Spitzer & Paterson "Putting Their Money Where Their Mouths Are"

Statement by Dan Cantor

Executive Director, Working Families

"Today's announcement by Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson gives new momentum to the movement to enact meaningful camoaign finance reform in New York State. Embracing self-imposed campaign finance restrictions marks an extraordinary opportunity to change the path of campaign finance reform in New York state from a road to nowhere to an expressway to action. Governor-Elect Spitzer made meaningful campaign finance reform a cornerstone of his campaign platform of reform initiatives. With today's pledge to voluntarily limit contributions to $10,000, he and David Paterson are putting their money where their mouths are. This is an extraordinary and courageous step with which Working Families is duly impressed."

"We urge all of our state leaders to follow through on enacting comprehensive campaign finance reform with public financing to reduce the influence of special interests -- based either on the 'Clean Money/Clean Elections' system adopted by several other states or New York City's matching funds system."

Iraq: The Wheels Are Coming Off?!?

The irony (unintentional, I assume) in this quote in today's Daily News story on the deteriorating situation in Iraq nearly knocked me over.

"Depending on what happens next," said a gloomy Republican political operative, "this could be viewed as the week the wheels came off."

Well, yea, sometimes the wheels are the last to go.

WFP Margin of Victory in Two Assembly Races

We're getting more election returns as the county Boards of Election count paper ballots and firm up election totals, though we're still two weeks away from having the official vote count.

I'm happy to be able to say that the Working Families Party was the margin of victory for Janele Hyer-Spencer in AD60 on Staten Island and for Albert A Stirpe Jr. in AD121 in Onondaga.

Here are the unofficial returns from AD60:

for Hyer-Spencer
9,534 votes on the Democratic line
745 votes on the Working Families Party line
473 votes on the Independence line

for Xanthakis
8,754 votes on the Republican line
1,342 votes on the Conservative line

Xanthakis gets 10,096 votes and Hyer-Spencer gets 10,752 votes with the WFP, 10,007 votes without us, and 10,279 with the WFP and without the Independence line.

And from AD121:

for Stirpe
21,294 votes on the Democratic line
1,385 votes on the Working Families Party line

for Meyer
17,613 votes on the Republican line
1,580 votes on the Independence line
2,455 votes on the Conservative line

Meyer gets 21,648 votes and Stirpe gets 22,679 votes with the WFP and 21,294 votes without us.

Congratulations to Janele Hyer-Spencer and Albert A Stirpe Jr. on their election to the State Assembly!

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | 2006 Election | Vote Row E

Global Warming and Babylon, Long Island

It's almost December and 60 degrees outside. Pretty hard to believe, and it's pretty obvious that something's not right.

With the global temperature rising, a growing number of cities are taking action to fight global warming. One idea in the news are Green Buildings. The basic idea is to make buildings use less energy by insulating them in the same basic ways you would insulate your house and in new and creative ways like green roofs (here's more on the science behind green roofs).

The town of Babylon on Long Island is a real leader when it comes to Green Buildings. Earlier this month they adopted a first-in-the-Northeast Green Building code that applies to commercial and industrial buildings.

What do you think? Should more of New York's cities and towns be following Babylon's lead?

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | Global Warming

More on Striking Steelworkers

Goodyear is abandoning America's workers, retirees and communities. Striking Goodyear workers will be protesting at the NASCAR Awards dinner this Friday, December 1st, outside the Waldorf Astoria Hotel at 301 Park Avenue in New York City from 5 to 7pm. (Goodyear is the sole supplier of tires for NASCAR.)

Back in October, Goodyear forced 15,000 trained and unionized workers on strike so it could replace them with lower-paid scabs. Since 2002, Goodyear has seen a billion dollar turnaround in their bottom line because of concessions union members and retirees made in their 2003 contract. But a billion dollars wasn't enough for Goodyear, where management wants to drive salaries lower and close more plants. Find out more at http://www.gkdsolidarityexpress.org/

If you work or live in Manhattan, please stop by this Friday after work and show your support for striking Goodyear workers. And everyone can help by spreading the word about how untrained workers lead to unsafe Goodyear tires.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party

Striking YouTube Steelworker-Style

An AP story this weekend called our attention to how the Steelworkers have been using YouTube to spread the word about Goodyear's use of scab labor to produce unsafe tires.



Do you know of other creative uses of internet video to build support for workers?

