Charles Rangel may be a Harlem institution, but a poll paid for by a potential rival says he’s beatable.
Our Alison Gendar reports:
, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton with ties to President Obama, didn’t want to blindly challenge the 42-year incumbent.
So Williams hired one of Mayor Bloomberg’s pollsters,
, to ask 600 likely Democratic primary voters in the district if they would re-elect Rangel.
The answer: only 35% said they would send Rangel back to Congress, company president Bernard Whitman said.
“If you are an incumbent, and less than 50% of the people polled say they would re-elect you, you are in trouble. Under 45%, you are really in trouble. Under 40%, big big trouble,” Whitman said.
Rangel, 81, won re-election in 2010 and a month later was censured by the House, in part for not paying taxes on a Dominican villa for 17 years.
Political watchers said it would be naive to underestimate such voter loyalty.
“He was in hot water leading up to the last election, and won it. Handily. Older voters turn out, particularly in Harlem and especially for Rangel, whom they love,” said political consultant Hank Sheinkopf. “Don’t hock the house betting against Charlie.”
Democratic powerhouses, like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, recently showed up for a DC Rangel fundraiser requesting donations of $500 to $5,999, suggesting to some Rangel’s days wandering in the political wilderness are over.
But in pitching the powerhouse fundraiser, Rangel’s machine gave Williams a shoutout: “You may have seen that Congressman Rangel has a primary challenger,” a recent Rangel invite read, referring Williams, even though Williams has not formally announced.
Williams said he is not one to throw mud.
“This is not about personalities; it is about getting things done for this district,” said Williams, 49, whose resume includes deputy chief of staff in Clinton’s Agriculture Department, former senior advisor to the Clinton Foundation, and national political director for the Democratic National Committee.
“I believe in the need for new ideas, new energy, new leadership,” said Williams, who lived in Harlem during and after the Clinton Foundation stint, and recently moved back from DC with his wife, former Obama deputy chief of staff Mona Sutphen, and their two young children.
The poll, costing between $25,000 and $30,000, found 85% of those questioned said the district needed new ideas, 71% said they were tired of hearing promises but no delivery, and 65% said the Harlem community had problems that have not been fixed for decades.
“What Harlem needs is someone who will come in and act like a mayor of Harlem and fix things,” Whitman said.
Critics, including
former Rangel campaign staffer Vince Morgan
, who is formally running against Rangel, argued Williams didn’t have the community creds to run.
Williams’ former boss at the Clinton Foundation said the kibbitzers had it all wrong.
“President Clinton wanted the Foundation to focus on small businesses in Harlem and Clyde got the assignment,” said Maggie Williams, former chief of staff at the Clinton Foundation.
“Clyde personally recruited
to join the project as a critical first partner. Booz is still involved in the program today because Clyde made the first approach and nailed it,” she told the Daily News in an email exchange.