Bloomberg's Debate Fail

[CLARIFYING I WATCHED THE HIGHLIGHTS ONLY]

Mike Bloomberg replied, “not liked a joke I made,” was a complete missed opportunity to appeal to women. If I was advising him, here’s what I would have recommended his reply be something along the lines of:

“2020 is not 2010 or 1990. I would like to thank the courageous women of the #MeToo movement for calling out completely unacceptable behavior and comments. Times are changing for the better. I deeply regret a joke I may have made, and I’m sure I’m not the only one on this stage who feels this same regret for things said in years past. I am very mindful that my words are respectful of everyone. To the courageous women who’ve shared their stories, and to those who haven’t, thank you. I hear you.”

And to his comment of “I worked really hard”:

“Our country gave me the opportunity to live the American dream. Right now, the majority of Americans are fighting to get through the day and struggling to barely make ends meet. This is wrong, we need to get our country on the right track so everyone has the opportunity to create their own version of the American dream.”

Just some food for thought.  

Fendi Field Teams? Grassroots in Gucci? What will Cynthia Nixon’s Campaign Look Like?

She’d be New York’s first female, and first openly gay, governor – when Cynthia Nixon announced her candidacy on Monday I guess I knew what was about to happen because I spent Sunday watching a Sex and the City marathon working from home with my pawlitical pups laying at my feet.  (Glad I chose vintage snakeskin stilettos to wear to work yesterday, too!)

Now I really like Governor Cuomo, but challenge is a great thing! New Yorkers love the hustle (and many of us that aren’t New Yorkers do, too). And while we all can appreciate a good kitten heel, a handsome wingtip, New Yorkers may want someone who wears taller shoes.

I’m interested to see how she runs her campaign, who she brings on, and how voters across the Empire State react to her candidacy. Not quite sure about her logo though. Yes, I’m more than sure SATC fans will flock to the campaign… (I’m already brainstorming a grassroots stiletto squad…) but I think this race is definitely one to watch. It’s the year of the woman. It’s the year to challenge political conventions as we know them. And the results of this year lay the yellow brick road for 2020 – Ruby Slipper Nation or Sapphire Stilettos Nation? No stiletto discrimination from me, just sign me up!! 

Democrats, Keep Working Your Ossoff!

While he received 48.1% of the vote and not the 50% threshold for an outright win, 30-year old political newcomer Jon Ossoff just pulled off quite a feat in a deep red Republican district that hasn’t seen a Democrat in Congress since Carter held office.

Going into last night, all the pundits kept mentioning how much money he’d raised, $8.3 million, and that if he couldn’t win with that, then Democrats are in deep trouble heading into 2018. But just because he raised an insane amount of money in a few months, I couldn’t help but wonder why they weren’t talking about how it was allocated. Candidates can raise all the funds in the world, but that doesn’t mean they’ll win if those contributions are not allocated effectively. For example, I was part of a statewide campaign where a candidate put over $1 million of their own money into their campaign, and while we almost came in first place in the Primary, we came in last place in the General because we didn’t allocate resources appropriately.

Also, how much did Trump hurt Republicans yesterday? Tremendously. The leader on the GOP side, Karen Handel, received less than 20% of the vote, and she did distance herself more than her opponents going into yesterday’s election. According to the New York Times, "Ms. Handel, 55, has portrayed herself as a Trump supporter, though she was less fervent in her backing for him than were the other Republican candidates in the race, who adopted Mr. Trump’s catchphrases and style in an attempt to stand out."  In an interview on New Day this morning, Handel mentioned that Trump called to congratulate her and she said she hopes he’ll come and campaign with her. We’ll see how that goes.

Thankfully, Ossoff’s team did allocate his millions effectively. The real test, though, is whether or not Democrats will do that almost always happens in Georgia Runoffs: we lose. Losing this runoff will be traumatic for Democrats. This is truly a bellwether election, and it’s one we cannot afford to lose. We jumped over the first hurdle, now we must vault to victory and work our Ossoffs!