New York Should Use Optical Scan Voting Machines

Voting machines are in the news again, as New York City (and the rest of the state) decide on new voting machines. The options being looked at include optical-scan machines and less reliable touch-screen machines.

We've researched this question and it's a clear choice: we should use optical-scan voting machines. Optical-scan voting machines are more reliable, more accessible and cost less.

Here's the WFP's official statement:

Working Families Party Statement in Support of Optical Scan Voting Machines

As New York counties and the City of New York move closer to making decisions about voting systems to replace our current mechanical lever machines, the Working Families Party of New York State urges adoption of precinct-based optical scan systems. We believe that these systems best meet the requirements of our state law and the federal Help America to Vote Act (HAVA).

Optical scan machines use paper ballots that can be counted by hand or by using scanners. They have a number of advantages over touch-screen machines. First, they are cheaper - statewide, the cost difference would run into tens of millions of dollars, and the initial and continuing costs may be half or less than the cost of electronic voting touch screen or pushbutton machines. Besides wasting money, the high cost of electronic voting machines would likely lead to too few being purchased, resulting in long lines at the polling place. Second, optical scan systems are more accessible to voters with disabilities and minority languages. Third, and most important, the paper ballots used with precinct-based optical scan machines provide an easily guarded, easily recounted paper audit trail.

As we are all aware, in a number of jurisdictions using electronic voting machines, questions have been raised about the validity and accuracy of the vote count due to high percentages of lost votes and extra "phantom" votes. With the flimsy, heat-sensitive, difficult-to-handle-and-count paper trail with tiny print size offered by electronic voting systems, such irregularities would be costly and time-consuming to resolve.

Our own experience in New York tells us that the ability to re-count and audit a disputed vote is vital to the legitimacy of our own government. Even if electronic voting machines were entirely reliable, widespread doubts, combined with the difficulty of recounting votes when there are disputed outcomes, would undermine confidence in our elections.

Optical scan paper ballots offer a reliable, auditable, cost-effective alternative to computerized voting machines. Our Boards of Election know how to safeguard and handle paper ballots. An optical scan system, along with provisions for meaningful audits and basic security safeguards, would temper public skepticism about the integrity and security of elections.

The advantages of optical scan voting are widely recognized. A New York Times editorial says, "The best voting technology now available uses optical scanning."

When New York replaces its mechanical lever voting machines, New Yorkers deserve the most reliable, trustworthy election equipment available. In our opinion, the precinct-based optical scan system is the best choice. We urge all members of all parties to work for its adoption.

More news coverage here and here.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | voting machines

Look Who's Boycotting Wal-Mart Now

Just dunno what to say about about this (other than that it's wrong). From the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog:

First, Wal-Mart Stores got heat from the labor left. Now it’s feeling pressure from the religious right.

Two religious groups are urging boycotts of the retail this holiday weekend in response to its recent ties with homosexual groups. The American Family Association reports on its Web site that “nearly 400,000 families” have agreed not to shop at Wal-Mart on the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving. Also, Operation Save America intends to “proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ at more than 300 Wal-Mart stores” on Friday.

The groups are up in arms over Wal-Mart’s decision earlier this year to join a national chamber of commerce for gay and lesbian businesses, as well as for its donations to other gay and lesbian groups.

Senator-Elect Webb's Complaint (via the Wall Street Journal)

An essay by James Webb, Senator-elect from Virginia, first published in the Wall Street Journal on November 15, has been circulating by email among progressives with unusual velocity.

Entitled "Class Struggle-- American workers have a chance to be heard," the essay argues that the new Congress has a duty to confront the growing class divide in America. Webb writes: "If it remains unchecked, this bifurcation of opportunities and advantages along class lines has the potential to bring a period of political unrest." Some say Webb is an unlikely source for this brand of economic populism; he was Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Navy. So surprising to read this from him:

In the age of globalization and outsourcing, and with a vast underground labor pool from illegal immigration, the average American worker is seeing a different life and a troubling future. Trickle-down economics didn't happen. Despite the vaunted all-time highs of the stock market, wages and salaries are at all-time lows as a percentage of the national wealth. At the same time, medical costs have risen 73% in the last six years alone. Half of that increase comes from wage-earners' pockets rather than from insurance, and 47 million Americans have no medical insurance at all.

Manufacturing jobs are disappearing. Many earned pension programs have collapsed in the wake of corporate "reorganization." And workers' ability to negotiate their futures has been eviscerated by the twin threats of modern corporate America: If they complain too loudly, their jobs might either be outsourced overseas or given to illegal immigrants.

