For someone who wants to build a multiracial coalition, you spend very little time in this post examining what voters of color say we prioritize in this election, and why a flawed candidate like Eric Adams is eating the left's lunch with Black and Latino voters in the polls.
I don't think that this is your intention, but the implication that Black voters can't see through "identity politics" and vote in our own self-interest is actually very condescending.
I'd agree that the absence of any quotes from voters of color is an omission, though, to be fair, the piece is focussed almost exclusively on Adams, and the only quotes in there come from him (and Andrew Yang). However, I don't think that Barkan argues that Black voters are voting against their self-interest. He points out that older Black homeowners in Queens don't really have a dog in the fight about rent guidelines - they won't be affected one way or the other. Rather, I think he's arguing that by elevating identity above class, many white moderates have given Adams a shield to deflect any class-based criticism.
Yeah, this is what the media class said about Trump voters for five years. “They’re voting against their own interests! They can’t see through identity politics.” Then as now, hopelessly condescending. Trust the voters.
I don't really care if he agrees with me, but I think a lot of voters on both the right and left have been red-pilled (forced to see the world as it really is, rather than as they'd hoped) since 2016. I was actually a Hillary voter myself, but I was appalled by her behavior after the election, and horrified by the way the media and security state treated the Trump administration. (Not pulling troops out of Syria when the commander-in-chief ordered it?) And then the powers that be were so eager to get rid of Trump that they covered up the other candidate's obvious senile dementia. Bottom line: I don't care about any candidate's ethnic background or where he/she owns real estate. I just want competence.
If as many Black voters could see through Adams' identity politics- why is he polling strong in the Black vote? This is what the article is trying to unpack given the record of Adams and the polls. The writer is not referencing all Black people, but those who are in support of Adams and that is a significant enough number to bump him to the top of the race currently.
Adams is polling well with Black voters because many Black voters support his policies!
This article, like so many other attempts to unpack how to win Black voters to the left, tells us what we should want instead of listening to what we say we do. (Hint: it's not a candidate who lives on a block with private security equivocating about taking disarming the police.)
The idea that Black voters who support your preferred candidates are making wise, policy-based decisions, while the ones who don't are somehow unable to see past race and being tricked by "identity politics" is what's condescending here.
Polls aren’t about policy - they’re about rhetoric. What’s being addressed here is the strategic use of disingenuous rhetoric to align entire voting blocks with policies that sound like they benefit that block, but in practice, statistically and demonstrably, do not.
This article was FIRE! As an African American female New Yorker, I can see right through Adams and all the others using identity politics to steal the heart and votes who can't see beyond skin color. I could hardly sit through half of the debate but every time Adams spoke, he used many words without saying anything at all. He's noting but an empty vessel fit for use by the predatory rich and wealthy. You're quite bold to publish this but I'm so grateful that you did. We have, at least been warned. And that last line "But a relationship with reality, in this age, is not a prerequisite for success." Was EVERYTHING! #YANGNY2021
Yang comes off as a bumbling outsider, and after 8 years of DeBlasio bumbling, I’d prefer a mayor who knows where the levers of power are located and how to use them. Adams’ personal history also gives him the cover to be tough on crime, which hits poor neighborhoods hardest. I’m tired of the activist class and their endless war of words. Let’s get someone in Gracie Mansion who can get stuff done.
Depends on what crime you wanna highlight. The denizens of, say, Wall Street are infested with criminals whose crimes hit each and every one of us, irrespective of our neighborhood affiliation. Damn right I want 'tough on crime' – corporate crime.
I know this is a trendy opinion on the left, but keep in mind that Wall Street finances most of New York City's social programs, and COVID has taught them that they really don't need to be in New York City at all. Very easy for them to take their jobs and tax payments elsewhere if they feel hassled. You'd have a moral victory but not much else.
Exactly right. In sure you remember what Dinkins told his big money backers about why he would be the most effective candidate to impose austerity in NYC: "they take it from me." (i.e. a back man.) Fwiw, here's a blog post I wrote about that.
For someone who wants to build a multiracial coalition, you spend very little time in this post examining what voters of color say we prioritize in this election, and why a flawed candidate like Eric Adams is eating the left's lunch with Black and Latino voters in the polls.
I don't think that this is your intention, but the implication that Black voters can't see through "identity politics" and vote in our own self-interest is actually very condescending.
