By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author’s program note. I wasn’t going to write about politics today. I had everything all laid out for a laudatory article on an extraordinary woman and her important work with children. That, alas, will have to wait because of what a 70 year old Roman Catholic named Bob Turner accomplished on September 13, 2011, viz. he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of 7 term sextexting joyboy Anthony Weiner, who hereby earned fresh execrations and maladictions. If only the Honorable Anthony had texted less and loved his put- upon wife more…
The hot news is that Turner did it in a district comprised of Queens and Brooklyn, New York. So?…….. (and here’s the stink bomb for the astonished, horrified Democrats)… He did it as a REPUBLICAN in a House district which has NEVER elected a Republican. (Drum roll.)
So, who’s the genius who gets the credit for this implausible, even unthinkable development?
You know him as B. Obama, president of these United States, and this morning in the Casa Blanca he didn’t eat his eggs, he wore them. Oh, my.
So I’m sending El Presidente a copy of the most famous political song ever sung in NYC, “The Sidewalks of New York,” lyrics and music by James W. Blake and Charles E. Lawlor. It was written in the 1890s but took off with the candidacy of “The Happy Warrier” Al Smith, Governor of the Empire State, candidate for the Democratic party nomination for president (1924), Roman Catholic, defeated Democratic party candidate (1928). Find it in any search engine; it’s a grand old tune and is today being belted out for Mr. Bob Turner, retired media executive, a hero to ecstatic Republicans, “East Side, West Side, all around the town…” Don’t even hum this ditty around the Oval Office today…
Another referendum on our de-escalating chief executive officer.
Bob Turner is a lucky man, and not merely because he was elected either. It was how he got elected. Nobody, absolutely nobody (possibly including Bob Turner) expected him to win. They just hoped he didn’t embarrass himself and the party in a district where Democrats hold an overwhelming majority, 3 to 1, and where his competition, a member of the New York State Assembly, David Weprin, was an Orthodox Jew in a district at least 40 percent Jewish. Moreover Weprin’s political family was well known and respected in the district.
In the end, everything going for the Democrats — and they had everything going for them (on paper) —, wasn’t enough to counteract the toxicity of the president. From Day 1, it was 100% about him, his policies, and his descending political prospects… In New York of all the stalwart places!
So because it didn’t much matter, Turner got the luxury of telling the truth as he understood it… the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And feisty New Yorkers (who so often take underdogs to their hearts) liked what they heard from this unlikely hero who walked the pavements, knocked on doors, and talked to everyday people about their everyday concerns even though, out of earshot, these people thought he had a snowball’s chance in Hell to be their next Congressman.
But he just kept doing the necessary… and sharing his thoughts and common sense with his fellow countrymen, who bit by bit from the grass roots became the essential fuel for this unlikely event.
Turner talked about the punk economy and asked folks if they were happy with what they knew, what they saw, what the president and Democrats generally were doing to improve things. He turned this election into a referendum about BO and his malodorous policies. Were they helping the folks of his prospective district? If so, they should vote for his opponent. But if they were not, they should give him a chance.
Turner asked them, too, to give him the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. pledged to bring business efficiency, business accountability, business standards to the notoriously chaotic and expensive management quagmire so notoriously mismanaged by Uncle Sam. Again, this message resonated with New Yorkers… who came to like Turner and his message… and the more they held their noses about BO, their former love, the better Turner looked.
Hidden losers.
An election is never just about the candidates; rather, it is about the legions of folks whose fortunes are to a greater or lesser extent connected to those candidates. Their stock and prospects go up or down depending on how the cat jumps.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, now Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi (D-California), gets a pie in the face — again. Clearly she, although supposed to be au courant on the affairs of her minority members, missed this boat. Pelosi is already shop worn… a couple more bumbles like this one, and she can go to work for the chocolate company on whose addictive product she dotes… and will never be missed on Capitol Hill. In all fairness, her liberal distribution of free chocolates would be…
Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is another hidden loser, but it probably won’t hurt him much. He, too, was asleep at the switch and so missed the opportunity to provide necessary life support for Assemblyman Weprin. A governor of New York, any governor of New York, has a plethora of tools, resources, manpower, and, of course, money to be doled out liberally to forestall catastrophes like this one. Had he been more alert, Mr. Turner would never have succeeded.