Webb's essay is long on rhetoric and short on solutions, but the implications of his indictment are substantial for trade, tax, labor, immigration, health care and even bankruptcy policy.

It's worth a read.

One New York: An Agenda for Shared Prosperity

That's the title of a new report from Frank Mauro, James Parrott, Trudi Renwick, David Kallick and Jo Brill at the Fiscal Policy Institute on reviving New York's economy. It's dense, but worth reading. Check it out and let us know what you agree with and what you would prioritize.

From the Executive Summary:

One New York presents a package of interrelated economic and fiscal policy recommendations aimed at addressing the major economic challenges and opportunities facing New York State, which it groups into the following two categories:

• Helping New York's regions grow together. The state economy as a whole is expanding, but growth has been highly uneven.
• Strengthening and expanding the middle class. New York's economy is increasingly polarized between rich and poor with a shrinking middle class.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party

Court shorts schools

The Court of Appeals decision on the state's contribution to school funding is a step back for kids and parents who want to see their kids go to college, and a step back for New York's ability to compete in the 21st Century economy.

Now it's up to Eliot Spitzer to do the right thing. As a candidate, Spitzer campaigned on ensuring that no child walks out of high school without a diploma. That's a step forward, and an early opportunity for Governor Spitzer to step up big.

Here's the Alliance for Quality Education's response to the CFE decision:

Bargain Basement Price of $1.93 Billion Is Not Enough to Prepare Our Children for College or Today's Job Market

(Albany, NY) - In a statement released today, the Alliance for Quality Education responded to the decision of the New York State Court of Appeals in the historic CFE school funding lawsuit.

The Court of Appeals has today ordered that our state government must provide the funding it has so far failed to provide to meet the minimum floor level funding for the education of New York City's school children. But let us not fool ourselves; we cannot prepare our children for college or today's job market for the bargain-basement price of $1.93 billion.

Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer has committed to invest $4 to $6 billion in New York City's school children and up to $8.5 billion in schools statewide. He has done this because this is the dollar figure that is necessary to fulfill his vision of ensuring that all students have the skills they need to succeed in college and the 21st Century economy.

He has called for smaller classes, expanding the pool of qualified teachers, universal pre-kindergarten, an end to crumbling buildings and more help for children who are falling through the cracks. Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer has made it very clear that he believes in ensuring that no child walks out of high school without a diploma. You cannot do all of this for less than the $8.5 billion that Governor-elect Spitzer has identified as the necessary statewide funding and the $4 to $6 billion for New York City.

Even Governor Pataki, who argued for the $1.93 as the constitutional minimum, advocated for an additional $4.7 billion to fully fund New York City's schools as part of his 2004 education reform plan. The CFE lawsuit was necessary because our elected officials have for too long been willing to accept one in three children across the state leaving high school without a diploma and one in two not graduating in New York City. $1.93 billion will raise student achievement, but it will not solve our graduation crisis. And no one, the court included, is saying it is designed to solve the graduation crisis.

If Governor Spitzer were to redefine his vision from high school graduation, college and success in the job market to the court defined minimum floor-level of education, too many of New York's children will fall further behind. But today he already has rejected that idea and asserted that our school children should expect more than the court ordered minimum. He immediately announced that through his very first budget he will provide more funding than the court ordered minimum.

Despite today's decision, we remain positive in our belief that as Governor, Eliot Spitzer will lead the way in fully funding our schools and providing the education our children need to excel.

Empire Zone has the text of the Court of Appeals CFE decision and Capitol Confidential has reaction from Eliot Spizer and others.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party

StuyTown Deal No Go?

There may still be a way for tenants to keep Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village affordable, with MetLife's $5.4 billion deal to sell to Tishman Speyer being called into question over a provision limiting MetLife to no more than a 6% annual profit on the apartment complex.

New York City Comptroller William Thompson has been asked to look into the sale. A spokesman for the Comptroller says, "[we] are taking a hard look at it . . . As you know, in recent months the comptroller has expressed serious concerns about the future of Stuyvesant Town."

The Working Families Party supports the tenants' effort to keep StuyTown affordable. Over the past months, StuyTown tenants had put together a competing offer to buy the building in an effort to maintain the affordability of their community. Here's hoping this news gives an added push to their work.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party

Recanvassing the election vote

WFP members and staff have been spending time at polling machine warehouses for the election recanvass. The day's activity brought the WFP up to 146,000 votes for Eliot Spitzer on Row E.

