'It's a disgrace': Progressives take aim at Buffalo mayor's DNC post

[George II]

Source: Politico

By DAVID SIDERS and HOLLY OTTERBEIN

11/08/2021 06:40 PM EST

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown infuriated progressives with his winning write-in campaign last week against the democratic socialist who beat him in the primary.

Now prominent left-wing Democrats are calling for the veteran New York mayor’s head, urging Democrats to strip Brown of his position on the Democratic National Committee.

“When you pull a stunt like this, somebody wins a primary, a working-class woman, and you go to every rich donor in both parties to fund a write-in campaign … it’s a disgrace,” said Larry Cohen, chair of the Bernie Sanders-aligned group Our Revolution.

Cohen, a DNC member himself, said he plans to organize an effort to press Democrats to remove Brown from his post on the national committee. And on Monday, India Walton, the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Buffalo mayor, threw her weight behind the move: “Not only do I support the DNC revoking Byron Brown's post; I believe it would set a dangerous precedent not to,” she said in a statement to POLITICO.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/08/buffalo-mayor-progressives-dems-520327

[Hoyt]

1. Don't have much knowledge of situation, but doesn't sound good, first impression.

But I’m open.

[JohnSJ]

2. Brown won two to one against Walton, and it seems they want to subvert the will of

the people

Playing the Nina Turner card

Now who does that remind me of?

[quakerboy]

12. How so?

As far as I know noone is challenging his win for the position of mayor.

But it seems a bit odd to have someone who ran against the Democrat in the general election in any position of leadership within the Democratic party, no?

[JI7]

13. He is a Democrat and has been for a long time so nothing odd about it

[JohnSJ]

17. Thank-you.

[OnDoutside]

15. Is there not a dollop of irony here that Bernie holds an influential

Chairman position on a Senate committee given to him by Schumer, yet outright refuses to become a member of the Democratic Party ?

[betsuni]

16. +1

[quakerboy]

33. Has Bernie campaigned against the democratic party candidate

In a general election?

[Mawspam2]

3. If he ran the write-in campaign as an independent...

...then, yes, remove him from the DNC.

I don't know the Buffalo rules, after losing the primary, most places will not let you get a second bite at the apple on the same party line.

[George II]

4. He was, and is, an incumbent Democrat when the votes were cast last week.

[cadoman]

5. wish we could just let bygones be bygones

If he won 2-1, that's rather demonstrative and under a write-in campaign it's even more impressive.

Wish he would reach out and find a way for India Walton to be part of the administration in some constructive capacity, but sounds like there is bad blood there now. Given that they were both Black I don't think any privilege was abused in this situation.

[myohmy2]

6. if true...

"...you go to every rich donor in both parties to fund a write-in campaign..."

...it stinks...

...now what if we did that...

[George II]

19. That is purely the assumption and claim made by those trying to oust him from his party.

[cloudythescribbler]

7. Clearly if Brown's allowed to stay on DNC, then ditching Dem primary results is OK -- if ur a neolib

I agree that the will of the people clearly backed Brown's candidacy and that he was legitimately re-elected mayor of Buffalo, even tho I myself and wd very much like to have seen Ms Walton win the election

However, as in the case of Joe Lieberman, who cast aside the CT Dem victory of Lamont (who is now Gov) and went on to win US Senate re-election, the Democratic Party, even just to maintain a figleaf of appearance of not being so in the pocket of the "moderate" wing of neolibs & such (I back the other wing, of India Walton, myself) that these relatively RW Dems can defy Dem primary results whenever a more progressive candidate wins, and run against the Dem nominee w/o penalty in the Democratic Party as an organization, the Dems MUST remove him from the DNC. I would add that the state Dem Party leaders who refused to back Ms Walton after her primary victory should also have faced Dem Party penalty BEFORE THE ELECTION WAS HELD NOV 2!. Otherwise the whole idea of the Democratic Party is reduced to farce -- Dem Party pols have to support the Dem ticket if they are going to stay on the inside in the organization UNLESS a leftie wins the Dem Primary, in which case all bets are off.

