Bronx County Independent Examiner
by Billy Wharton
October 14th, 2010

Carl Paladino’s candidacy on the Republican Party line has done one thing very effectively. It has scared the dickens out of progressives and independents. This will be quite a boon for Democratic Party candidate Andrew Cuomo, but means major problems for the most interesting candidate in this year’s field. The Green Party’s Howie Hawkins has run a determined campaign to grab the attention of New Yorkers by providing a left alternative to Cuomo.

The Hawkins campaign started with what seemed to be an entirely attainable goal in mind. Generate enough attention to secure 50,000 votes in the general election. Doing so would allow the Greens to secure permanent ballot status thereby creating a launching pad for independent politics in the state. What seemed like a meager demand turned into an uphill trudge once Paladino triumphed over Republican insider Rick Lazio in the primary.

Cuomo played the political cards handed to him by the tea-bagging Paladino. First he squeezed out a loyalty oath from the liberal Working Families Party who lost any pretense of political independence by rolling over. Then, Cuomo amped up the budget cutting language, claiming at a mid-September press conference that he, and not Paladino, was the real Tea Party candidate. Cuomo is brazenly secure in the idea that progressives simply have no alternative at the polls. However, it may be time to give the Hawkins campaign a second look.

The Greens have been innovative. First, Hawkins identified the fact that NY State was giving back billions of dollars in stock transfer taxes to big banks. Then he advocated for the creation of a Green New Deal in the state that would provide good jobs for all New Yorkers. Hawkins has also been willing to take some chances. He has called for a permanent ban on Hydrofracking, has marched on strike picket lines all across the state and has even called for the legalization of marijuana. By any measure, Hawkins offers a solid left alternative to the two Tea Party candidates – Paladino and Cuomo.

But independents are feeling uneasy knowing that, as Governor, Paladino would try to deliver on his hair brain schemes such as prison camps for welfare recipients. They fear that a vote for Hawkins opens the door for an openly racist and homophobic candidate. However, the politics of fear are exactly what holds up the two-party dominance of New York State politics.

Simply put, a vote for Hawkins is not a vote for Paladino. Anyone that tells you so is attempting to pull off the electoral swindle of the century – getting an independent or progressive or socialist to endorse a Cuomo candidacy that will unleash a wave of budget cuts. A vote for Hawkins and the Greens is a demand for something more – for politics that transcend budget cuts, unemployment and the dominance of Wall Street.

Standing tall at the electoral box by casting a vote for the Greens is a vote for political independence. It sends a message that you have not caved in to cynicism and that you will not endorse budget cutting. And, most important, it concretely advances the campaign for 50,000 votes which will open a space for many more independent candidates.

New Yorker’s should not give in to the Tea Party effect. Nor should they squander their vote on a Cuomo campaign that has publicly stated its intention to be more Tea Party than the Tea Party itself. Voters would do well to give Howie Hawkins a second look. You might like what you find.

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Billy Wharton is the editor of the Socialist WebZine. His articles have been published by the Washington Post, Counterpunch and In These Times. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it