NYC Mayor/2021 Megathread

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Jacobin gives their take on Andrew Yang
The important part:

...

However, the central proposal of Yang’s presidential campaign was actually a surprisingly right-wing variant of a Universal Basic Income. A 2019 Hill article noted that many longtime UBI advocates were actually against Yang’s “Freedom Dividend” plan, arguing that “Yang’s version could do more harm than good because some Americans would need to choose between accepting $1,000 a month and receiving certain public assistance benefits.” In other words, the “Freedom Dividend” plan was far from a redistribution of wealth. It was just a reshuffling of social programs — undermining existing entitlements like Medicare in order to provide $1,000 a month instead.

...

Yang has done nothing to prove that he’s actually different than Bloomberg. In fact, he’s done quite the opposite: according to Politico, Yang is “in talks with Tusk Strategies, the consulting firm that worked on Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 mayoral campaign.” CEO Bradley Tusk was Bloomberg’s campaign manager, has been a political adviser for Uber, and is a former consultant for the Police Benevolent Association, the largest NYPD union. In a mayoral race where the debate about policing will undoubtedly loom large, it’s alarming that even before announcing, Yang is unabashedly teasing an association with a pro-cop power player...

I suppose this article makes him lose soft DSA-type support, leaving Yang with just the portfolio managers as a last possible option and the rich and “Dividend Receiving-aspiring” weed bro’s along with the Tech Bro’s as his base.

The question now would be if Yang manages to garner both soft left and conservative support to push him across the finish line over more established progressives. Any thoughts?

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If Yang f•••s up NYC enough, do y’all think it’s rent prices wil go down to something more resembling other Coastal Eastern cities? I may be interested in getting a new apartment the next 4 years or so.

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Yang is the conservative candidate of this election after all.

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Yang was called a Libertarian-in-secret for a reason during the primaries. His support for cutting social security and unemployment insurance for UBI, his initial astroturfing on 4chan, and the fact that he is a wealthy multimillionaire should have been clear signals—moreso than John Dule stanning him.

It was blatantly obvious, and now the water that has been treaded beforehand and through meme magic will get Yang through with both low-information bums and small business owners over the progressive candidate.

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Menchaca was a total show horse, not a work horse, hence why his constituents hate him. Good bye to a candidate totally unequipped for the job.

Anyways, Scott Stringer got 25 thousand signatures. Which...to compare, Yang got 9 thousand. Absolutely amazing. This is what happens when you have a dedicated core of volunteers, who are veterans of the Sanders and Warren 2020 campaigns and 2018, and when your volunteer base is largely made up of those new to the scene.

A small army of experienced, tested, veterans will handily defeat disorganized conscripts any day, as history as taught us repeatedly.

Ok but considering Sanders and Warren lost quite handily, it does make you wonder if it won't happen again, with Yang at Biden's position this time

Well isn't this an incredibly sobering comment. It's clear that Yang has the most momentum and soft support needed to win this race off sheer inertia alone. No amount of spontaneous rallies petition-gathering is going to change the infrastructure already in place to make Yang win.

Yang has been "campaigning" for this since 2018, while the rest have only started for a few months at best. This race will not become a horserace, as the lead horse just has to crawl from the position his trainer left him at nearly a tenth of the track from the finish line while everyone else runs from the start.

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None of these tweets matter. The mayor race is Yang’s even if he tries to lose.

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With all of the success Yang has had in this race, I'm surprised that eric82oslo, his no.1 fan hasn't jumped back onto the forum.

Yang must have pulled the plug on most of the niche forum and imageboard AstroTurf.

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Maya Wiley is gonna rise now

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Wiley Gang now I guess

Not like it matters

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Kaiserdave, I get that you invested invaluable time and emotional capital in Stringer’s campaign, among other things, but isn’t this kind of exaggerating things.

the mantra here is that Politicians lie and be nasty, only to serve what will benefit them, which in most cases is measured and sustained by the ballot box. I’m not getting your emotions here.

