Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch says he take on the problem of incumbency in New York State.
But will he do it with Conservatives and Republicans?
Probably not. At least Koch is making some noise.
The New York Post rejoiced, "Go get 'em, Ed" ...
Koch told the Post that the problem is the quality of the Empire State's political leadership:
"The good ones [aren't] good enough, and the bad ones are evil."
Will Koch go upstate or into the suburbs of Westchester and Long Island to take on those Democrats?
I personally trust Koch's intentions but a New York City centric approach to reform won't solve the problem.
Koch needs to see down with former Republican leaders like former Westchester and State GOP Chairman Tony Colavita -- or seek out John Faso with New Yorkers For Growth upstate and New York State Conservative Chairman Mike Long.
This has to be a bipartisan reform effort, not some uber-liberal shine on the Democrats that heralds in Andrew cuomo without analyzing where ALL the political bodies are buried -- in BOTH major parties.
The Post acknowledged that the good government "goo-goos" come with their own systemic issues:
"And while a number of goo-goo groups have expressed interest, it's not clear they can even agree on what a "reform agenda" should constitute.
"Moreover, some of those groups, officially nonpartisan, say they can't get involved in a partisan election campaign."
Non-partisan also tends to be liberal code for passive and politically correct.
The New York Times asked: Who Can Clean Up Albany? Koch and Company Will Try ...
“We certainly are interested in the reform agenda,” said Blair Horner, legislative director of the nonpartisan New York Public Interest Research Group, “but we couldn’t be part of any agenda that’s designed to knock off incumbents.”
Self-defeatist posturing, at its most sleepy and ineffective.
The Times reported that Koch, a Democrat, has invited the following good government groups to join him:
Citizens Union, New York Civic, Common Cause, the Urban League, the Hispanic Federation, the League of Women Voters and the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School.
No Manhattan Institute? No New Yorkers For Growth? No Rethinking Westchester Government? No Business Council of New York State?
Of course not ... how dare the liberals admit that Republicans actually have some populist and constructive ideas.
The good news is that most of those incumbents Koch would take on are ... Democrats ... so it's a rather interesting double-edged sword the former New York Mayor could wield.
Gothamist: Former Mayor Ed Koch Plans Coup To Retake Albany ...
Koch wants to plant a few seeds, target the right incumbents, and prompt a sea change in Albany.
"It's possible that the defeat of a few will turn the others into reformers." Though only 39 incumbents have lost in elections since 1982 and more than half who ran in 2008 won by more than 80 percent of the vote, Koch says now is the time for action: "There will never be for another 100 years the same kind of environment that we have today that would help us succeed: that is, the disgust people have toward Albany."
The Village Voice noted skeptically perhaps: Ed Koch Generously Offers to Save New York State ...
"Billionaire Tom Golisano did something like this in 2008, mainly with money, and we saw how that went: He ended up praising the Albany Coup that is part of what's bugging Koch. Koch is an infinitely better public servant, though, and is offering goo-goo pressure (and, who knows, maybe some funny expletives), not cash bribes. And he's taken down crooks before, though that was years ago."
And the good government groups, Albany-style, have their own agenda.
When they join happily with the conservative good government groups, many of us in the conservative and tea party community will be convinced this is the real deal.
Don't hold your breath.
News Copy looks forward to sitting down with Ed Koch and asking him to speak up in Westchester County.
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