The Empire Page

With 2010 stacking up to be a major election year in New York, the Empire Page seeks to interview all candidates for statewide office.  We started with interviewing Rick Lazio, Republican candidate for governor.  Next up is Randy Credico, who has declared his intent on challenging incumbent Charles Schumer for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

 

Q#1: You've announced that you're running for Chuck Schumer's US Senate seat.  What motivated that decision?

A: Where to start? There are so many reasons to oppose Chuck Schumer.  First of all, Schumer represents just about everything wrong with the current state of the Democratic Party. I am sickened by his legislative record and his politics, and how he has gone unchallenged for all these years.  I suppose it should come as no surprise, because Democrats in New York are more timid than a flock of sheep. 

The fact that Schumer believes that neither he nor his protegee, Kristin Gillibrand, should face a party primary challenge is the most anti-democratic bunkum that I have ever witnessed.  Charles Schumer is becoming a de facto New York State dictator like a the South American caudillos of yesteryear.  I could go on forever about Schumer’s anti-democratic dictatorial tendencies, but let's move on.

Schumer is the ultimate insider and opportunist.  He is underwritten by Wall Street dough, so he can make slick, expensive ads to bamboozle Main Street voters so  he can deliver to his Wall Street puppeteers.  It’s alarming that much of the public still has yet to connect the dots of his complicity in starting the current economic meltdown by repealing key elements and protections of the Glass-Steagall Act.   The profoundly destructive consequences for ordinary citizens of Schumer’s financial recklessness are extremely disconcerting.

I am also running because I am completely frustrated with the direction of this country’s  domestic policies.  One of the most compelling  issues for me is the nation’s criminal justice system.  It is interesting that, despite one person of color occupying the Oval Office, there are a record three million more occupying the “big house”.

I have spent 12 years mired in the trenches of our unfair, racist and Kafka-esque criminal justice system.  Schumer’s legislative record facilitated the unconscionable growth of the current “prison industrial complex”.  He can also take credit for the Robespierre like pace of executions within the prison system, and the untold number of fellow Americans , both innocent and guilty, spiritually wasting away on unfair prosecutions or on death row.  Those poor souls are now being denied appeals,  courtesy of the various omnibus crime bills Chuck demagoged into law back when he was a U.S. Representative.  More to his shame, Chuck Schumer probably shoved these  laws through, not on ideological grounds, but based on a focus group study of suburban white voters.

Like all Democratic hacks, Charlie only speaks to the diminishing middle class (which he somehow thinks is still a monolithic group)  and  never speaks to the homeless, the unemployed,  the disenfranchised or soon-to-be-bankrupt, much less prisoners.  A vast number of those now in the middle class are rapidly joining those in those lower ranks,  and will soon be singing “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”.

Someone has to give them a voice.  It won't be Chuck.  I am that person.

Then there’s Schumer’s foreign policy, just as wretched as his domestic tyranny.  From the outset, Schumer has been an enthusiastic supporter of both the bloody Afghan and both Iraqi wars – as well as that quiet South American intervention known as “Plan Colombia,” a military component of the failed phony “drug war”.  Chuck loves to send our young men and women into harms way and , like Dick Cheney, he has never worn a military uniform never mind seen combat.

Schumer is also a backer of the anti patriotic Constitution-killer known as the “Patriot Act.”  He encourages the use of torture and other regressive policies that turn the stomachs of lawyers and human rights workers, and progressive Democrats like me.

I can’t imagine that it could have been any worse if the reactionary Republican Alphonse D’Amato had kept his Senate seat – instead of the reactionary Democrat, Chuck Schumer.

And yet, not one well-known Democrat lawmaker will be challenging Chuck.  The reason is obvious: They, like Schumer, just “go along to get along.”  They are a pathetic crew of feckless will o’ the wisps.  Since none of the Democratic establishmentarians will go to bat for the average person, I find it important, even mandatory that I challenge Schumer, and all that he so smugly represents.  The fact is that Schumer has degraded this lofty office that was once occupied by the likes of  visionaries and abolitionists such as  DeWitt Clinton, William Seward and Roscoe Conkling. 
 
“Schumerism” is a political pathology, and I hope I can shine a big bright light on it and encourage others to join me and run and challenge every other Schumeristic Democrat in next year’s primaries – and “throw the bums out,” just like voters  did in Massachusetts in 1854 when the Know Nothings swept into nearly every elective office, and went  on to  pass the most progressive legislation in the nation’s history.       

Perhaps I can be a catalyst for progressive reform in New York.  People are burnt out with Schumer.  I don’t know one Democrat who likes him, yet I don’t know one Democrat with the integrity or the courage to take him on.

That’s why I’m running.

