Why I'm digging Cynthia Nixon's run for NY governor

If the polls are to be believed, Cynthia Nixon is going to be absolutely crushed by Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
So why should I care about Nixon's futile campaign?
Because of what she's saying, and because of the reaction from the establishment.

"The time is up for corporate Democrats, for politicians who campaign as Democrats but govern as republicans," she said. "It can't just be business as usual anymore. I know that our country can do better. We have to turn the system upside down."
..."We have too many corporate Democrats like Andrew Cuomo," she said. "It's hard for some Democrats to do right when they are getting millions and millions of dollars to do wrong. The election of Donald Trump was a wake-up for progressives all across this country. But even before Trump, the establishment was rigging our economy and our government to benefit those on top."
She also emphasized her platform's priorities, including: marijuana legalization, education reform and universal healthcare.
"If 2016 taught us anything, it's that Democrats can't give voters something to vote against," she said. "We have to give them something to vote for."

That's excellent stuff.
So how do you think the Democratic Party establishment has reacted to her?
They freaked out, and starting smearing her.

“Cynthia Nixon was opposed to having a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City,” Quinn told the New York Post. “Now she wants to be an unqualified lesbian to be the governor of New York."

That one blew up in their faces. I read that Nixon embraced the smear.
So they changed tactics.

the recent announcement by actor Cynthia Nixon that she would challenge Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for governor, however earnest her effort may be, is hard to take seriously.
...But in the final analysis, if Nixon merely succeeds in giving Cuomo a second black eye, in addition to the one he already has with the conviction of his former right-hand man, Joe Percoco, what good would that do?

What's the point if you can't be sure of winning, hmm? Better not even try.
But this is the response I like best.

Cynthia Nixon, the actress and activist challenging New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the state's 2018 Democratic primary will not commit to winding down her campaign if Cuomo wins the party's nomination in September.
..On Thursday, Nixon demurred when asked if the WFP's potential support, and a place on their ballot line, would encourage her to run as a third party candidate if she failed to oust Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
"I'm not prepared to say," she said in an interview with New York public radio station WXXI.

This is where Democrat loyalists throw a tantrum.

Nixon isn't the only one who would be faced with a tough decision if defeated in the late summer primary. Cuomo is already backed by the Independence Party, which also has its own ballot real estate. He secured their support in late December of 2017.
If either candidate were to extend their campaign through the general election after losing the primary, Democrats would risk splitting their vote and opening a path for the Republican nominee to score a major upset. The effects would likely be felt down the ballot, too, as the party pushes to reclaim a hold on the state Senate majority.

So Nixon's campaign could be a catastrophe for the entire state! Be afraid!
Despite Nixon having "no chance" and should "drop out for the good of the Dems", her campaign has already shed some light on the corruption of the NY Democratic establishment.
Most notably was the way the so-called Independent Democratic Conference suddenly became loyal Dems when Cuomo called.
It was done in such an obvious, in-your-face way that the corruption was hard to miss.

Another political roach that scurried out from under the fridge and into view was Cuomo's relationship with NY labor unions.

Union leaders closely allied with Gov. Cuomo are considering creating their own ballot line to back him as the left-leaning Working Families Party is moving toward nominating Nixon for governor, sources told The Post.
Cuomo ran on the WFP ballot line and 2010 and 2014. But many of the WFP’s activists have soured on him, and see him as an opportunistic progressive.
...But the labor unions are looking at creating their own ballot line to back Cuomo and might even call it the “Real Working Families Party” or “Labor Party” to steal the WFP’s thunder, sources familiar with the discussions said.
...The Cuomo campaign suggested that the WFP is dividing the left, just as it criticized the Independent Democratic Conference in the state Senate of doing.

How familiar does this sound? It's Hillary voters yelling "Bernie bros" all over again.
And just like Hillarybots, they never criticize Democrats that vote Republican. They only denounce progressive Democrats that don't fall into line behind the establishment.
Nixon probably won't win, but she can give them Hell.

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...they don't like her because she's a strong woman.

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Cuomo always reminded me of Rahm Emanuel. I hate Rahm Emanuel.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

If the polls are to be believed, Cynthia Nixon is going to be absolutely crushed by Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
So why should I care about Nixon's futile campaign?

Because it's direct evidence that the "DemInvade" movement among progressives is real -- and FIGHTING!

I'll take that fight anywhere I can find it!

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

edg's picture

As someone once said, there's a special place in hell for women who don't vote for Cynthia Nixon.

It's time for New York's first female governor, right?

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Pricknick's picture

for her to give out her platform and beliefs in writing. Anybody seen one?
Till then it's all talk.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Cuomo is used to coming up with dirty tricks, last time he created a fake party, I don't remember the name but it contained the word "women". WFP members were furious that their line had been given to Cuomo after lots of arm twisting by Mayor de Blasio. Cuomo went on to screw Mayor de Blasio and Dems. at every opportunity.

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It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves that we've been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. Carl Sagan

Andy rather entertaining, rare as it is to see a competent Democrat. Maybe he will announce he is not running and set up a presidential exploratory committee.

Howsomeover, I shall probably vote for the Nixon lady, loath as I am to see celebrities getting into politics, if only to throw a scare into the state Dem. establishment. A woman can hope.

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Mary Bennett

reflectionsv37's picture

On how the Democratic Party establishment deals with it Progressive members. Nah, maybe it's just a strange coincidence.

They've learned nothing from 2016.

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“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W. Bush

Cassiodorus's picture

if the nice liberals would (in the future) lavish the same attention upon Howie Hawkins that they've granted to Cynthia Nixon.

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

longtalldrink's picture

What do New Yorkers have against Cynthia? Is it just no name recognition?

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Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin

Mark from Queens's picture

@longtalldrink

He's got all the money, name recognition (thanks to daddy) and the obligatory D after his name. But he's 110% a puppet of Wall St, corporations and cronyism. He is, The Neoliberal Nightmare of NY.

Zepyhr Teachout, an excellent candidate/professor with no name recognition and no media coverage whatsoever, managed to get more than a third of the vote against that douchebag in the last primary.

Don't know enough about this celebrity candidate and if her progressive salvos are for real. But anybody going up against him will be welcomed to a large degree.

He should never be forgiven for a number of things: disbanding the Moreland Commission in order to protect his donors; couldn't be persuaded to even levy a 1 fucking percent tax of high-speed trading while instead preferring to open the state up to more Indian reservation gambling and pillaging natural park resources for minerals; and his back-stabbing of the WFP after they very begrudgingly endorsed him.

Remember this too:

"How Did NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Make $783,000 In Royalties From A Book That Sold Only 3,200 Copies?"

and also,

"The blanks in Cuomo’s big book"

He's a totally privileged, venal, Neoilberal poster boy, secretive, sleazy Protectorate of Wall St. His handlers are in the total bubble of non-reality if they think he has even the remotest chance at the presidency (somewhat similar to the $hillary zombies, but without the name recognition and faux feminist marketing ploys they were deluded into thinking would carry her).

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

longtalldrink's picture

@Mark from Queens
I like to get the locals answers regarding their in-state politics. Regular media is just so biased toward neoliberalism. New Yorkers, like Californians, seem so progressive, so I wondered why they were going in such a big way for Mr. Neoliberal himself, Cuomo.

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Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin