Independence Party and Term Limits
They might be hard to take seriously at all -- if it weren't for term limits. It's an issue where their procedure-orientated agenda dovetails neatly with voter pessimism, giving them a weird relevance even as their other issues - internal fights, alleged anti-Semitism -- turn people away.
Yesterday, the IP chairman of Staten Island, Frank Morano, sent Christine Quinn a lengthy letter asking her not to yield to the growing pressure from her constituents on the city council by changing term limits.
"It's been such a disappointment to scores of New Yorkers all over the city that you seem to be entertaining the idea of tinkering with our city's Term Limits law. I'd like to urge you not to do so."
It's only an early shot across the bow, and nothing compared to what billionaire term-limits advocate Ron Lauder (or Mike Bloomberg, for that matter) may do if and when Quinn tries to pass new legislation on the matter or put it on the ballot. But still, it's worth marking an occasion where the Independence Party may be more in tune with average voters than the elected council.
-- Azi Paybarah
I don't think Quinn will attempt to overturn term limits but a letter from an IP "leader" is the least likely reaspn for this.
The IP should also advocate decent working wages for the full-time staffers of City Councilmembers.
Comrie et. al are worried about making more than $120,000, while his own staffers start at about $26,000
How do you know what average voters believe on term limits in 2006?
How does one define "average"?
This is the break that those who oppose term limits have been waiting for.
Spend $1 million on TV advertising that the Independence Party and all their sleazy people are for term limits -- link Lauder (former Austrian Ambassador who had Soviet spy under his nose and the only family member bounced from the Estee Lauder company) to them and keep swatting away.
The IP is not a circus, it's an obscene vaudeville act (see my latest post on Room 8, which I'd link if the Politicker allowed)
Yoda is right of course, but at least Morano is the main anti-Fulani leader in the city, and the letter does make a good case if you read it.
To 1:20, we know what the average voter thinks because of the poll that Quinn just took.