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Charles Foster Powell
Kevin Powell 11,046 32.84% Edolphus Towns 22,586 67.16%----The Voters of the 10th CD 9/9/08 “That is why I am proud to say I will be a candidate for Congress again in 2010. The campaign has already begun because of you” ---Kevin Powell 9/12/08 “Anybody else, I'd say what's gonna happen to you would be a lesson to you. Only you're gonna need more than one lesson. And you're gonna get more than one lesson.” --Boss Jim Gettys in “Citizen Kane” This is the second time (here’s the first) the opening of one of my pieces on the political travails of Hip-hop philosopher and boy genius Kevin Powell has contained a quote from the cinematic legacy of Orson Welles, a man whose talent for genius had much in common with Kevin Powell’s ego; both were exceeded only by their owner’s talent for self-destruction. I came across the Powell nugget this weekend on his website, but suffering from post-primary burnout, I was not eager to put pen to paper concerning local politics. Moreover, I’d scheduled a Powell-post mortem drink with pro-Towns blogger Silent Firecracker and Powell Web Guru Michael “Diaperman” Spitzer-Rubenstein (it’s OK Mike, it’s a P-Funk reference. Really), who promised me he would be drinking Boylan’s Birch Beer. Since the bar room conversation is intended to be friendly, I vowed I’d not shoot at the sitting duck Powell had posted--announcing his candidacy for another (as the narrator of the newsreel in Kane puts it) “ignominious defeat,”-- until after our little tete a tete. Unfortunately, Powell’s golden shower of hilarity has subsequently been discovered, requiring that I put up or shut up posthaste. Sorry Mike, but the first round is on me. So, let me get right to the point. Most challenges to incumbents are about the incumbent, Kevin, but this race was about you. The last time Ed Towns had a primary, he couldn't manage a majority against an ideological fanatic (who pretty much denied the humanity of about 40% of the district's population) and a convicted criminal. In the prior decade, I'm not sure Towns ever cracked 53%, despite twice running against an opponent saddled with the disadvantage of an Harvard education. But despite having endorsed and stuck with Hillary Clinton, Ed Towns cleaned your clock. And the issue was YOU. Perhaps you can do some self-deconstruction while I do the same to your defiant call for a rematch. Let’s go to the videotape: “If Mr. Towns has done little to nothing for the district during his 26 years in office, we seriously doubt that he is suddenly going to change now.” I note this sentence only because it is the first of Mr. Powell’s numerous uses of the “Royal We”. When it comes to “Royal Wee“, Powell just can’t hold it in. “We know the people of neighborhoods like East New York, Bed-Stuy, Fort Greene, Midwood, and Williamsburg deserve representation that is accessible, visible, and reliable on a consistent basis. Mr. Towns has a history of only helping selected areas and groups in the district, the people he knows are most likely to vote on primary day every two years because he caters to them only.” To whom is Mr. Powell referring perchance? TRANSLATION (courtesy of Lou Reed): “I wanna be black, wanna be like martin luther king As I previously reported, Powell had high hopes for Hasidic Williamsburg, and some local gonovim had high hopes for the cash Powell was supposed to be capable of raising. Future council candidate and longtime contemptible cur, Isaac Abraham, sort of, kind of, conveyed Powell a quasi-endorsement (complete with a joke about violence against women, because Abraham apparently considers violence against women a joke), but seemingly failed to follow it up with the fifty votes that he is capable of delivering. And hungry for cash-Rabbi Leib Glanz, who is capable of delivering 20 times that amount, decided that State Senate candidate Dan Squadron was his kosher cash cow and that Powell was strictly trief. Glanz’s dumping of incumbent Senator Marty Connor for Squadron barely made a difference in that race. The two wings of Satmar were each forced to prove that they were the ones who could deliver, something which never would have occurred had they hung together. As a result, the Hasidic vote nearly tripled, and while Connor’s percentage in the area dropped from 90% to about 2/3rds, the much increased vote count left his vote margin in the area almost intact. But while the volumes of money put on the street in the State Senate race resulted in a near-wash, all that effort did inure to the benefit of one person. Ed Towns. Supported by both Satmar factions, Towns tripled his Williamsburg margin without out any additional effort. No wonder Powell complains about Towns’ relationship with “the people he knows are most likely to vote on primary day every two years because he caters to them only.” Geez, without the Hasids, Towns would have only managed about 62%. “And we know that all the voter intimidation, manipulation, and suddenly broken voter machines were not mere coincidence.” That’s right because Towns’ operation knew exactly where Kevin was strong. Hey, Kevin, did you even manage to carry one election district anywhere in the 10th? “Nor were the attacks on my character that appeared in certain newspapers and websites.” That’s right Kevin, Ed Towns owns me, that’s why I've written pieces like the one on this link. “So we will never know, for sure, what the real vote count was, because this was never a fair campaign from the very beginning.” Translation: As they said in “Citizen Kane”: “FRAUD AT THE POLLS” (God, the parallels are uncanny; both Powell and Kane also have mother issues). Humbling is surely a new experience for Kevin, but one most exquisitely delivered not by phone, email, text message or snail mail, but rather by the means of an old fashioned voting machine. “ Sometimes when you are in the middle of a very serious campaign for political office, you have no idea how many people care, how many people want you to win, how many people believe in you and your team and the desire to see a movement for change across America.”I know exactly how many: 11,046. “And I am especially grateful to the multicultural army of younger people who worked on our campaign, who voted, who told me this is the first time they actually took politics seriously.”Yes, Barack Obama couldn’t make them take politics seriously; only Kevin Powell could muster the requisite amount of dignity necessary for that purpose. “We the people are the leadership we are waiting for in Brooklyn“ And, it‘s eloquence like that which