Un-energetic Campaigns Characterize NYC GOP

In politics it has been this outsider’s view that the Democrats play to win, and Republicans play to show. Not second place, as you would imply, but to just show up. The Democrats know who they are, they are well organized, and they follow their leaders. Make no bones about it, if they are in a fight against a Republican, they do not choose to eat their own.

In any battle, as earlier last year proved, they find a way to put their differences aside, and win the next election. Behind the scenes they fight and scramble like the rest of us. Tulsi Gabbard, however, is the exception. She has exposed the Democrat party for who they are. Like Piranha, the party candidates descended upon her. God forbid she touch the third rail called Clinton!

Anemic Leadership or Scarce Republican Voters?

The Republican party – at least here on the east coast – Is never going to align on a message. If two NY Republicans were watching a building burn, they would argue about who had legitimacy to put it out. The argument would continue while the fire raged around them. Ultimately the building is burned to the ground.

New York City could not find a credible candidate to run for Queens District Attorney. Not a single Republican candidate could be found to run against a Borough President who never saw the inside of a courtroom. This person was behind some of the worst ideas in NYC like no cash bail, and closing Riker’s Island prison.

At the last moment, the GOP conveniently found a Democrat who would run on the Republican ticket. To get him to run, they promised their support. They made their announcement, had the big show, and then abandoned him. Prior to accepting, he did not confirm nor quantify “support”, and when he asked them to come forward, he was told to go find it himself.

Ceding the Votes Before They are Made

No financial support was going to be provided. He was told to call his friends and other attorneys. Not a single volunteer was assigned from the Queens GOP. Phones were ready, names and numbers purchased for a phone blitz. However, no one ever came to offer help, to assist in fundraising, or to help get out the vote.

Not a single door knocker was hired. People stayed away from him like he had leprosy. He tried to get his Democrat friends to contribute, but the odds were stacked against him. If they offered support, what would be the retribution on them if he lost? They were lawyers too, and the implications were clear, while they agreed with him on policy, they could not have their names or reputations associated with a Republican.

I spoke to many in the campaign, on both sides (Democrats and Republicans). Many people loved the candidate, they knew him from the neighborhood. They loved his positions which were in line with the electorate. The Democrat candidate had no credible experience in litigation. How could he lose?

The problem? As a retired NYC police officer, he was close to his union, and had union friends. They confronted him from their side. If he claimed he was a Republican in any way, he would lose union support. Claiming he was truly a Democrat, not a single Republican would even consider supporting him. I call it political Limbo –

Inaction Has Consequences

New York Republicans are essentially damned to extinction. A candidate with Democrat roots and a Conservative background in theory could unite the party, and create a future in New York. That would take some serious thought and analysis, however. That is not the state of the NY Republican party at the moment.

He was an imported Democrat, chosen to run on the other brand. Instead of totally supporting the candidate that the party chose to run, Republicans disappeared. They told him to figure it out himself. As the election loomed, the Republican party did not even show up.

The Queens GOP chair did not consult with the districts when choosing the candidate – even though not a single Republican candidate would run. Each district was at war with the chair who played games. Less than a month before the election, the Conservative districts confronted him. To get support, they asked if he would plan to change parties.

Why was that question not asked ten weeks ago, before he was selected? Not only that, if one district supported him, the GOP chair would act like a jealous suitor, as well as the other way around. No support consensus was ever made. Winning an election was never part of the GOP equation. The candidate floundered.

Without money and support, the campaign garnered a little over 28,000 votes. Republican Judges could not muster much more support either. The result is that Queens was totally lost. The future of New York City prosecution, Rikers Island and the future of the city was handed to a Democrat party intent on no-cash bails and decriminalizing everything.

Making Other Excuses

In effect, they relented to those for letting criminals back onto the street to terrorize residents without consequence. The Republican party has been rendered mute and impotent. The Queens GOP Chair played a lame excuse, claiming that the candidate was a rogue, that he didn’t listen to advice, that he should have called his friends. Many of these might be true, but none of them could present a credible reason to simply disappear.

The in-fighting in Queens is just the beginning. It looks like the state is now lost. Small pockets of Conservatism do exist, but they eventually will be gerrymandered out of existence. To recreate a Republican party brand will take consensus, and belief in conservative values.

Identity politics cannot work, and the best candidates need to be selected to run. Conceding one of the largest cities in the country to the Democrats is declaring total surrender. Not even offering a credible candidate is the first wrong step. In New York City, the Republican brand is all but dead. Not because it cannot be revived, but because of neglect.

Difficult to Rebuild

There are enough Conservatives on both sides who believe in the future to cobble together a consensus. With the infighting, though, it is next to impossible to make happen. The Democrat party today is moving so hard-core left, that the Republicans have a window to create a new brand. Pulling together Conservative Democrats is the only answer.

With the current leadership in place, few see it happening. The Bronx GOP Chair is credible, maybe Staten Island as well. Evaluating the other boroughs, they would need to put their differences aside and unite. At the moment. they are so polarized it probably won’t occur any time soon.

Maybe under a Conservative-leaning Democratic candidate for Mayor, it could happen. People exist who can be recruited, but after what happened in November of 2019, who wants to make that commitment? Only someone who would want to expose themselves to ridicule, and resentment would do it. A tough recipe for winning.