At the end of election day, poll workers count the number of votes in each ED for each candidate on each ballot line. An election district, or ED, is the smallest voting district in the state, and each voting machine covers only one ED. The voting machines are then sealed and those poll worker vote counts become the unofficial returns that are reported on election night.

The voting machines then go back to the warehouse, where the Board of Elections has 15 days to verify the vote counts by recanvassing the machines. The recanvass works like this: each machine gets opened and a Board of Elections worker writes down how many votes each candidate got on each party's ballot line for that ED. If the recanvass counts a different number of votes than the poll workers counted on election night then the number from the recanvass is the official number that gets used.

Basically, you walk down row after row of voting machines and stop at each one to count the number of votes recorded for the election. Here's what you're looking at on each machine:

There's 15 days from election day to finish the recanvass. How long the recanvass takes depends on where you are. The Staten Island recanvass was finished by lunchtime. But in Manhattan, the recanvass started at 10am on Tuesday and at 6pm it was about halfway done. A contested election with representatives from multiple campaigns verifying the recanvass can take even longer.

What comes next? The paper ballots are counted, and after that the election is certified. That's when we'll know our official vote totals.

Check back in the coming days for another update on the vote count.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | 2006 Election | Vote Row E

Bacon & Eggs is back

Bacon & Eggs is recommended breakfast reading from the Working Families Party -- interesting articles on subjects that our members, affiliates, friends and supporters care about. We email it out every morning or you can read it online at

http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/news/bacon.html

The Village Voice called Bacon & Eggs the "Best daily news progressive digest in New York." Sign up today!

Technorati tags: Working Families Party

144,000 votes and counting

The counting continues, and while the vote won't be certified for weeks, we're up to 144,000 votes on Row E (and rising!) for Eliot Spitzer for Governor.

One WFP supporter working the election day polls in Brooklyn reports -

"WFP got a whopping 41% of Spitzer's vote in the 8 EDs of the 44th AD at my poll site (Camp Friendship). In 2 of those EDs, WFP got more votes for Spitzer than the Dems got."

(An Election District is the smallest voting district in New York.)

Thanks go out to everyone who got out the vote and who voted Row E! We'll have more updates on the vote count in the coming days.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | 2006 Election | Vote Row E

"Less Polish and More Zing"

Another nice surprise: Prog-blogger about town Daniel Millstone reports at Daily Gotham on his experience with Team WFP in the 19th district getting out the vote for John Hall last Tuesday. His conclusion: "a spirited, volunteer effort with less polish and more zing than I expected."

The image to the right is part of the first-of-its-kind "Row B/Row E" WFP palmcard that Millstone and WFP Westchester-Putnam chapter members used on election day.

Westchester's Low Road

In the frenzy of GOTV, we missed the report released by Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano that found (surprise, surprise):

companies beyond Wal-Mart are either not providing their workers with health insurance at all, or are providing insurance that is inadequate or that the employees cannot afford. Therefore, these employees turn to Medicaid to pay for their health care.
...
Based on the total survey results, the following companies were the ten largest employers of individuals receiving Medicaid benefits (and the number of employees involved):

• A&P Supermarket (55)
• Stop & Shop Supermarket (55)
• McDonald's (48)
• Mile Square Transportation Inc. (37)
• Best Care Inc. (36)
• Shop Rite Supermarket (33)
• Pathmark (31)
• Royal Coach Bus Lines Inc. (31)
• Dunkin' Donuts (29)
• Personalized Home Care Service (27)

Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, chairman of the Board of Legislators' Budget & Appropriations Committee, said, "The state has got to take a proactive role in identifying those employers who are benefiting at the expense of the taxpayer by not offering health coverage to their employees."

Kaplowitz noted that earlier this year, he authored and passed a resolution urging the state to get involved with requiring companies to pay their fair share, as opposed to having taxpayers foot the bill via Medicaid.

Don't Let the Turnstile Hit You on the Way Out

Good news for New York City subway riders from Eliot Spitzer: he doesn't want to see fare hikes anytime soon -

"Fares and toll hikes are a last resort," Spitzer told the Daily News, as he answered a wide-ranging set of mass transit-related questions.
. . .
[Spitzer] also expressed a desire to improve relations with the more than 33,000 bus and subway workers
. . .
Gov. Pataki earlier this year granted MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow a new six-year term, but Spitzer has said he wants to pick his own leader.

Bringing in a competent team to run the MTA and replace MTA Chairman Kalikow would be a big step forward. Kalikow has been pushing for higher fares and cuts in service, and jerking transit workers around by refusing to honor the labor agreement that the MTA's top negotiator agreed to. Gov. Spitzer can restore integrity and competence by shaking up the MTA's management, starting with Kalikow.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party

Row E voters speak

Here's what New Yorkers had to say about voting on Row E:

"If you're in New York, I hope you'll vote on the Working Families Party line - they support the most progressive candidates, and are certainly more in line with my values than the Democratic party is."

- Feministe

"Do vote along the Working Families Party line - it's like making your vote count an extra little bit."

- Brand Blue Day

"we can vote for Democrats here, but remind them that our vote is for a more progressive agenda by pulling the levers under the heading for the Working Families Party."

- Guy2k

"If you're in New York, where the major races are all a given, consider voting for the Democratic candidate on the Working Families Party line. It still counts for the Democrat, but sends the message that your support for them is based on their support for the WFP platform: funding public education, universal health care, affordable housing and ending the war"

- Procrastinet

"may we suggest you vote for your candidates on the Working Families Party line, Row E, rather than the usual major party line. The WFP vets all candidates, and endorses those that are most likely to fight for fair housing, employment, healthcare, and schools for everyone"

- Amy's Robot

"Vote on the Working Families Party's Line E to show we want Progressive Change"

- Kate Anne of the West Queens Independent Democratic Club

"for each Democrat candidate I voted for, my ballot was cast for the Working Families party"

- A Taste of Sedition

"The WFP endorses candidates who support their platform . . . I for one will continue to vote WFP."

- Rusted View

"It was the simplest election ever. I just ran right down the Working Families Party slate, and everyone whom I wanted to vote for was there. What's more, these were all people whom I've supported in the past and have actually thought about."

- Daily Blague

"Voted straight Working Families Party, pretty much. The WFP is a New York-only third party that wants to swing the Democratic party toward the left on bread-and-butter issues by cross-endorsing candidates."

- Orpheus in Hades

"New Yorkers: I'm voting for the Democratic ticket on the Working Families line . . . By endorsing the Working Families party I am saying I support a more progressive, antiwar faction of the Democratic side. I am sending a message to Democrats that it's time to stop trying to be like Republicans."

- colorstalker

"I did so by voting for candidates nominated by the Working Families Party."

- AlphaSarah

"In New York, we have the luxury of voting for Democrats under the more progressive Working Families Party line."

- Cole Slaw Blog

"If you are in NY the cool thing to do is vote on Row E today! Yes, that is the line of the Working Families Party. You can still vote for good Democrats like Eliot Spitzer and et cetera on Row E as they are the endorsed candidates of the Working Families Party as well. That's the beauty of fusion voting folks."

- Jason Gooljar

Got a story to share? Post it in the comments and we'll add it to the list.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | 2006 Election | Vote Row E

Thank you. Now get ready for Day One

Thank you for all of your support this election. Working men and women took a giant step towards taking back America on Tuesday. And the members, affiliates and staff of the Working Families Party were proud to help.

You've seen the headlines. Electing Mike Arcuri to Congress was our top priority, and now he's headed there to be part of a new majority. He'll be joined by Kirsten Gillibrand and John Hall, two more candidates for whom we campaigned.

Elections matter. Sometimes they matter a lot.

The gangsters no longer control the House and Senate. Rumsfeld's history. And Bush is talking about raising the minimum wage (we'll believe it when we see it).

But that doesn't mean our work is over. As one of our flyers said, "The Republicans are awful, and our job is to make the Democrats better." To paraphrase New York's new Governor, our job starts on Day One.

Working families need stronger unions, better pay and secure pensions; our children need smaller classes; and everyone needs health care. We need to end the catastrophe that America's involvement in Iraq has become. And, yes, we need a real plan to end global warming and stop devastating our planet. Those are our values, and thank you for voting for them.

Counting third party votes is a slow process in New York. It'll take about 3 weeks to know exactly how many votes we got on Row E, but we do know that we're close to moving up to Row D.

Sometimes, individual stories paint a richer pictures of our work than the reams of data produced by 4 million pulls of a lever. Here are just a couple:

• This is a November 4 update from our Western New York operation to elect Jack Davis:
  
  "Steelworkers came out tonight and went to a lot of steelworker houses. Best story of the night came from a steelworker, who said the contact wouldn't be voting. The steelworker told the contact at the door that he was on strike and out there working on this race because he knows it's important to the survival of the workers. The contact flipped to say I will vote for Jack Davis on the Working Families line."
  
