Regardless how the Brooklyn GOP Convention turns out — Whether it re-elects Craig Eaton as the Kings County Republican Party Chairman, whether Tim Cochrane gets the nod or whether it goes for somebody new that Marty Golden has been mentioning — the Brooklyn GOP will be a shambles going forward to the November General Election — However, there is one candidate running in a key race that all of the Republican factions are already backing, it's Charles “Joe” Hynes, seeking re-election as the Kings County District Attorney on the Republican and Conservative lines
If Hynes can generate the “Fire In His Belly” — he could make this his successful “Last Hurrah” instead of the "Prufrock version" that he’s playing out right now.
I was doing research on what Mike Long and the Conservative Party was doing, along with Marty Golden and the RFC, vis a vis Republican candidates running in the General Elections of 2013. Of course, there were several news items and articles about the Republican Mayoral Primary winner Joseph Lhota; and oddly, there were very few about people like City Council candidates John Quaglione and Andrew Sullivan. What jumped out was that there were one or two, maybe even three or four, about Joe Hynes, the incumbent DA now principally running on the GOP line after his Democratic Party Primary loss to Kenneth Thompson.
Originally, I had hoped to find material to bash the Goldens and RFCers, and even Mike Long and Jerry Kassar; but instead, what I found was something more valuable. It was something with which I could agree and even get behind for the 2013 General Election. Oh, irony of ironies ! — Calling for a unified effort along with a bunch of guys that I .... [maybe, some other time] behind the sole remaining re-election campaign of a reluctant Joe Hynes.......
Rather than take you article by article through who said what and why, Mike Long and State Senator Golden seem solidly behind Hynes. If you want more details do your own search of recent NY Post articles and also something called “Voz Iz Neias”. All I have to say right now is that I think this is something that all Brooklyn Republicans and Conservatives need to get behind; and Lhota’s campaign needs to do it as well. My reasons are right below.
First, even though Hynes has not been a perfect DA in Kings County, he was better than his immediate predecessors, Elizabeth Holtzman and Eugene Gold. Second, the winner of the Democrat Primary, Kenneth Thompson, is coming in with a very liberal – even radical – agenda. Third, Hynes’ combined terms as Brooklyn’s prosecutor are contemporaneous with, not only a drop in all categories of major crimes, but also with, a generally improved quality of life throughout all of Brooklyn. Fourth, and most important to my blogging persona here on “...Brooklyn .. Fountainhead,” as the numbers below strongly suggest — HYNES CAN WIN THIS ELECTION MOSTLY ON THE REPUBLICAN LINE COUNTY-WIDE.
The math is not that bad for incumbent DA Hynes running on the Conservative and Republican lines in November 2013. Take a quick look at the 2009 mayoral race for results in Brooklyn:
Bill Thompson - 175,000 (combining Democrat and WFP lines)
Bloomberg - 155,000 (combining GOP and Independent lines)
(Remember, about 12,500 WFP votes that went to Bill Thompson in 2009 can’t go to Ken Thompson because the WFP line for DA is blank in 2013. Also, Joe Hynes has the Conservative Party line which can add up to 5000 to 8,000 votes, with 6500 to 7500 very possible with a real Conservative Party campaign . Also about 4,000 to 5,000 military and absentee ballots should favor the incumbent, Joe Hynes.)
I didn't say they were great, I said they weren't that bad. Don’t take my word for it, you play with the numbers from the 2009 Mayoral Election that follow:
Kings County - 2009 election - Mayor - Brooklyn
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WILLIAM C THOMPSON JR. (WORKING FAMILIES) 12,461
MICHAEL R BLOOMBERG (REPUBLICAN) 117,706
MICHAEL R BLOOMBERG (INDEPENDENCE/JOBS & EDUCATION) 36,033
STEPHEN CHRISTOPHER (CONSERVATIVE) 5,690
ABSENTEE/MILITARY 5,663
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Total Ballots 347,310
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Earlier, I mentioned that Mr. Hynes had to have the “Fire In His Belly” — he needs to show the folks that he really wants to continue serving as the Brooklyn DA. If he can show that he really does want it, his “Last Hurrah” will be far more favorable than Frank Skeffington’s. However, since there seem to be a few Jar Heads involved it probably should be pronounced — “Hoooo-rah !”
12 comments:
Hynes should do about as well as Romney did in Brooklyn.
Wake up folks. Hynes is the worlds biggest loser.
Dennis "Michelin Man" Quirk told todays Post that Hynes wont campaign, but Republicans will do it for him.
Hynes couldnt comment because hes away on vacation.
Starting to get the picture why they lost the democratic primary.
