New York Magazine by Geoffrey Gray
June 9, 2008
Is State Assembly leader Sheldon Silver the master of
passive-aggressive politics, or the guy who keeps bad things from happening to
good people?
...
His challengers in the September primary come from this new neighborhood.
Paul Newell, the Obama delegate, has lived with roommates in Chinatown
for the last ten years. He works in nonprofits, buys his clothes on eBay, and
speaks fluent Spanish. Newell says he was frustrated by Silver's grip on the
Assembly, and so in 2004, on Primary Day, he looked forward to voting for the
guy running against him. But there was no opponent. When he complained to an
old woman on the street, he says she told him, "Well, if you feel so strongly
about it, why don't you run?" So he decided to. Right now, he says, he's
knocked on over 4,500 doors in the neighborhood, and he's planning on knocking
on them all.
BlogPAC, a national consortium of progressive
bloggers, supports him, and, considering its long-standing beef with Silver,
the Times just might, too.
...
Full Story