What is less clear is whether someone who has run on other than the Dem line against Dems (including Bernie) cannot be allowed to run in the Dem primaries in the future. The Dem Party let Bernie run, and I backed his candidacy from the start in 2016, even though he isn't apparently even a Dem and isn't one now -- just an Independent who caucuses w/the Democrats. So the issue isn't totally clear-cut, as it probably would be in most European Parties (you have to stick w/the Party and its labels & candidates or you're out -- of the Party).

It is NOT antidemocracy to want Mayor Brown out of the official Dem Party hierarchy; but his election victory must be recognized, and it would be wise for progressive Dems who backed Walton to try to work w/him to have the most effective govt possible in Buffalo, rather than treat him as having no right to have run as a write-in. That's indeed a tightrope, but politics is full of them

Note that Schumer and others (but NOT Hochul) who are very powerful in NY State Dem Party politics understood this and endorsed India Walton during the campaign -- again it cd merely have been to maintain Party integrity. And it is perfectly fair to hold that against Hochul in next year's primary season. (I am also TOTALLY pissed that EMILY's list, to whom I have donated in the past) endorsed Hochul as a pro-choice Democratic woman, even tho her leading opponent, Letitia James, is ALSO a pro-choice Democratic woman, who I see as more progressive). It is very common (eg Lieberman, Hochul) for party disloyalty to be permitted or accepted in the Party -- as long as it is in a RIGHTWARD direction; Bernie nb ALWAYS enthusiastically backed the Dem nominee when he lost

[TexasTowelie]

10. So is Hochul supposed to endorse a candidate if she believes that candidate to be unqualified?

I don't believe that Hochul went out and campaigned for Brown, I think that she stayed on the sidelines. I consider that to be her right to make that decision because it would also provide a reason for voters to question her judgment when she is up for reelection.

[lapucelle]

18. Nina Turner was allowed to retain her DNC superdelegate status

and membership in the DNC despite the fact that she refused to endorse the the 2016 and 2020 presidential general election candidates. She then ran in the Democratic primary for an Ohio congressional seat, so I'm not sure why anyone would say this:

It is very common (eg Lieberman, Hochul) for party disloyalty to be permitted or accepted in the Party -- as long as it is in a RIGHTWARD direction.

Do you have an actual example of what you're claiming?

[George II]

20. BIG difference. Lieberman didn't run as a write-in candidate, he created his own party....

....under which he ran, "Connecticut for Lieberman".

At the time of the primary and election Brown was a Democrat. He is a Democrat today, and will remain a Democrat.

[Polybius]

8. Lisa Murkowski did that to Joe Miller in the 2010 Alaska Senate race

He beat her in the Republican primary and then she refused to back him and ran and won as a write-in candidate.

[summer_in_TX]

11. As I recall, in Murkowski's case, the primary election drew all the more extreme

Republicans out. But in the general, Murkowski had more broad support from the less partisan and less active R's, the independents and even Dems.

Her voting record reflects someone who is not totally beholden to the Trump wing of the party, and instead serves a more moderate constituency.


Could it be vice-versa for this race?

[question everything]

9. Did not bother them when Sanders - a non Democrat - wanted our votes

[George II]

28. He's done that a number of times in Vermont. He runs in the Democratic primary to preclude having...

...any Democrat in the general election. Then the day after the primary he declines the Democratic nomination and runs as an Independent in November.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. This is being pushed by the Our Revolution group which is an affiliate of the Justice Democrats

This is stunt is not going to work

Link to tweet

“When you pull a stunt like this, somebody wins a primary, a working-class woman, and you go to every rich donor in both parties to fund a write-in campaign … it’s a disgrace,” said Larry Cohen, chair of the Bernie Sanders-aligned group Our Revolution.....

The endeavor, while unlikely to succeed, reflects the extent of lingering tensions between moderate and progressive Democrats following a dismal election for the party last week, in which Democrats lost the governor’s race in Virginia and sweated out Gov. Phil Murphy’s narrow victory in New Jersey. Both flanks of the party immediately blamed the other for the performance — the left claimed former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe was an uninspiring Clinton-world candidate, while centrists lamented a climate of “wokeness” that they said clouded the entire campaign.....