Cuomo should burn the midnight oil studying his mistake. You see he aims to be president in 2016 and cannot afford too many rookie mistakes and oversights. It’s just not what we expect from such governors, or will tolerate.
Hidden winners.
Victory, it is said, has many fathers. If so, it’s certainly true here, and the list of hidden winners is very interesting indeed, including as it does former New York City mayor Ed Koch who ditched his party to endorse Turner. Koch gave the usual reasons, that Turrner would be good for America, etc. But the truth is Koch, as much as anyone, was glad for the chance to show Obama what he thought of him, which wasn’t much.
New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind headed a list of well-known Orthodox Jews in this heavily Jewish district, usually reliable Democrats, who ditched their Jewish candidate Weprin and made Catholic Turner their man. Scratch the surface here and you’ll find evidence of the complicated, labyrinthine, tortured vicissitudes that make New York politics so arcane, and interesting.
One more not-so-hidden winner, Donald Trump. He backed Turner but probably just to get his name in the papers. If so, The Donald achieved his objective.
Turner, a keeper.
Prior to the election, the Assembly (controlled by Democrats) and the Senate (controlled by Republicans) had the hot potato of eliminating two congressional seats because of the census. They had pretty much decided to get rid of Weprin. But with Weprin’s crushing loss, Republicans see a chance to redistrict in such a way that Turner is protected and re-elected. Stay tuned for the machinations around this event… which won’t take place on the side walks of New York. It’ll definitely be clandestine and behind-the-scenes and so reassure us things are back to normal.
* * * * *
About The Author
Howard Martell serious inquires only 757=962-2482
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Jeffrey Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author’s permission by Howard Martell http://HomeProfitCoach.com Check out Chris Mentor Me -> http://www.HomeProfitCoach.com/?rd=ld8pbXWE
Author’s program note. I wasn’t going to write about politics today. I had everything all laid out for a laudatory article on an extraordinary woman and her important work with children. That, alas, will have to wait because of what a 70 year old Roman Catholic named Bob Turner accomplished on September 13, 2011, viz. he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of 7 term sextexting joyboy Anthony Weiner, who hereby earned fresh execrations and maladictions. If only the Honorable Anthony had texted less and loved his put- upon wife more…
The hot news is that Turner did it in a district comprised of Queens and Brooklyn, New York. So?…….. (and here’s the stink bomb for the astonished, horrified Democrats)… He did it as a REPUBLICAN in a House district which has NEVER elected a Republican. (Drum roll.)
So, who’s the genius who gets the credit for this implausible, even unthinkable development?
You know him as B. Obama, president of these United States, and this morning in the Casa Blanca he didn’t eat his eggs, he wore them. Oh, my.
So I’m sending El Presidente a copy of the most famous political song ever sung in NYC, “The Sidewalks of New York,” lyrics and music by James W. Blake and Charles E. Lawlor. It was written in the 1890s but took off with the candidacy of “The Happy Warrier” Al Smith, Governor of the Empire State, candidate for the Democratic party nomination for president (1924), Roman Catholic, defeated Democratic party candidate (1928). Find it in any search engine; it’s a grand old tune and is today being belted out for Mr. Bob Turner, retired media executive, a hero to ecstatic Republicans, “East Side, West Side, all around the town…” Don’t even hum this ditty around the Oval Office today…
Another referendum on our de-escalating chief executive officer.
Bob Turner is a lucky man, and not merely because he was elected either. It was how he got elected. Nobody, absolutely nobody (possibly including Bob Turner) expected him to win. They just hoped he didn’t embarrass himself and the party in a district where Democrats hold an overwhelming majority, 3 to 1, and where his competition, a member of the New York State Assembly, David Weprin, was an Orthodox Jew in a district at least 40 percent Jewish. Moreover Weprin’s political family was well known and respected in the district.
