Upper Manhattan has become the scene of a dangerous attempt by an outside group to interject itself, unsolicited, in local politics, undermining the power of ordinary voters. The phenomenon of such Super PACs is threatening our democracy and should have no place in the race.
One of the Super PACs, the so-called Campaign for Primary Accountability (CPA), announced its intention to inject large amounts of cash from wealthy outside donors in order to defeat Congressman Charles Rangel, who is running for reelection in the newly drawn 13th Congressional District.
Rangel has represented upper Manhattan in Congress for more than 40 years but is expected to face a stiffer than usual challenge for reelection in a redrawn district which includes substantially larger numbers of Latino residents. He is being challenged by state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, who hopes his Dominican roots help him win the majority of the Latino votes.
The CPA says its agenda is to defeat entrenched incumbents on both the left and right, but its leaders and major donors are affiliated with the Tea Party and prominent supporters of right-wing political causes, including repealing healthcare reform, gutting funds for education and social programs and defeating President Obama.
In fact, one of this Super PAC’s largest donors is J. Joe Ricketts, a Nebraska billionaire, who ponied up $500,000. Another Ricketts-supported Super PAC was exposed recently in a plan, left on the drawing board, to attack Obama with a $10 million campaign that proposed resurrecting the relationship between the President and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the controversial Chicago minister.
Ousting Rangel, the 21-term Congressman, one whom House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called the champion of the working people in Congress, would be a major feat in boosting the right’s agenda and making Democrats more vulnerable.
The CPA promised to spend “up to six figures” against Rangel using direct mail, online advertising, voter outreach and targeted ethnic media ads. Espaillat has seemed ambivalent about rejecting the CPA’s support — even though his mailers clearly portray his candidacy as a battle against Tea Party Republicans.
Another Super PAC, Campaign For Our Future, is deluging the district with 100,000 mailers in a campaign against Rangel. This group is primarily funded by Reggie Van Lee, a Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc. executive based in Virginia, who gave $100,000 to back his close friend Clyde Williams in the race.
These Super PACs have denounced the incumbent relentlessly. They are exploiting Rangel’s ethics controversy despite the fact that polls reveal that voters have little interest in the matter, remaining convinced that the congressman was railroaded in order to remove him from the chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
For 42 years, Rangel, who was born and raised in Harlem, has held together a liberal coalition of African Americans, Latinos of various backgrounds and whites in an area comprising several diverse neighborhoods.
Rangel has received a host of endorsements from prominent New Yorkers, including Mayor Bloomberg, Gov. Cuomo and former Mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins. Current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, who represents a portion of Rangel’s redrawn district, is backing Rangel.
Significantly, he is supported by Assemblyman Guillermo Linares of Washington Heights, who, like Espaillat, is Dominican American. Rep. Jose Serrano, of the Bronx and of Puerto Rican descent, is also on board, as is Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez, of Chicago, who is the leading voice on immigration issues in Congress as the Chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Rangel, a decorated veteran of the Korean War, has passed legislation providing generous education and financial benefits to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He is admired throughout the district for attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in business investments and jobs, financing thousands of units of affordable housing and expanding healthcare resources. He spearheaded the creation and expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which has boosted the incomes of poor and working people. He continues his advocacy for immigration reform and family reunification, and led congressional efforts to expand U.S. trade with Africa and the Caribbean. He is the most powerful advocate in Congress on behalf of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Rangel’s leadership of the upper Manhattan political family has yielded benefits to the entire beautiful mosaic of residents of the 13th Congressional District. The Super PACs are outsiders intruding in this campaign.
Such wholesale entry of outside influence into local elections, running roughshod over the political process is corrupting democracy by negating the people’s right to choose their own leaders.
How dare they?
Paterson was the governor of New York.