Convincing Shelly
It's not often a reform candidate comes to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's defense.
That's what freshman Assemblywoman Sylvia Friedman did last night when she not only defended Silver's position on a rape bill that later proved incredibly unpopular, but said she helped persuade him to take the controversial position in the first place.
"He was in favor of ending the statute of limitations on rape on the criminal side, but not on the civil side," Friedman said at a candidate's forum on the Lower East Side last night.
Both the State Senate and the governor blasted the change at the time, saying that it would open the door to endless lawsuits and become a giveaway to trial lawyers.
It proved so unpopular, even among some women's advocates, that many considered it Silver's way of killing the negotiations entirely. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau reportedly cursed at the Assembly Speaker for insisting on it. And New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser write a column on the issue whose headline referred to Silver as a "rapist's best friend."
Not Silver's fault, said Friedman: "He was the one who changed his mind and voted with us."
I spoke with Friedman some more afterwards and here's what she had to say.
-- Azi Paybarah
This is totally confusing. Are you sure that Sylvia and other members of the Assembly's Democratic Conference didn't help persuade Shelly to change his position to one that was *more* popular, Azi? Can someone explain what the controversy over a statute of limitations on filing civil cases against a rape victim means, and why ending it, or not ending it, is good for trial lawyers?
Sylvia did generally very well in the debate last night and seemed to consistently get the most applause and the best response. She was not hesitant to point out instances where she disagreed with the Speaker -- she also mentioned the Seward Park extension housing proposal -- while remaining respectful of him and his leadership.
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I love it when the liberals self destruct. Let Friedman and Silver and the nuts from NOW and the ACLU cut each other up over this retarded issue. Otherwise Republicans and Conservatives would be dead having to deal with a united Democratic front.
It's our best chance to do in NY what we're accomplishing in Ct. split the Dems into 2 camps.
Andrea Peyser has no problem with rape when it's black men getting raped with plungers, or whole Arab nations being raped by Israeli missiles.
You mean Iranian and Syrian Missiles in Israel... right 12:33.... that's what you meant? Right? You sick puppy.
...Sylvia is an incumbent only because she won the special election earlier in the year, right? As a first year State legislator from Manhattan, opposing Silver helps her how?
Sylvia performed rather poorly at the debate last night. I think I may be sold on Kavanagh. While I didn't know much about him before last night, he seemed to be in command of the issues. I think it took Sanders a long time to give the 74th AD a voice in the assembly, and I think Kavanagh will be able to do the same. Sorry to flip-flop, but go Kavanagh!
1:43,
I agree. Sylvia doesn't seem to have a good grasp of the issues. She has a lot to work to do if she thinks she's going to win this race. I'm not sure voting however Sheldon tells her to is enough to win this race.
2:05,
I disagree. If, as you say, she doesn't have a grasp of the issues, I think the best thing she can do is to follow Silver's lead. The voters of this district approve of Silver (he is their neighbor). If its not broke, why fix it?
Let's not forget that Kavanaugh's campaign is a sleeze machine. I am not even a constituent of the district, but his hads in local community papers are disrespectful, and borderline contemptable....
He has visions of becoming a lifelong politician, which is why he is running again this year, after a different loss last year.
If Sylvia wins next month, I am willing to bet that by next year, Kavanaugh will be running for something else.
Whats really sleezy is Sylvia using tax payer dollars to send out her campaign mail pieces. So brian put some ads in the newspaper, who cares? You have to try to reach the voters, especially when your opponent, who's nomination to the office was less than transparent, can fund her campaign with OUR tax dollars.
This post still needs to be clarified: what Azi characterizes as the "unpopular" bill would have lifted the statute of limitations on rape in civil cases, as is the law in most states that have lifted the statute of limitations on rape. I think Sylvia is saying that she convinced Silver that both statutes of limitations should be lifted, which girdlocked the bill. The Republicans might have won the PR war on this position, and sure some trial lawyers would make money, but the position is illogical. Why can someone go to jail for a rape he committed 20 years ago but the same victim cannot claim pain and suffering for that same crime?
Sylvia Friedman clearly seemed the candidate best in command of the issues last night. I was fence-sitting before, but am leaning her way now.
Esther Yang is the only REAL candidate in this race. She is the dark horse and will shock everyone with her upset victory in september.
goodness, isn't it interesting how all the people lauding little sylvia sound exactly alike? and is there anything funnier than sylvia making nice to sheldon?
To bad Sylvia was not around to change Silvers mind after Boxley took advantage of the fist woman. Maybe sylvia could have stop Boxley for doing to to another?
maybe if Sylvia was around she could have saved the commuter tax?
This lady like most candidates now adays is a jerk`
leave sylvia alone. she is doing a good job trying to learn the job and all the issues in an extremely short period of time. i've seen her speak on a number of occasions. she may not be the world's greatest politician but her heart's in the right place and she really wants to help her community.
There are only two real candidates in this race, and Sylvia Friedman is the better of the two. That was on display at the Monday Citizens Union debate, where both she and Kavanaugh made credible presentations. Esther Yang did not. She never answered one question, whether about the Urstadt law or zoning or ballot access. Either she has no grasp of the issues, or she thinks her listeners are boobs. You pick 'em. After repeated her desire that putative constituents vote her out of office if she doesn't do her job, I wanted to shout out "why wait?"
Kavanaugh's campaign has been pushing a couple of themes overtly, and one covertly. None is valid, and all were in evidence on Monday. Asking Sylvia why she voted just three times against Speaker Silver-sponsored initiatives, and on three seemingly minor bills--a question meant to challenge her reform credentials--she explained that they weren't that minor, including one that would privatize sections of state parks. What she could have said--and I wish she had--was "what would you have broken with the speaker over? School funding? Aid to the city? Medicare spending?" Presumably none. His was just grandstanding.
His second charge, raised again by one of his clacks on this thread, is that her initial party nomination was "less than transparent." Want transparency? Open your eyes. Party rules stipulate that the district's county committeemembers--several hundred local activists--convene to select replacement candidates when an incumbent retires while in office. Sylvia was not the insider choice--an Albany staffer was--and she won the endorsement in an upset with the support of the liberal reform members of the county committee. Don't like the rules? Change them. But the real problem isn't the rules; a rushed primary or a quicky nonpartisan special election in place of the present set-up would also privilege insiders. The real problem is the habit of incumbents--who fully plan to step down--running for office, then resigning soon after the election in order to ensure the torch gets passed to their favored insider. Sylvia was never that favored insider, and her win at the county committee was a well-deserved upset.
Then there's Kavanaugh's whispering campaign. "She's old [she's 67]and I'm young." He's of a "new generation" and will be there for the long haul, while she's presumably got a short shelf life. Forget about the sleaze involved in the ageist charge, if term limits gets imposed, he won't be there long, either. And watching Kavanaugh in action, being a state Assemblyman can't be his longterm goal, either.