 

Q#2:  If "Democrats in NY are worse than a flock of sheep," what makes you think you'll get a single vote even if you are able to get your name on the ballot?

A:  When I say flock of sheep I am talking about most elected officials and not the rank and file. There are those like Andrew Cuomo who march to the beat of their drum (as he did in 2002 when the hacks didn’t want him to run against the chosen inside party hack Carl McCall). Cuomo I believe is the most reform minded so-called establishment politico I have ever met.

I will get my name on the ballot and I will get a surprisingly sizable percentage of the primary vote because people are fed up with the current arcane process and its lack of diversity in terms of ballot choices. On primary day it is a fact that the most conservative Republicans and the most progressive Democrats make it a point to go to the polls. By the time September rolls along I am going to be a well known and vetted alternative to Mr. Schumer.  I believe those die hard dems are going to conclude that Chuck is out of touch with progressive dems--he is our Lieberman. Progressives, ultimately will side with my politics after getting to know my backgrond. Also, I am not a hack politician. I am a political comedian, a social activist and a community organizer. Schumer is a dyed-in-the-wool hack politician. He has been in office for 3 decades and has done nothing else professionally that I can remember.

Enough already. I think the public is so damned bored with the the uncharismatic senior senator (who couldn't pact a toll booth if he passed out gold coins) that the novelty of my candidacy will be a very tempting alternative. I am going to run an extremely interesting and creative I am the anti-war, anti-Patriot Act, anti-drug war, anti-torture candidate. He is just the opposite. People have a choice now. Hence,  I am in it to win it.

I think conservative dems will like much of what I have to offer. I am a fiscal conservative. I also am a very strong supporter of the 2nd amendment unlike the focus group directed Charlie boy.  Once you tinker with one amendment then the rest fall like dominos. The Bill of Rights has been watered down enough--particularly 1st, 4th and 5th and 6th amendments.

 

Q#3:  Getting on the ballot in New York is not that easy.  It requires a statewide organization plus legal help in defeating likely petition challenges.  That and running a statewide campaign costs money.  Have you started putting together an organization and how much money do you estimate you'll need just to get on the ballot?

A: I am in the process of tying together a statewide organization for the petition drive. If the establishment of the Democratic Party trys to keep me off the ballot I can assure it would back bounce against them. I would make comparisons the Iranian, Iraq and Afghan electoral process.... I have tons of volunteers who are excited by the prospect of an opponent to Schumer and the bankrupt politics of schemers. I will go on a hunger strike -- an art in which I am well practiced. I believe $300,000 will be enough to cross the threshold. With internet, twitter and other new free media outlets I believe I will be competitive. For every dollar I spend I will get 10 dollars of value. For every dollar Schumer spends he will get 10 cents in value. I know his consultants. They charge a lot for outmoded and cliché media methods. People like an underdog. I plan on doing a statewide bus tour to as many cities and towns as possible. Mine will be an interesting and entertaining campaign. Schumer will run a boring campaign...

 

Q#4:  In a poll of registered voters conducted earlier this month by Siena College's Research Institute, 60 percent of those polled said they would vote for Schumer if he runs in 2010.  His lowest ever favorable rating is 60%.  Apparently the electorate has a very high opinion of Senator Schumer and of the job he's doing and, they plan on re-electing him next year.  Are you running a symbolic campaign or do you really think you have a chance to win?

No one thought David could beat Goliath. Nobody thought the Jets could win in '69 against the Baltimore Colts.  The amazing Mets were written off. Cigar, couldn't be beaten. Seward had the Republican nomination in the bag in 1860 and lost to Lincoln. Jefferson beat the incumbent Adams. Nations continue to bet against Afghanistan and they remain undefeated at home.  A young Cassius Clay routed the 7 to 1 favorite Sonny Liston in the early 60s. And, of course, my favorite, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1000 that liberated the two Sicilys and went on to unite Italy. I could go on forever. The vast majority of those polled who support Schumer don’t realize what he really represents. I will lay out the history of Schumer in the coming months and I guarantee that his numbers will undergo a tremendous meltdown. And by the way, Schumer wasn't even on the radar when he entered the '98 primary race against the 2 front-runners Green and Ferraro. The tortoise is patient. The hare is self-satisfied and he can be beaten because he has no magic, no charisma, and few priniciples . He beat a broken down D’Amato in 98 and faced an unknown in 2004. If he were invincible he wouldn't need $14 million to run his campaign.

 

Q#5: On your website you list a number of issues that you intend to campaign on.  Give us your platform in priority order...In other words what issue will resonate most with the voters in 2010?  What will be the second most important issue?