I'd like to get Dennis Quirk and Chris Christie on a seesaw.
Gale, Hynes already declared that he is not actively contesting the election into November and has already begun the transition process. He has made perfectly clear that he no longer has any "fire in the belly".
No one that Marty and/or Long are backing should win. Marty already lost with Clorinda and it would do more good than harm for another candidate to lose.
That's what has been said around town and in the papers, and even by some of my Democrat and Republican friends. However, articles like some of what has appeared in the NY Post since the Democratic Primary don't happen in a vacuum. There is a strong anti-Ken Thompson sentiment hanging around out there.
There's a chance for Hynes and the Brooklyn GOP to tap into that anti-Thompson animus, and then add to it and build on it. Hynes and his personal team should take another long look at everything.
Hynes is supported by Eaton too.....
Not everything has to be an "either-or" proposition. Didn't both sides work things out between Quaglione and Sullivan; didn't both sides work out a solution in the 44th AD; isn't Golden ready to propose a "third way" candidate instead of either Eaton or Cochrane (or at least isn't Golden talking to that "third way" person like that's what Golden might prefer, right now) ?
Marty Golden couldn't carry Bay Ridge in his last election. Now He's gonna get people in Bed Stuy and Brooklyn Heights to vote Republican.
Fire in the belly my a**
Get real.
UPDATE: THE "I AM SHOCKED -- SHOCKED I TELL YOU !" EDITION
For the first time in a very long time I find myself agreeing with State Senator Martin Golden [that deserved a separate lead paragraph].
It's all there in the New York Times of all places (See "Hynes Is Said to Be Weighing a G.O.P. Run for District Attorney" by Vivian Yee, NY Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/nyregion/hynes-is-said-to-be-weighing-a-gop-run-for-district-attorney.html?ref=nyregion&_r=1&]). After the NY Times reported how Senator Golden and others thought that Hynes could win on the GOP and Conservative Party lines, the Golden one is quoted in the Times, in the following manner: "Mr. Golden said there was another reason Republicans wanted Mr. Hynes to campaign. 'It helps Joe Lhota,' who will need substantial support from Democrats to win, Mr. Golden said. 'I think they’d be a good team'."
I'm completely in sinc with that (I better take my temperature quick; I think I had a tick bite recently). I was a late convert to the Hynes camp (not counting my very early support when Joe Hynes was young and beautiful, and being played by Daniel J. Trevanti) and have been a sceptical supporter of Joe Lhota since his primary victory (he needs super big bucks that I don't think will be coming to have any shot), however they are not bad hitters for the top and middle of the Brooklyn GOP lineup for the 2013 general election, and they deserve our full support.
Now, that's enough for the love and lollipops....
Although not highlighted in the Times article, as such, the negativity and/or reserve expressed by Lew Fidler and Dennis Quirk, though seeming to be only tepidly critical --- IS OF OVERWHELMING AND CRITICAL IMPORTANCE. They are among the key insiders in any real Hynes effort at re-election on any line or lines. If they, and several other key operators like them, are not 100% on board trying to move each and every movable Democrat over to Hynes' slots on either the GOP or Conservative ballot lines, then any Hynes' effort is not likely to go anywhere really worthwhile. If, as Dennis Quirk suggests, it's only a Republican and Conservative show for Hynes, then Hynes' candidacies on the Republican and Conservative lines are being used for other purposes than trying to win it all for Hynes.
If Joe Hynes has signed on for something like that, fine; he's a big boy and can take it, and he's a better man for doing it for old friends and supporters like Golden and Long. BUT, if Hynes isn't completely up for squaring around to try to make a sacrifice bunt at this stage of his career, then it's disrespectful to ask him to do so, and it probably won't work anyway (just ask Cliff Floyd).
But, for now, let me enjoy agreeing with Golden and some of his key people for a little while --- seems like old times....
UPDATE: WHO WOKE UP THE AP FOR A REPORT ABOUT THE HYNES RACE ON THE GOP AND CONSERVATIVE LINES TO APPEAR ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY
There was nothing new in yesterday's late afternoon AP release about the Joe Hynes' race for DA in Brooklyn on the Republican and Conservative lines (See "Brooklyn DA race may not be over; incumbent who lost Democratic primary encouraged to campaign" by Colleen Long, 9/19/13, The Republic, SeattlePilot, Wichita Eagle, etc., etc., etc./AP [http://m.therepublic.com/view/story/81f295e37e7741ca95fb2d2541d3ec5c/NY--Brooklyn-DA]). Not only is this item days behind the Daily News, NY Post, WSJ and The Times coverage, it contains none of the detail or nuance that was in those collective accounts. In fact, there was a lot more detail provided in my comments above than you will get from the story that appeared on the AP service.
