign activities.

This election hinges entirely on voter turnout. If we can get Democrats and progressives to the polls in an off-year election, we
can take Rockland. Supervisor Kleiner represents the leadership we need to get the county back on a sound fiscal footing. Kleiner also stands for transparency in government, creating an economic environment that attracts businesses to Rockland, and protecting the county’s environment and open spaces. As Orangetown Supervisor, Thom successfully improved the town’s quality of life, while responsibly managing taxes and keeping the town’s budget on track.

I also want to thank all of you that have been attending the Rockland Progressive Democratic Caucus meetings. I’m very happy to see so many people have chosen to stay politically active, and work to create the same change on the local level as we did in Washington, DC. Last fall, grassroots volunteers were able to turn this formerly red county blue in the 2008 presidential election, but the work doesn’t stop there. We need to continue on with this good work and elect a Democrat as our County Executive.

At our last meeting, the Progressive Dems recognized the successes of the Rockland Coalition for the Future, which has merged with our group. We also chose the RPDC’s officers: Caryn Helfer of Clarkstown was chosen as our secretary, Michael Hogan of Orangetown is our Vice Chair, and I am honored to serve as the group’s chair. We are still looking for someone to fill the critical role of Treasurer for this organization, as we intend to raise funds to support progressive candidates and ideals. We are also looking for associate chairs for each town.