  We didn't take out Davis's opponent, Tom Reynolds, but we helped remove enough of his Republican cronies that there is new hope for steelworkers and teachers and autoworkers and nurses and early childhood educators all across New York.
  


• Not every voter contact was so favorable. On the first night of our door-to-door operation in the 24th district, where our independent expenditure for Mike Arcuri helped elect him, one of our crew knocked, unknowingly, on the door of the candidate's girlfriend. She was so startled that she called the cops on the young man at the door (because our effort was an independent expenditure, the Arcuri folks were unaware our canvass was starting).
  
  But quite a change six weeks later: another WFP canvasser in the same district knocked (again, unknowingly) on the door of Arcuri's aunt and uncle. Like 30,000 other independents in the district, they had received six pieces of WFP direct mail for Arcuri. And they happily said they would vote for Mike Arcuri on the Working Families line.
  
  
• The WFP also mounted a successful effort for Kirsten Gillibrand in the 20th district that began with radio ads criticizing her opponent, incumbent Republican John Sweeney, for refusing to support an increase in the minimum wage unless it was accompanied by a tax cut for the super-wealthy. When we sent out an email about the radio ad, imagine our surprise when Kirsten Gillibrand herself responded with a $100 online contribution.
  


• On Election Day, the Times Union posted a report on its web site that, "The Rensselaer County Board of Elections is expecting a more than 60 percent turnout in the county and the only problem so far has been activists with the Working Families Party urging people to vote for their candidates." In Manhattan, a New York magazine blog entry noted that the only volunteer posted outside a usually quite busy West Village poll site was "a lone working Families Party regular."
  


• Working Families members are typically gung ho (some would use a stronger phrase) about voting the party line, but they never let politics get in the way of principle. And the number one principle this year was taking back Congress. Because of a quirk in election law, the candidate challenging Republican incumbent Sue Kelly in the 19th district, John Hall, did not appear on the WFP ballot line. That produced a first-of-its-kind palmcard in the 19th District urging a vote first "for John Hall on Row B," and then for everyone else on "Row E." We're proud to note that John Hall won.
  
  
• And last, our policy director Josh Mason reports:
  
  "I was standing outside a poll site distributing palm cards when a man passes by and says, 'Working Families? My mom always says, when you don't know who to vote for, vote Working Families.'"
  

Now we're going to take a deep breath. Maybe get a little a rest this weekend. And get ready to fight tomorrow. For our values. Because it's Day One.

Technorati tags: Working Families Party | 2006 Election | Vote Row E | Take Back the House

"We're Doing Our Job"

WFP Capital District Co-Chair Karen Scharff sends in this link to a "field report" posted by the Albany Times Union. Apparently "over-eager" WFP volunteers are actually trying to persuade voters at Rensselaer County poll sites to vote on Row E. Scharff says, "We're doing our job!"

Election Day voting steady

Few polling place miscues, overeager campaigning in spots

The escalating tension and drama of this election season seemed to drift away with this morning's cool winds, replaced by anticipation for the results.

Election officials across the Capital Region reported few, if any, voting problems. And the candidates themselves were squeezing in last-minute campaigning - leaving little time for new accusations.

Confusion over polling places, somewhat fueled by the national political parties' automated calls on Monday, drove busy days at the various county Boards of Election. And in Rensselaer County, election officials fielded complaints of over-eager campaigning by the Working Families Party.

Otherwise, most polling places reported steady turnout.

...

In Rensselaer County:

The Rensselaer County Board of Elections is expecting a more than 60 percent turnout in the county and the only problem so far has been activists with the Working Families Party urging people to vote for their candidates.

"We have been flooded with complaints that their people are bothering people going to the polls, talking to them even as they are getting out of their cars,'' said Democratic Election Commissioner Ed McDonough.

Officials have gone to the polls to check out the activity and found that the party workers are not violating any election laws and are staying the required distance from the polling place. "They are just more aggressive than usual,'' McDonough said.

The reason could be the party needs at least 50,000 votes on their lines statewide to retain their ballot status for another four years.