Nonetheless, the news was not what's in the AP coverage or where it appeared --- the news is >>> THAT THERE IS AP COVERAGE<<< of the Hynes race for DA going forward on the Republican and Conservative lines. The AP gets echo in the media that subscribes to it, and so do the stories that are in the AP.
It might look like they are pushing a reluctant string, right now; but somebody is pushing this story. They're pushing it hard enough that the AP had to do a backfill sort of report when all this stuff had already appeared in the New York city-wides a few days ago.
BACKFILL: GOTHAMIST DID A SOMEWHAT CRITICAL PIECE ABOUT THE HYNES CAMPAIGN GOING FORWARD --- MAKES IT ALL SOUND A LITTLE CYNICAL, OR IS THAT SILLY --- HYNES' SPOKESMAN DENNIS QUIRK BLAMES ALL THE PRO-HYNES CHATTER ON HIS CHILDHOOD FRIEND MARTY GOLDEN
The most negative coverage of the attempts to breath new life into the Hynes Campaign for a November run on the GOP and Conservative lines came in "The Gothamist"(See "Dethroned Brooklyn DA Hynes May Try Reclaiming Throne As A Republican" by John Del Signore, 9/19/13, Gothamist [http://gothamist.com/2013/09/19/dethroned_brooklyn_da_hynes.php]). Right up front it says, "... during the hotly contested primary campaign, Hynes shrewdly got himself on the Republican and Conservative party tickets. Thompson supporters saw this as a "cynical insurance policy" in the event that Hynes lost the primary, and now there are indications they were correct."
Here's something of particular interest to you Golden-watchers excerpted from the Gothamist article : "Hynes's spokesman Dennis Quirk told us Hynes 'is on vacation with his family' and insisted that Hynes 'is not involved in this movement. You should talk to Marty Golden. Marty Golden is the one who gave it to the press and started the whole thing....' Golden was not immediately available for comment [ ], but he told CBS 2 [ ] Hynes could win with the support of Republicans and a minority of Democratic and independent voters. 'I do believe that we have a great opportunity here for this district attorney to win this race if, in fact, he engages,' Golden declared.... Golden argues, persuasively, that turnout was low in the primary, with only 22 percent of Democrats voting. Republicans also believe, desperately, that an active Hynes campaign might help doomed candidate Joe Lhota."
UPDATE: OH! HAVE I HEARD THIS SONG BEFORE EDITION
A week ago, I said this was a race that all Republicans could get behind --- Hynes running for re-election as Brooklyn DA on the Republican and Conservative lines. Now, I'm getting a very bad feeling about the whole thing.
I just read a piece in the Brooklyn Eagle that looked very familiar to me (See "Report: Hynes mulling run as Republican -- Brooklyn DA race may not be over" by Paula Katinas, 9/23/13, Brooklyn Daily Eagle [http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/report-hynes-mulling-run-republican-2013-09-23-113000]). The gist of the article was that "The race for Brooklyn district attorney might not be over, after all.... *** ... Hynes, who lost the primary to Thompson by 10 points, 55 percent to 45 percent, is being urged by people close to him to re-consider his position and wage a campaign to keep the job he has held for 24 years. *** Hynes’s name will appear on the ballot in November on both the Republican and Conservative Party lines. The question is whether he will actively campaign for votes...." Virtually identical or certainly very similar articles have been appearing for more than a week, all quoting the same very few sources, most notably State Senator Marty Golden and Conservative Chairman Mike Long.
This article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle contains the following tortured analysis, by Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long: “[Hynes] clearly could possibly be in a position to win if he campaigned.... only 22 percent of Democrats voted in the Democratic Primary.... If he got 35 percent of Democrats and Conservative and Republican voters, he could win.... He certainly would have an uphill battle. It would be a tough road for him....”
There's something "all wrong" about what Mike Long is saying here. Using Mr. Long's own math, "tough" and "uphill" obviously means "impossible" !
Even the Eagle article's author Paula Katinas seems incredulous -- "For one thing, Democrats, who outnumber Republicans and Conservatives significantly in terms of voter registration in Brooklyn, are coalescing around Thompson, the party’s nominee.... One Democratic Party official in southern Brooklyn said he didn’t think Hynes would run and that all of the speculation would die down. *** The primary results were a message. The voters want change,” said the official, who asked not to be quoted by name."
For me, the most troublesome line in the whole article is this one: "...Hynes himself is on vacation this week and was unavailable for comment...." That line has been repeated in article after article for more than a week. That line by itself is enough to kill this campaign before it starts.
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