Hynes’ Coming Out Party — for his friend Marty, Hynes will say it long and say it loud, “I’m runnin’ as a Republican and I’m proud !” — And for his friend Mike, he’ll say it longer and even louder, “I’m runnin’ as a Conservative and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Incumbent DA’s Campaign for re-election on GOP and CONSP lines is uphill the whole way  — But, DA Hynes is set to announce that he is up for that

Some say that the one night haul of $150,000 earlier this week did the trick, but others are projecting the need for a million dollar campaign

Republicans and Conservatives need to beware  — All of  Brooklyn isn’t just like Bay Ridgeites and Bay Ridge  —  and this campaign for DA must remain something we all can be proud about 

At the outset, let me state that I think that if Charles “Joe” Hynes runs an all-out campaign on the GOP and Conservative lines, he just might win re-election. I also believe that he certainly will lead all of the other GOP and Conservative Party candidates, both Borough-wide and in Brooklyn's few Republican-Conservative strongholds. Hynes' expected announcement on Tuesday is great news.

But the fits and starts with the kick-off of the Hynes GOP-Conparty campaign; and some obvious pitfalls that are clearly in Hynes’ path do give one some pause to wonder, who is making this all go and why. Also there already are enough whispers to make the term “whisper campaign” something that everybody needs to look out for.

One of my original Baker Street Irregulars gave me the down low that one of his sources at the offices of the Brooklyn DA had told him that incumbent DA Hynes was going to go all out on the GOP and Conservative party lines. That was about a week ago, when the word from the horse’s mouth  —  none other that Charles “Joe” Hynes, himself  —  was “Thanks, but no thanks...” for any active run on his part. (I now wish that I had put it out there that some guy at the DA’s office was saying something opposite at the time.  —  But, who knew that the political terrain would be shifting again in the DA race the way that it has, with Hynes first denying and now reportedly announcing a full scale run on his part this coming Tuesday).

One of the reasons being given for the most recent Hynes’ turnaround on this actively-running or not-actively-running on the GOP and Cons lines includes the fact that the Democratic Party Primary for DA was only participated in by about 12-16% of registered Democrats (that percentage sure is more fluid than it should be).  Another is that former Democratic County Leader Clarence Norman was a key operator for the winner of the Democratic DA primary, Kenneth Thompson. However, both of those items of information ( the low %-age and the Clarence Norman involvement were known by Hynes prior to his earlier denials that he had any intention to actively campaign on the Republican and Conservative lines (Such denials by Mr. Hynes and his top operatives made complete sense at the time, and they were fully discussed by me in earlier posts on this blog).

Another reason given for his change of heart, was the amazing success of a Hynes' fundraiser just two nights ago. However, Hynes' remarks that night indicated that his decision had already been made. A wag, who sometimes gets me some good stuff, says that what he had heard is that State Senator Marty Golden was on top of what was going on at the Hynes fund raiser, but that Kassar and Mike Long were taken completely by surprise. Based on other leads, that bit of info from my wag is at best “half right.” The most reliable pitch that I've gotten is that both Golden and Long were taking the pulse of the purse at the Wednesday, October 2, 2013 fund raiser. The purported take from the fund raiser was in the range of $150,000, according to the published sources.

What’s very intriguing is, that except for some very sketchy details, very few people seem to know many details about the who, what, where and how of this fund raiser ( and none of those has dropped me a line on what’s going on). According to the Gothamist. “Hynes apparently held a fundraiser at the Greenhouse Cafe in Bay Ridge last night where he told supporters that he was running (and presumably assured them that his sex crimes scandals, the massive investigation into scores of shady murder convictions, and the fact that nearly all of his support from the Brooklyn Democratic establishment has eroded, won't matter) (See “Charles Hynes Won't Die: Brooklyn DA Is Running As A Republican” by Christopher Robbins, 10/3/13, Gothamist.com  [http://gothamist.com/2013/10/03/charles_hynes_wont_die_da_is_runnin.php]). The Daily News coverage would have one believe that it happened on Tuesday (probably an editorial mistake, but one that adds to the intrigue)  – “The 78-year-old Hynes held a fundraiser in a Bay Ridge restaurant Tuesday night, raising some $150,000...” (See “Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes won't go for 'classy' exit afterall, decides to fight for job on Republican and Conservative party lines” by Orin Yaniv, 10/3/13, Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/brooklyn-da-charles-hynes-race-sources-article-1.1475218]). At least one published report and one of the Brooklyn GOP insiders, who claims to have knowledge about some of this, says that the fund raising target of the Hynes Republican-Conservative Campaign is in the Austin Powers-Dr. Evil range of  “— One Million Dollars — ”.  Now, to me and other local guys, that’s a real heavy lift ( it means at least five or six more $150,000 fund raisers like Wednesday’s in the space of four weeks, or two or three that are able to raise twice as much). One thing is for sure, that kind of money ain’t comin’ from the folks in Bay Ridge. Real money people are pitching-in big bucks only if there is something in it for them, and nobody seems to know what that might be; at least nobody’s tellin’.

At any rate, whether it was Tuesday (according to the News) or Wednesday (according to the rest of the world), Mr. Robbins or some editor of the Gothamist blog took pains to show that this was very much a Bay Ridge kind of show; not only was the Greenhouse, a long-established Bay Ridge eatery, mentioned, but the Gothamist also included this very parochial quote from the facebook page of  “You’re Probably From Bay Ridge.”   —   “I had the privilege to be present just moments ago at a community fundraiser at Greenhouse Cafe where our District Attorney Charles Hynes announced he will run for reelection on November 5th on the Republican line... As we know he has been a Democrat for many years and is a Bay Ridge resident...We need to come together as one and keep him in office... We have become a place that 20 years ago was frowned upon and not what it is today... Please get out this year and reelect Hynes for our beloved Bay Ridge... The alternative is not even an alternative... Phil Fahey and I endorse this message on my page to you my friends, family and neighbors...Thank you” (See “Your Probably From Bay Ridge If.”  October 2 via mobile [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Your-Probably-From-Bay-Ridge-If/130701403688402]).

I had a bad feeling about this quote from the get go. So I looked into it a little deeper. Some of the comments following the post quoted by the Gothamist make it clear that there might be a tainted undercurrent, of an “us against them” sort, to some of this. I’m more than suspicious that’s why the obviously unfriendly Gothamist put the quote from “Your Probably From Bay Ridge If.” in its article. Some might say, "So what ?" Others might think that "us against them" might work well for "us"; even if that were true, that shouldn't be the determining consideration. More likely, it's the kind of pitch that boomerangs on its user and will doubtless split the  larger community along those "us and them" lines.

Whoever is running the Hynes campaign needs to spike this sort of thing right away, or it might completely taint everything. A lot is at stake going forward for Republicans and Conservatives, and Hynes himself.  Winning isn't everything, so risking everything just to win isn't a wise bet or choice  —  especially, for something as uphill as this appears to be.