Election Day Photos (via Flickr)

The Poll That Guided the WFP's "Take Back Congress" Strategy

Six weeks ago, the New York and Connecticut Working Families Party conducted a surveye400 independent voters, half in NY-24 and half in CT-5. The survey results guided the two parties' strategies in their independent expenditure efforts in those two districts, as well as the NY WFP programs in NY-20 and NY-29. The strategy is reflected in the direct mail posted on the NY WFP web site here.

Here, for the first time, is the internal summary of the poll results:

M E M O R A N D U M

CONFIDENTIAL – DO NOT DISTRIBUTE

TO:

CC:

FROM:

RE: NY24/CT5 Message Development Poll

DATE: October 2, 2006

This memo summarizes the results of the poll we conducted among independent voters in NY-24 and CT-5, focusing on the implications for direct mail messaging. (Independent voters here means registered voters not enrolled in any political party or, in New York, enrolled in the Independence Party).

Summary

I believe the following are the most important bits of learning for our messaging to independent voters in NY24 and CT5:

1. A significant chunk of independent voters embrace a very progressive set of issue positions (sixty to eighty percent of our target “agree 100%” with universal health care, more progressive taxation, jobs for Americans and raising the minimum wage).

2. A substantial portion of the target group has chosen their unaffiliated status because they are “independent,” or care about “candidates, not political parties.” Our messaging must grapple with the conundrum of persuading voters who vote for candidates, not parties, to vote on a particular party line.

3. At the same time, the best reason to vote WFP is to express your personal values (“vote your values”).

4. Majorities of voters willing to consider voting WFP believe that the major parties only pay lip service to issues like jobs for working people, but the hostility is significantly more pronounced to the Republican Party than the Democratic Party.

Methodology

Four hundred voters were interviewed, half from each of the two congressional districts. The following screens were applied:

· Only voters who said there were “definitely” or “probably” going to vote in the November general election were included.

o Among NY-24 voters only, the sample was limited to voters with a voter-file history of voting in at least of one of the last two general elections. (Insufficient voting history was available to use this limitation for the CT-5 segment of the sample).

· Voters who said they were “definitely” going to vote for the Republican candidate were excluded.

The telephone interviews were conducted over four days, from September 28-October 1, 2006.

The final data was weighted to reflect the gender and age mix of the projected electorate for each congressional district, and, for New York, was weighted to reflect the mix of “blank” and Independence Party registrants.

Issues

Respondents were asked if how much they agreed with seven issue propositions (using a scale of 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% or 0% agreement). The following four issues outperformed the bottom three among voters who said they would definitely or probably consider voting for a candidate o the WFP line:

· Fairer taxes

· Universal health care

· Raising the minimum wage

· Trade

Proposition	100% Agree
	All Respondents	NY-24 – Open to Voting WFP	CT-5 – Open to Voting WFP
Working people are paying more than their fair share of taxes. Congress should make taxes fairer, so that working families get tax relief first, instead of big corporations and millionaires	73%	77%	79%
Americans have a right to health care they can afford. Congress should make sure every American has guaranteed health care.	72%	75%	73%
An honest day’s work should be rewarded with an honest day’s pay. Congress should raise the minimum wage.	66%	64%	80%
We should keep good jobs in America, not send them overseas to China. Congress should stop passing unfair trade agreements that cost Americans jobs.	65%	70%	72%
Every American has the right to a secure retirement. Congress should not privatize Social Security.	59%	60%	60%
America should go to war as a last resort, not as a first choice. It’s time for Congress to start bringing the troops back home from Iraq.	52%	60%	63%
Everyone should be able to go to college. Congress should make college tuition affordable for every high school graduate.	50%	48%	67%

How to Talk About Democrats and Republicans

Respondents were asked how much they agreed with about a dozen different descriptions of the Democratic and Republican parties (using a scale of 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% or 0% agreement). The top-scoring descriptions among voters who said they definitely or probably consider voting for a cross-endorsed candidate on the WFP line were:

· “I think the Republicans care a lot more about big business interests than the problems of working people.”

· “Both Democrats and Republicans say that they are for jobs. But both parties have stood by as hundreds of thousands of good jobs have left the country because of foreign outsourcing.”

· “Most politicians say they care about working families, but they really only care about getting re-elected.”

Description	100% Agree
	All Respondents	NY-24 – Open to Voting WFP	CT-5 – Open to Voting WFP
21. I think the Republicans care a lot more about big business interests than the problems of working people.	47%	53%	55%
29. Both Democrats and Republicans say that they are for jobs. But both parties have stood by as hundreds of thousands of good jobs have left the country because of foreign outsourcing.	48%	53%	53%
18. Most politicians say they care about working families, but they really only care about getting re-elected.	48%	53%	52%
23. The Republicans have been in power too long. They’ve gotten too close to the lobbyists.	42%	43%	46%
20. I don’t feel like I can trust the Republicans anymore	34%	39%	38%
27. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are tackling the problems that matter to me.	39%	44%	29%
22. I don’t think Republicans in Congress share my values.	34%	40%	32%
25. The Democrats have their own special interests	41%	38%	34%
26. I’m not 100% sure what the Democrats in Washington stand for.	35%	35%	30%
17. The Republican Party has become too conservative.	31%	33%	33%
19. The Republicans were always the ones that valued work, but I don’t think they do anymore.	21%	30%	29%
24. The Democrats are good on pocketbook issues that affect people like me. I just wish they wouldn’t get distracted with some of the other issues.	21%	25%	31%
28. The Democrats have lost touch with the values of ordinary working families.	19%	19%	13%

Disparaging statements that singled out the Democratic Party scored less well. Only the following statements obtained 75% or 100% agreement from more than half of voters who said they were at least probably willing to consider voting on the WFP line:

· “I'm not 100% sure what the Democrats in Washington stand for.” (33% agree one hundred percent, 24% agree seventy-five percent)

· “The Democrats have their own special interests.” (36% agree one hundred percent, 21% agree seventy-five percent)

The distinction that independent voters make between the Democratic and Republican Parties is foreshadowed by two early questions in the survey that ask respondents whether they hold a favorable or unfavorable (very/somewhat) view of each majority party. The Democrats do substantially better. Roughly two-thirds of our target holds a favorable view of the Democrats. Almost the same proportion holds an unfavorable view of the Republicans.

(Recall again that our survey sample excludes hard-yeses for the Republican candidates.)

	Democratic Party		Republican Party
	Strongly Favorable	Favorable / Unfavorable	Strongly Favorable	Favorable / Unfavorable
All	13%	63/27	8%	34/57
NY24 – open to WFP	20%	69/22	6%	28/60
CT5 – open to WFP	15%	65/24	5%	21/66

WFP Rationale

In order to ascertain why voters might be inclined (or how voters might be persuaded) to vote on the WFP line, survey respondents were asked:

“The Working Families Party emphasizes issues like jobs, health care and education. Which of the following reasons is the best reason to vote for a candidate running on the Working Families Party line?

To send a message to the major party candidates on a specific issue

To vote your values by supporting a candidate or party that truly reflects your values

To make sure you’re not taken for granted, and your issues are not ignored.”

“Vote your values” performed best.

WFP Rationale	All Respondents	NY-24 – Open to Voting WFP	CT-5 – Open to Voting WFP
“… send a message…”	21%	27%	17%
“… vote your values …”	39%	44%	44%
“…make sure you’re not taken for granted…”	20%	15%	24%

As we have seen in focus group research, voters have a harder time grasping the notion that the act of voting on the WFP line “sends a message,” or are not persuaded that their message will be heard.

Targeting

On preliminary analysis, the survey yields very little data that would be useful for targeting. No subgroup was statistically significantly more likely to be willing to consider voting on the WFP line, other than:

· Lower-income Connecticut voters (<$30k and $30-50k)

· In New York, blanks compared to Independence party registrants.

The results have not yet been analyzed by geographic segments within the districts.

Miscellaneous

A few additional findings are noteworthy:

Why are Independents independent? We asked respondents to say in their own words the most important reason they did not enroll as a member of a political party. Responses were then fit into one of 11 codes.

Reason	Among All Respondents	NY	CT	Open to Voting WFP
Don’t like either major party (the Democrats and the Republicans)	13%	15%	12%	12%
Privacy/Don’t want anyone to know	3%	4%	3%	5%
More conservative than either major political party	1%	2%	0%	0%
More liberal than either major political party	2%	2%	1%	4%
I am Independent	19%	20%	17%	21%
Lazy/Don’t want to bother	Less than 1%	0%	1%	1%
My family (parents or spouse)	1%	1%	Less than 1%	1%
I vote for/care about candidates, not political parties	23%	19%	28%	26%
I don’t care about/not interested in political parties	5%	3%	6%	3%
I don’t like to belong to anything.	5%	5%	5%	4%
Not interested in politics	1%	1%	1%	1%