In the end, everything going for the Democrats — and they had everything going for them (on paper) —, wasn’t enough to counteract the toxicity of the president. From Day 1, it was 100% about him, his policies, and his descending political prospects… In New York of all the stalwart places!
So because it didn’t much matter, Turner got the luxury of telling the truth as he understood it… the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And feisty New Yorkers (who so often take underdogs to their hearts) liked what they heard from this unlikely hero who walked the pavements, knocked on doors, and talked to everyday people about their everyday concerns even though, out of earshot, these people thought he had a snowball’s chance in Hell to be their next Congressman.
But he just kept doing the necessary… and sharing his thoughts and common sense with his fellow countrymen, who bit by bit from the grass roots became the essential fuel for this unlikely event.
Turner talked about the punk economy and asked folks if they were happy with what they knew, what they saw, what the president and Democrats generally were doing to improve things. He turned this election into a referendum about BO and his malodorous policies. Were they helping the folks of his prospective district? If so, they should vote for his opponent. But if they were not, they should give him a chance.
Turner asked them, too, to give him the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. pledged to bring business efficiency, business accountability, business standards to the notoriously chaotic and expensive management quagmire so notoriously mismanaged by Uncle Sam. Again, this message resonated with New Yorkers… who came to like Turner and his message… and the more they held their noses about BO, their former love, the better Turner looked.
Hidden losers.
An election is never just about the candidates; rather, it is about the legions of folks whose fortunes are to a greater or lesser extent connected to those candidates. Their stock and prospects go up or down depending on how the cat jumps.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, now Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi (D-California), gets a pie in the face — again. Clearly she, although supposed to be au courant on the affairs of her minority members, missed this boat. Pelosi is already shop worn… a couple more bumbles like this one, and she can go to work for the chocolate company on whose addictive product she dotes… and will never be missed on Capitol Hill. In all fairness, her liberal distribution of free chocolates would be…
Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is another hidden loser, but it probably won’t hurt him much. He, too, was asleep at the switch and so missed the opportunity to provide necessary life support for Assemblyman Weprin. A governor of New York, any governor of New York, has a plethora of tools, resources, manpower, and, of course, money to be doled out liberally to forestall catastrophes like this one. Had he been more alert, Mr. Turner would never have succeeded.
Cuomo should burn the midnight oil studying his mistake. You see he aims to be president in 2016 and cannot afford too many rookie mistakes and oversights. It’s just not what we expect from such governors, or will tolerate.
Hidden winners.
Victory, it is said, has many fathers. If so, it’s certainly true here, and the list of hidden winners is very interesting indeed, including as it does former New York City mayor Ed Koch who ditched his party to endorse Turner. Koch gave the usual reasons, that Turrner would be good for America, etc. But the truth is Koch, as much as anyone, was glad for the chance to show Obama what he thought of him, which wasn’t much.
New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind headed a list of well-known Orthodox Jews in this heavily Jewish district, usually reliable Democrats, who ditched their Jewish candidate Weprin and made Catholic Turner their man. Scratch the surface here and you’ll find evidence of the complicated, labyrinthine, tortured vicissitudes that make New York politics so arcane, and interesting.
One more not-so-hidden winner, Donald Trump. He backed Turner but probably just to get his name in the papers. If so, The Donald achieved his objective.
Turner, a keeper.
Prior to the election, the Assembly (controlled by Democrats) and the Senate (controlled by Republicans) had the hot potato of eliminating two congressional seats because of the census. They had pretty much decided to get rid of Weprin. But with Weprin’s crushing loss, Republicans see a chance to redistrict in such a way that Turner is protected and re-elected. Stay tuned for the machinations around this event… which won’t take place on the side walks of New York. It’ll definitely be clandestine and behind-the-scenes and so reassure us things are back to normal.
* * * * *
About The Author
Howard Martell serious inquires only 757=962-2482
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Jeffrey Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author’s permission by Howard Martell http://HomeProfitCoach.com Check out Chris Mentor Me -> http://www.HomeProfitCoach.com/?rd=ld8pbXWE