I mean I get I’m being very pessimistic and blunt, but I seriously would like to know the deal here? Like, I cannot comprehend even in abstract what you’re going on about in this intensity, but I’d like too.

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I might as well say my fears about candidates like Yang. Obviously capitalistic candidates coming from the thinktanks that are able to have cross-appeal with young people is concerning. I don’t want to fret about young people becoming conservatives or voting for them, but that’s what I see happening. He’s winning off of being quirky and memey enough in the minds of people, including the young.

I’m worried that the people I don’t like in politics will adopt this sort of strategy now.

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Yang was always going to win this

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I’m pretty comfortable with the $10 I put on Yang winning the mayor race. Ultimately the man has the name recognition and a strong game for those #2 and #3 spots.

I don’t want it to be so, but Yang is going to win, but barely so.

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https://mobile.twitter.com/OurRevolution/status/1399756624840040455

Our Revolution has been posting positive stuff on Maya Wiley for a while now, yet for some reason they won’t just endorse her already.

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Our Revolution has been posting positive stuff on Maya Wiley for a while now, yet for some reason they won’t just endorse her already.

They endorsed her last week

https://twitter.com/mayawiley/status/1398076826245906436

lol

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Said Marist poll's RCV ballot.

I personally think the best opportunity here for An Adams loss is from Wiley. Mainly because I have a harder time seeing there being Garcia -> Adams transfers when compared to the large overlap in Garcia -> Wiley. Wiley on the other hand has some demographic support that would flow to Adams, despite their ideological differences.

Dare I use the power of the internet to find out who Paperboy Love Prince is?

Paperboy Prince is a queer community organizer. As far as I can tell they have big Marianne Williamson vibes, but they actually contribute to their community.

Well Williamson did run food programs and hospices in the 80s.

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1. Wiley
2. Stringer
3. lol

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Am I the only one who doesn't think any of these candidates are particularly good?

No, you are not alone in pretending to be alone in having these positions. Such a thing was repeated dozens of times in this thread.

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Both Mayor and DA races will go poorly for any hope of solving NYC’s major problems. Wiley and Aboushi could have turned things around.

I have a feeling the council races will be a big defeat for progressives.

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At least with Garcia and Yang DOA, UBI as a political idea is dead.

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Anyway, it's a lot easier to comment on coalitions now:

Adams: Nearly all black voters, other than the young and highly educated. A significant portion of Hispanic voters but not as dominant as among black voters. Orthodox Jews, but not ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Garcia: Middle and upper-income white liberal voters, especially over the age of 30, and conservative non-Jewish white voters (i.e., excluding all Orthodox Jews).
Wiley: Young, liberal, highly educated voters of all ethnicities but especially young white voters, and some other Hispanic voters.
Yang: Asian voters and ultra-Orthodox Jews and nobody else.

Can someone explain again why exactly Yang is dominating with ultra-Orthodox Jews?

He came out in strong support of Israel.

But I thought the ultra-Orthodox Jews were the ones least likely to be Zionist?

He promised to leave their brain-washing centers(schools) alone and not to interfere with them. Because apparently forcing them to teach students actual skills like maths and reading is anti-semitic tyranny.

I’m confused, so can’t they teach them primary subjects in Yiddish or Hebrew then? Do they not have the teachers for that?

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What is the state of the new council shaping up to be?

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Maybe this will wake people up on why RCV is a garbage voting system. It only entrenches the elite of any area it is in.

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A bureaucrat or a cop is better than a gang leader, and it is irresponsible not to vote for the one with a higher chance over said gang leader.

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With her in charge, maybe NYC will finally get the rat genocide it deserves. One can hope!

Oh God, please.  The day they finally get rid of the rats will be the day New Yorkers sit back and wonder how they lived with the rats for so long.

New Yorkers have a higher chance of biting each other than the rats to New Yorkers, they’re aggressive over there like that