A: Obviously the economy is the main issue to New Yorkers--it is always the economy. If there hadn't been a severe economic crisis in France in the summer of 1788, then the convocation of the Estates General would not have happened and the revolution would have never passed. The pan-European depression and draughts of 1848 precipitated the revolutionary movements across the continent. Obviously people are concerned with their own well being first and foremost.

The economy is not improving. I believe that we are at the zenith of the recovery and that is not good news. The only people not suffering are those who, by and large, own Chuck Schumer, which is Wall Street and banking interests. Schumer’s support of the repeal of Glass-Steagall will be crystallized in the public's conscience in the coming months.

Schemer's enthusiastic supporl wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which have resulted in the deaths of more than a million of god's children will haunt his campaign. His knee-jerk support of watering down the 2nd Amendment will be made clear to voters who cherish their constitutional freedoms. His support of putting millions of people of color behind bars and denying innocent people on death row a chance to prove their innocence through the  federal judicial system will be something he will have to answer for when I am finished furnishing this info to communities of color over and over again. His support of the Patriot Act will be one the subject of my daily diatribes against this opportunist, anti-democratic Democrat. I have  a copy of a video in which has Chuck supporting torture. So he has to answer why he supports violating the Geneva conventions.  The list goes on.

 

Q#6:  Why did you decide to run against Chuck Schumer instead of Kristen Gillibrand?  Gillibrand is much less well known and would be an easier target.

A: My buddy John Tasini is already running against Gillibrand and politically we are pretty much on the same page. I support his candidacy 100 per cent. Plus if I ran against Gillibrand and won I would have to be in the same chamber with Schumer for the next 6 years.That would be a real drag. Gillibrand is a Schumer creation. His arm twisting and whatever else of Gov. Paterson to select Gillibrand  to replace Clinton is just another one of his weaknesses in the coming debate. Why her and not Andrew Cuomo? Schumer destroyed any chance of Paterson being elected to a full term. I think this is another reason why African Americans will eventually wise up to Schumer and support my maverick candidacy. Schumer needs to be exposed for what he is which is a self serving, hackish, establishment career pol who has done nothing to improve the lives of the middle class, the poor, the disenfranchised and the disaffected. If we can bring him down or weaken his stature it will be a most successful venture. Many people, including elected officials despise Schumer and they have encouraged me to make the challenge.

 

Q#7:  Correct me if I'm wrong, but you've never run for elected public office, much less won an election in the past.  That doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't try, but won't your campaign just make the people you claim to oppose -- traditional Democrats -- seem that much more invincible when you get crushed?

A: I am a registered Democrat. I am not opposed to traditional Democrats...I am opposed to the machine and its wily mechanics who are shamelessly anti-democratic in nature. (They should stop using the word "democrat" for the party until they learn what democracy is all about.) The rank and file Dems are frustrated by the lack of diversity on the ballot and having no option other than to hold their noses with a pair of industrial pincers and pull the lever for someone like Wall Street Chuck.

There are 10 months remaining before the primary and a year before the general election. If it looks like the career party hacks like  Denny Farrell are going to deny me access to the ballot to challenge Chuck in the primary then I will bypass the primary process altogether and make a stink of it and then run on another line in the general election. Or, perhaps I will do something different altogether.

I will try to get a new ballot line for perhaps the Green Party by changing course altogether and running for governor although I am a strong supporter of my good friend and reformer Andrew Cuomo. The latter is an unlikely option but I do have a lot of arrows  in my political quiver.

Right now I am concentrating on Schumer, as I said, when the average person makes the connection that he is a Wall Street concubine that has been cheating on Main Street, his numbers will go down. He has 30 percent negative ratings. I think that will easily go to 50 when people get hip to his BS.

And finally, my older brother Richard Credico asked me to run against Schumer earlier this year and I told him that I would. He died suddenly a few weeks later (April 29). Out of my love  and devotion for him, I have decided to do this and be guided by the winds of his great spirit. This is for you Ricky.

Also, my father did 8 years in prison before I was born. I know first hand the mental and emotional effects of the American prison system. I have worked with prisoners and ex-prisoner for the past 12 years as the director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice;  (Kunstler along with Thomas Paine, Fredrick Douglass, E.B Dubois, the author Richard Hildreth, Rev. Theodore Parker, John Brown. and the civil rights attorneys Margaret Ratner and Elizabeth Fink have had the most influence on my enlightenment on the race issue.)

Chuck Schumer wrote bills that resulted in excessively long term incarceration of people like my father in our out of control and barbaric prison system. Schumer doesn’t care for the unfortunate people behind the razor wire. I can’t stress enough how big a motivating factor all of this is on my campaign. My father was a big Jolson fan so let me close by saying "You ain’t heard or seen nothing yet." I am just getting warmed up!!!