sets Powell apart from poseurs like Barack Obama. “Just as Abraham Lincoln lost nearly a dozen political campaigns before becoming president of the United States, just as Barack Obama lost a Congressional campaign in 2000 before becoming the Barack Obama of today, we are going to take this 2008 campaign as a necessary step toward victory in 2010.” What was it Bert and Ernie used to say? “One of these things is not like the other; one of these things doesn’t belong…” Rosebud. Kevin Powell has potential to really do some good. As Congressman Towns has had the potential to do some good. Is the Congresman lazy? Yeah, a bit and ineffective too as a legislator but he is a powerhouse machine that should not have been slept on. Towns knows something that Powell does not. Politics. Its not something you observe and figure out. There is an art to politicking, relationship building, not pissing people off, continuously balancing, etc. Kevin Powell hasn't figured it out because if he did, he would have done better. I am familiar with the Towns', can't say anything bad about them, don't necessarily gush over them either. I met Powell once at a candidates forum and resisted the urge to tell him that he was going about this all wrong and would lose. I wasn't surprised that he lost. Was it ego? Arrogance? ignorance? I don't know. Anonymous is correct, he should try running for district leader, city council, something to get his political feet wet, to really learn the nuances of the process before you try to kick in the door and shake things up. While I am a fan of change, accountability in government, etc, I think there is a learning process in all of this. To quote KRS-1 "You must learn." Try it, starting from the basics. Mr. Powell, if you are reading, this is your friendly neighborhood Latina from the LAMBDA candidate's night. Maybe there's a better way to achieve the results you are looking for. Peace! I'm already on board for powell in 2010, but only if the world ends in '09. He's managed to make Ed Towns look like a champ...this dude is the worst. I predicted Towns 2 to 1 in a post and I said I was being generous, but now that i called it......i am totally surprised this guy got his 32%.......i'd love to see a poll of powell voters to see why they pulled for him....i would only hope many of them saw it as a protest vote against abominable ed....but knowing all the while that putting powell in a serious position like congressman, would be the greatest embarrassment to a district that really doesn't need national shame to go along with its other ills.....do 11 thousand people really think he should be congressman? councilman? even a co-worker, or little league coach? kevin should go do his minstrel boogie and do an MTV reunion or something, maybe puke after a long night out or punch a roomie over unwashed dishes or something.....then face the ultimate test.....THE ROOMATE COUNCIL to decide wether he stays or goes from the house.....ED TOWNS is blessed by his opposition, let's hope he's not as lucky in 2010.....now that i voted for him, it really is time to get rid of that sucka' too
Why dosen't Powell run for something he can win? Like city council or state senate
Just checking in Gatey, where are you? Marty's gone, and I'm sure you're going through the various stages of grief, but rest assured life will get better (unless the Republicans win in November, then all bets are off).
 By my count, I've posted three pieces since the primary, which was less than two weeks ago, so it's not like I'm on a furlough. Sometime before, I announced I was going to cut down on my local oriented pieces when the primary was over. While I'm not going on a Hackshaw-type siesta, I've kept up a pretty punishing pace this summer, and it's time to slow down, and, given the season, it's also time for some reflection. I've started some other local pieces, but can't really muster the strength to finish them, but may soon. Perhaps I'm just sick of Gary Tilzer reprinting Straub's decision in the Lopez-Torres case every time I comment about county. Since they don't pay me anymore, I'm not sure it's worth the abuse. As to the national stuff, Im pretty ignorant about economics, and unlike John McCain, feel that's a pretty good reason to shut up. Okey dokey. Given your past pace, I expected the same output but it is certainly understandable. Enjoy the break, and in case it extends past the holidays, I forgive you in advance :) And if you start to write, anything on the Connor loss, Algaze's termination, inside stuff on the Williamsburg switch/shift and lopsided vote in Carroll Gardens/Brooklyn Heights? Algaze: Since I consider both Marty and Marty friends, I will not comment on the particulars. This has apparently been an unhappy relationship for some time, and I was amazed it lasted as long as it did; it did probably because Algaze has many friends. I honestly believe that Algaze's days were numbered win or lose. I don't think it's fair to ascribe blame here, and I won't violate any confidences, but the relationship between an elected and chief of staff should be one of intimate trust and confidence--this is chemical as much as it is anything else. And the chemistry wasn't there. The Hasids: I intend to write more about Hasidic politics, including this race, but if you read this article, you will find I've already done some of what you requested. "The lopsided vore in Carroll Gardens/Brooklyn Heights": Last time Connor got 38% in Brownstone Brooklyn; this time he got 36%. As such, the impact on the results in this race was almost nil (Connor significantly improved his showing in Brooklyn Heights, but, actually managed to do worse than his abysmal showing against Diamondstone elsewhere, proving that even when one bottoms out, you can always sink lower). The significant change occurred in Manhattan. Unsurprisingly, Squadron improved upon Diamondstone's mostly umimpressive showing in the trendy areas. More surprisingly, Squadron erased Connor's margin in the more traditional areas. To a large extent, this seems in some way related to Connor's being dumped by Sheldon Silver, though there were other factors. If Silver had been a mensch, Connor may have pulled through, maybe not. But if my bubbe had cojones she's be my zayde. Post new comment |
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Jeeze, the guy can't even congratulate Towns on winning? Talk about a sore-loser.
I know his ego screams Congress or better, but the guy should really consider starting off his public service further down the ballot. Maybe then people would take him a little more seriously.