Excerpted from the Albany Greens e-mail newsletter:
Following the attack ads and "Lettergate", Democratic Candidate H. Carl McCall has plummeted in the polls. Recent polls show Pataki ahead as far as 51 to 29 percent, as well as millionaire Independence candidate Tom Golisano pulling ahead of McCall in Upstate New York. Experts suggest that unless something major happens in the next few weeks, the McCall campaign is essentially dead.
Meanwhile, the Democrats have already begun to abandon their candidate for Governor. The New-Era Democrats have put their support behind George Pataki, the first time the organization has backed a Republican for a statewide office. Also, prominent Democrats that include former Democratic Governor Hugh Carey, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, State Senator Olga Mendez, and the Chinatown Democratic Club have endorsed Pataki. It is also expected that current Democratic Mayor of the City of Albany, Gerald Jennings, will also endorse George Pataki.
What does this mean? The major implication of this turn of events is an outright admission by leading Democrats in New York State that the Republican and Democratic Parties are converging. Rather than focusing on the issues at hand in New York State, the Democrats have bowed their heads and conceded the election to the Republican incumbent.
What do we do about this? With the race essentially over, the Greens need to highlight that the election is essentially over, and that a vote for McCall is a wasted vote. A tactical vote in 2002 is a vote for Stanley Aronowitz, Green Party Candidate for Governor. Giving your vote to Green Party Candidate Stanley Aronowitz ensures the survival of the Green Party in New York State, ensures that the citizens of New York State can register to vote with the Green Party, and that our issues and values will be heard as a legitimate political alternative. A vote for Aronowitz is not just a vote against the major parties, who, as stated previously, continue to merge. A vote for Aronowitz is a vote for peace, a vote for an end to corporate welfare, a vote for Clean Money Clean Elections, a vote for the end to the War on Drugs, as well as Tuition-Free Higher Education. A vote for Aronowitz is a vote for Superfund, the closing of Indian Point, a moratorium on Genetically Modified Foods, an end to the death penalty, single-payer universal health care, and a progressive tax system that Taxes Fairly and Spends Wisely.
