Crowley’s Loss Heralds an ‘End of an Era’: Last of the Party Bosses

This story sugarcoated the blatant corruption of Crowley’s Queens machine. Many in Queens and beyond know that Joe Crowley is not the affable, guy he feigns to be in public - he is supported in the background by a group of corrupt attorneys and ruthless supporters, many multi-millionaires now, thanks to him. There are many credible allegatIons of corruption and nepotism against the Crowley clan, just google Joe Crowley, corruption, nepotism. Crowley also was beholden to his corporate donors and luxury realtors to the detriment of his constiuents, but to the benefit of family and cronies. No one should pity Crowley, or bemoan a lost era in NYC politics. getting rid of the Queens Machine is great for NY. Crowley’s defeat was not about demographics - power went to his head and he took his seat for granted, plus voters in his District have smelled the stench of the Queens machine for years, and finally got a chance to get rid of him. Their reign of intimidation is over - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did a great service by getting rid of the Queens Machine, and by so well articulating the corrupt contradiction of Joe Crowley running it, and endorsing himself.

There are over 2500 seats on the Queens Democratic County Committee open for petitioning until July 12th. Many go vacant and these positions have voting power on who gets on your ballot among many other things. The county committee is how machine politicians cement their power. You can change that if you petition. Just google "How to run for county committee"

And now fellow Democrats, as our primaries decide our candidates, whether they be progressive or centrist...whatever shade of blue as long as they have a "D" after their names... for once can we all focus on our paramount goal, that on January 3, 2019 the Speaker's gavel is passed to a Democrat? Nothing else matters. