Dan Donovan and Vinny Gentile Taking and Delivering Early Campaign Shots about Race and Racism as their New York 11th Congressional District Race Heats Up

Gentile camp quickly plays the race card in attempt to inflame the black voters in the district  —  Gentile also makes an outrageous proposal about some method of secret consultations with the 11th CD’s only black elected official if he is elected to congress  —   Gentile’s paid City Council Staffer behind the whole “race baiting” story

Donovan is a little disingenuous playing a virginal Snow White to Vinny’s Wicked Queen in the whole kerfuffle

The special election race has hardly started and the Democratic Candidate Vincent Gentile camp has poisoned the atmosphere with a vile brew of purely race-based politics of the kind that has become altogether too common for Democrats in the age of Obama.  NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION  —   Dan Donovan wasn’t too cool about any of it, either.

According to a recent report in the Huffington post, “... [a] dispute between the two candidates vying to replace disgraced Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) escalated on Tuesday, with the campaign of Democratic candidate Vincent Gentile accusing Republican Daniel Donovan of ‘doubling down on race-baiting.’...”  (See “Eric Garner Prosecutor Accused Of ‘Doubling Down On Race-Baiting' In Congressional Campaign” by some staff guy, 3/24/15, Huffington Post [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/24/eric-garner-vinnie-gentile-daniel-donovan-race-baiting_n_6933660.html]).

GENTILE’S “RESPONSE” WAS A CALCULATED AND LONG-AGO-PLANNED KICK IN THE BALLS

The comments by the Gentile Campaign were done as a so-called  “ response” to a fund raising E-Mail that Donovan’s campaign sent to Donovan supporters last week, which contained the subject line:  “Al Sharpton Coming After Dan, we need your help!."   The Donovan campaign E-Mail supposedly quoted a member of Sharpton's National Action Network criticizing Donovan.

It should be noted that much of the information contained in the Huffington Post piece, cited above, appears to have largely come from an earlier article that had appeared in the New York Observer by a former local Brooklyn beat writer Ross Barkan (See “Eric Garner Prosecutor’s Campaign Warns Al Sharpton Is ‘Coming After’ Him” by Ross Barkan, 3/19/15, NY Observer [http://observer.com/2015/03/eric-garner-prosecutors-campaign-warns-al-sharpton-is-coming-after-him/]).  That is important to note, because the Barkan-NY Observer piece is obviously heavily sourced from Justin Brannan, who is both identified and ultimately quoted in Barkan’s final condemnatory passages, as follows: “...Gentile’s campaign said Mr. Donovan should be 'ashamed of himself,' calling the email race-baiting at its ‘worst.’ ***   ‘Dan Donovan should really be ashamed of himself for using this cowardly tactic,’ said Justin Brannan, a spokesman for Mr. Gentile, in a statement. ‘This is race baiting at its worst. In a time when everyone in New York City should be encouraging a sense of community and trust, Dan Donovan is purposely driving a racial wedge between voters.’ ***   ‘It’s a despicable thing for anyone to do but especially unbecoming of an elected official,’ he added....”

Brannan, who has pushed the “Donovan doubling-down on his race-baiting...” story for over a week to multiple media outlets and directly to many Brooklyn Democrats via a Twitter feed, is the long-time Chief of Staff of Councilman Gentile.

DONOVAN’S RESPONSIVE BUT OVER THE TOP RESPONSE

The Huffington post article noted Dan Donovan’s responses to the Gentile camp’s charges of racism: “I don’t think anyone should put race in the race, for lack of a better way of saying it....  Race has nothing to do with this election....  I would hope that people would respect that Eric Garner’s mother lost a son, his wife lost a husband his children lost a dad....  And I hope that no one would use his death and the tragedy and circumstances surrounding that in a political election.”

THE GENTILE-BRANNAN SUR-RESPONSE

Gentile’s campaign quickly sur-responded that Donovan’s remarks were proof that he wasn’t fit for office.  Again, it was Justin Brannan that was in the middle of everything.  —   Gentile campaign spokesperson Justin Brannan said the following in a statement to the Huffington Post: “The only thing more disgusting than race-baiting is doubling down on race-baiting....    But sadly these are the types of deceptive and unsubstantiated tactics a desperate candidate with zero legislative experience and a do-nothing record will employ....  It’s not only hateful, but it's insulting to the voters... [t]he hardworking people of New York's 11th Congressional District deserve better than this -- they deserve an open and honest debate on the issues that matter and they deserve a leader, not a demagogue calling shots from the same tired and divisive national Republican playbook." [Hmmm !  “... the same tired and divisive national Republican playbook...”   —   Seriously ?  I mean SERIOUSLY !]

GENTILE’S INITIAL REMARKS WERE A LITTLE SELECTIVE  —   THAT’S WHAT I THINK

I don’t expect Vinny Gentile or his people to just throw in the cards in what looks like a one-sided game in favor of Dan Donovan, but several things appear to have gotten lost in the shuffle and cut before the first hand has even been looked at, much less played, by either Gentile or Donovan.  First, Donovan’s fund raising E-mail only mentioned Sharpton as a small piece among several other reasons to help out the Donovan Campaign. Specifically, the fund-raising E-Mail, sent from Ron Carara, Mr. Donovan’s campaign manager, claimed that various left-wing radicals were  attacking Mr. Donovan, trying to hurt him and attempting to derail the Donovan Campaign.  The radicals mentioned in the E-Mail included Occupy Wall Street activists, Mr. Sharpton’s National Action Network and even Mayor deBlasio.

DAN DONOVAN IS MISCAST AS SNOW WHITE OR ANY OTHER INGENUE — THAT’S WHAT I THINK

On the other hand, it is obviously and absolutely ridiculous for Dan Donovan to try to get away with this:  “... Race has nothing to do with this election....” —>   WHY DOES HE THINK THAT HE IS SO POPULAR THROUGHOUT MOST OF STATEN ISLAND AND THE SOUTHWEST PART OF BROOKLYN  ?   <—    IT SURE AIN’T HIS GOOD LOOKS AND SEEMINGLY POTENT  “BACHELOR LIFESTYLE” –  NOR HIS ROCK-RIBBED CONSERVATIVE-REPUBLICANISM  ! ! !  (BTW, ALL OF THAT WAS QUITE SARCASTIC.... ).

SO FAR SOME MISSED ISSUES BECAUSE OF —>  EVERYBODY’S   <—  RACE STUFF 

Since I think both sides have decided to double-down on their respective this, that or the other stuff involving race and racism  —   Donovan has so far gotten away with a major gaffe about what he can’t do to help many of the Sandy victims in his Staten Island DA jurisdiction or “his” future Staten Island-SW Brooklyn congressional district.  And nobody seemed to catch Vinny G's promise that. if elected to congress, he would give special entre, and to hold behind closed door meetings with certain Staten Island Democrat elected officials that nobody else will ever hear about. It's especially interesting that he singled out his City Council colleague, Debi Rose.  I wonder why he said this —  it seems kind of well, stupid  —  unless it has some special meaning, which I'm sure it does.