"This, to me, sounds like another case of sour grapes out of Our Revolution," said Jon Reinish, a New York-based Democratic strategist. “I think that progressives are feeling cornered, which is why you’re seeing a lot of the lashing out. … Where Democrats did badly and it was a bad night [in last week’s election], a lot of it was a loud and clear message from voters that people feel the party is going too far to the left.”

In New York, the Democratic Party’s left flank had already suffered a significant defeat earlier this year, when moderate Eric Adams won the primary in New York City’s mayoral race. But in the state’s second-largest city, progressives appeared ascendant. Walton, a registered nurse and community organizer, beat Brown in Buffalo’s mayoral primary in June by nearly 5 percentage points. She was backed by heavy hitters on the left, including Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and endorsed by New York’s two Democratic senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

I am not a fan of Our Revolution, Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement, Brand New Congress and the other groups founded by Waleed Shahid, Cenk, Kyle Kulinksi and their ilk. I am on the Justice Democrat email list and I have even listened once or twice to the Justice Democrat podcast which is amusingly called "Just Us" democrats. The Justice Democrats emails are fun to laugh at and I love the hatred this group shows to the Democratic Party, establishment Democrats and best of all corporate democrats. The posts attacking the DCCC for raising money to elect real Democrats are really amusing.

This effort will not work in that Our Revolution and the Just Us Democrats are not that popular in the DNC

[George II]

22. I'm pretty sure Cohen doesn't live in New York State, why is he balking about NYS DNC membership?

Last edited Tue Nov 9, 2021, 11:30 AM - Edit history (1)

[blue-wave]

29. Yes, this:

"Where Democrats did badly and it was a bad night [in last week’s election], a lot of it was a loud and clear message from voters that people feel the party is going too far to the left.”

[DFW]

21. So often: the letter of the law over the spirit of the law

Sure, a long-term popular office holder may easily get complacent, and be vulnerable to a primary challenge mounted by a small, dedicated group within his/her district, and blindsided out of their candidacy. Their bad for not expecting it, but the opponent‘s bad for thinking every long-term popular incumbent will roll over and play dead after being ousted in a primary that was only paid attention to by the ones who felt he was an easy target. Not every Democrat is Elliott Engle. If Brown felt he was ousted in the primary by someone who did not represent a majority Democratic constituency that was tired of him, I think he had every right to fight for his seat in the manner that he did. If the primary result represented the popular will, then his write-in would have gone down in flames. The fact that the write-in vote was overwhelming in Brown‘s favor shows precisely the opposite. If democracy is to be representative of the popular will, then electoral slights of hand by a minority should not be rewarded with easy victory. The people spoke clearly here: „you caught us with our pants down in the primary, but we didn‘t fall for it in the general.“

[myohmy2]

23. "The people spoke clearly here:"

...maybe money spoke clearer here...

...what's the game?

...just keep going until we have it our way?

...that sounds familiar...

[George II]

25. What are you talking about? There was ONE primary and ONE general election.

[brooklynite]

36. Money can have an influence...but I'm not inclined to believe it can generate that kind of margin.

Simple fact is that most Democrats never supported India Walton. She won an extremely low turnout election (got 11,000 votes) and then imagined she had the entire Democratic Party behind her).

[brush]

24. What is clear is that voters don't favor socialist candidates.

It's very clear. Democratic voters want a Democratic candidate not a democratic socialist. Walton's mistake was calling herself a socialist.

[George II]

26. Another was not registering as a Democrat a lot sooner, rather than just months before the primary.

[brush]

27. Yes. Thanks for that info.

[AZLD4Candidate]

30. But Fascist candidates like Youngkin, Trump, and that loser from New Jersey

Are a-okay for American voters.

The political race to the bottom never stops.

[brush]

31. Correction: Fascist candidates are ok with republicans.

[AZLD4Candidate]

32. And apparently with independents too, since Republicans aren't the only ones voting in

these people.

[greenjar_01]

34. How you gonna lose to a write-in candidate thoooooo????

[wellst0nev0ter]

35. By being funded and backed by the goops

State GOP aids mayoral bid of Brown, who is a former Dem chair

And now we see DUers celebrating this goop-funded victory without any ounce of shame.