CHatter
September 12th, 2008
What Happens When You Don’t Yet Know You Won
As the results of the Sept. 9 primary began to trickle in shortly after 9 p.m., not much was capable of cutting through the revelry at a primary night party for
Daniel Squadron—not even the announcement that he had won.
Screens mounted throughout the ballroom at the Grand Harmony Restaurant in Lower Manhattan displayed the results as they came in, but just a few blocks away, at the party for Sen. Martin Connor, the results were already clear: Squadron had won.
That bit of news failed to make its way to the Squadron party in real time. Despite the fact that news outlets and Connor supporters had called the race by just before 10 p.m., supporters waiting for Squadron’s arrival were still trying to figure out whether he had definitely won. Even campaign aides working the party were first told of the results by a reporter, and scrambled to find out where Squadron was.
In the meantime, the math started to become clear, as revelers tried—beers in hand—to crunch the numbers, unaware that tearful hugs were already being exchanged at the Connor party.
“It’s over,” one Squadron supporter declared confidently after doing the math.
“We got a winner,” another cheered.
Sure enough, they did, and by 10:20 pm Squadron had arrived to declare victory.
Squadron rattled off an extensive list of thank-you’s, and spoke most notably of his impressive get-out-the-vote effort, engineered by several unions and the Working Families Party.
“It could have been borough-wide, it could have been citywide,” he said, perhaps foreshadowing what may well be an ascendant career.
He then thanked the many aides and volunteers he had brought with him from previous campaigns, such as Andrew Cuomo’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
“It was a little weird to have one of us on the posters,” he said.
Though several congratulatory calls came in for Squadron over the course of the night, one did not: Connor did not call to concede.
Cuomo’s New Deputy
Speaking at an Upper West Side community partnership initiative forum Aug. 20, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo introduced his “newest deputy attorney general”: Meghan Cahill, a high school junior who was finishing up her time as Attorney General for the Day.
The experience was a prize in a charity raffle at the Upper East Side’s Convent of the Sacred Heart School. Though a school employee won the prize, Cahill was given the honor in recognition of her work as president of the mock trial team.
Introducing her to the crowd, Cuomo said she had kept busy.
“She sued 47 people in one day—she leaves, I clean up the mess,” Cuomo joked to the crowd. “Story of my life.”
Cahill was the first student to be Attorney General for the Day.
“I hope you had a good day,” Cuomo said to her afterwards. “Did you have a good day?”
Cahill laughed, blushed, and said she had.
“She said she doesn’t want to have anything to do with politics anymore,” Cuomo joked.
Cuomo deflected a question from one reporter about whether he might be interested in one day running for president.
“You don’t like what I’m doing as attorney general?” he joked. “You want me to move on?”
Hearings on Deaf Ears, Jackson Charges
After two rounds of Contract for Excellence hearings held throughout the five boroughs this summer, the final Department of Education proposal for the funds is expected to pass later this month. However, critics claim that no public feedback is incorporated in the proposal.
“I think it was a formality,” said Council Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) regarding the hearings, adding that they are mandatory for the city to receive the funds.
He also noted that the second round of hearings occurred with little notice over a two-day time span, with two borough-wide hearings the first day and three the second, in an effort to “consolidate the opposition.”
Advocates and parents fear that the CFE funds are not being spent as intended to help the most at-risk students, but are instead being used to fill the budget gap.
The DoE did not return several calls requesting a comment.
Bill Clinton to Answer Y
Former President Bill Clinton (D) will speak at a forum titled “The Business of Giving in the 21st Century,” at the 92nd Street Y on Sunday, Sept. 28. He will talk with Matthew Bishop of The Economist about his Clinton Global Initiative, and the role corporate investors play in global philanthropy. C
As the results of the Sept. 9 primary began to trickle in shortly after 9 p.m., not much was capable of cutting through the revelry at a primary night party for
Daniel Squadron—not even the announcement that he had won.
Screens mounted throughout the ballroom at the Grand Harmony Restaurant in Lower Manhattan displayed the results as they came in, but just a few blocks away, at the party for Sen. Martin Connor, the results were already clear: Squadron had won.
That bit of news failed to make its way to the Squadron party in real time. Despite the fact that news outlets and Connor supporters had called the race by just before 10 p.m., supporters waiting for Squadron’s arrival were still trying to figure out whether he had definitely won. Even campaign aides working the party were first told of the results by a reporter, and scrambled to find out where Squadron was.
In the meantime, the math started to become clear, as revelers tried—beers in hand—to crunch the numbers, unaware that tearful hugs were already being exchanged at the Connor party.
“It’s over,” one Squadron supporter declared confidently after doing the math.
“We got a winner,” another cheered.
Sure enough, they did, and by 10:20 pm Squadron had arrived to declare victory.
Squadron rattled off an extensive list of thank-you’s, and spoke most notably of his impressive get-out-the-vote effort, engineered by several unions and the Working Families Party.
“It could have been borough-wide, it could have been citywide,” he said, perhaps foreshadowing what may well be an ascendant career.
He then thanked the many aides and volunteers he had brought with him from previous campaigns, such as Andrew Cuomo’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
“It was a little weird to have one of us on the posters,” he said.
Though several congratulatory calls came in for Squadron over the course of the night, one did not: Connor did not call to concede.
Cuomo’s New Deputy
Speaking at an Upper West Side community partnership initiative forum Aug. 20, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo introduced his “newest deputy attorney general”: Meghan Cahill, a high school junior who was finishing up her time as Attorney General for the Day.
The experience was a prize in a charity raffle at the Upper East Side’s Convent of the Sacred Heart School. Though a school employee won the prize, Cahill was given the honor in recognition of her work as president of the mock trial team.
Introducing her to the crowd, Cuomo said she had kept busy.
“She sued 47 people in one day—she leaves, I clean up the mess,” Cuomo joked to the crowd. “Story of my life.”
Cahill was the first student to be Attorney General for the Day.
“I hope you had a good day,” Cuomo said to her afterwards. “Did you have a good day?”
Cahill laughed, blushed, and said she had.
“She said she doesn’t want to have anything to do with politics anymore,” Cuomo joked.
Cuomo deflected a question from one reporter about whether he might be interested in one day running for president.
“You don’t like what I’m doing as attorney general?” he joked. “You want me to move on?”
Hearings on Deaf Ears, Jackson Charges
After two rounds of Contract for Excellence hearings held throughout the five boroughs this summer, the final Department of Education proposal for the funds is expected to pass later this month. However, critics claim that no public feedback is incorporated in the proposal.
“I think it was a formality,” said Council Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) regarding the hearings, adding that they are mandatory for the city to receive the funds.
He also noted that the second round of hearings occurred with little notice over a two-day time span, with two borough-wide hearings the first day and three the second, in an effort to “consolidate the opposition.”
Advocates and parents fear that the CFE funds are not being spent as intended to help the most at-risk students, but are instead being used to fill the budget gap.
The DoE did not return several calls requesting a comment.
Bill Clinton to Answer Y
Former President Bill Clinton (D) will speak at a forum titled “The Business of Giving in the 21st Century,” at the 92nd Street Y on Sunday, Sept. 28. He will talk with Matthew Bishop of The Economist about his Clinton Global Initiative, and the role corporate investors play in global philanthropy. C