I'd agree that the absence of any quotes from voters of color is an omission, though, to be fair, the piece is focussed almost exclusively on Adams, and the only quotes in there come from him (and Andrew Yang). However, I don't think that Barkan argues that Black voters are voting against their self-interest. He points out that older Black homeowners in Queens don't really have a dog in the fight about rent guidelines - they won't be affected one way or the other. Rather, I think he's arguing that by elevating identity above class, many white moderates have given Adams a shield to deflect any class-based criticism.
Yeah, this is what the media class said about Trump voters for five years. “They’re voting against their own interests! They can’t see through identity politics.” Then as now, hopelessly condescending. Trust the voters.
You agree with Hudson Blue. I wonder if he agrees with you. Trust the voters (even if Trump is their choice).
I don't really care if he agrees with me, but I think a lot of voters on both the right and left have been red-pilled (forced to see the world as it really is, rather than as they'd hoped) since 2016. I was actually a Hillary voter myself, but I was appalled by her behavior after the election, and horrified by the way the media and security state treated the Trump administration. (Not pulling troops out of Syria when the commander-in-chief ordered it?) And then the powers that be were so eager to get rid of Trump that they covered up the other candidate's obvious senile dementia. Bottom line: I don't care about any candidate's ethnic background or where he/she owns real estate. I just want competence.
If as many Black voters could see through Adams' identity politics- why is he polling strong in the Black vote? This is what the article is trying to unpack given the record of Adams and the polls. The writer is not referencing all Black people, but those who are in support of Adams and that is a significant enough number to bump him to the top of the race currently.
Adams is polling well with Black voters because many Black voters support his policies!
This article, like so many other attempts to unpack how to win Black voters to the left, tells us what we should want instead of listening to what we say we do. (Hint: it's not a candidate who lives on a block with private security equivocating about taking disarming the police.)
The idea that Black voters who support your preferred candidates are making wise, policy-based decisions, while the ones who don't are somehow unable to see past race and being tricked by "identity politics" is what's condescending here.
Polls aren’t about policy - they’re about rhetoric. What’s being addressed here is the strategic use of disingenuous rhetoric to align entire voting blocks with policies that sound like they benefit that block, but in practice, statistically and demonstrably, do not.
This article was FIRE! As an African American female New Yorker, I can see right through Adams and all the others using identity politics to steal the heart and votes who can't see beyond skin color. I could hardly sit through half of the debate but every time Adams spoke, he used many words without saying anything at all. He's noting but an empty vessel fit for use by the predatory rich and wealthy. You're quite bold to publish this but I'm so grateful that you did. We have, at least been warned. And that last line "But a relationship with reality, in this age, is not a prerequisite for success." Was EVERYTHING! #YANGNY2021
The real danger is that big money aligned with progressive virtue signaling politics is trying to abolish private individual home ownership.
Yang comes off as a bumbling outsider, and after 8 years of DeBlasio bumbling, I’d prefer a mayor who knows where the levers of power are located and how to use them. Adams’ personal history also gives him the cover to be tough on crime, which hits poor neighborhoods hardest. I’m tired of the activist class and their endless war of words. Let’s get someone in Gracie Mansion who can get stuff done.
Depends on what crime you wanna highlight. The denizens of, say, Wall Street are infested with criminals whose crimes hit each and every one of us, irrespective of our neighborhood affiliation. Damn right I want 'tough on crime' – corporate crime.
I know this is a trendy opinion on the left, but keep in mind that Wall Street finances most of New York City's social programs, and COVID has taught them that they really don't need to be in New York City at all. Very easy for them to take their jobs and tax payments elsewhere if they feel hassled. You'd have a moral victory but not much else.
Well, anyone who knows me knows that 'morals' and 'victories' are completely off my venn diagram page...
This is a very good and insightful piece thank you
Exactly right. In sure you remember what Dinkins told his big money backers about why he would be the most effective candidate to impose austerity in NYC: "they take it from me." (i.e. a back man.) Fwiw, here's a blog post I wrote about that.
https://johnhalle.com/theyll-take-it-from-me-disrespecting-black-leadership/
Adams is, it appears, a right wing remake of the same script.
Dinkins was a lot like DeBlasio, a good-hearted but ineffectual man.
DeBlasio isn't good hearted. He's a corrupt moron.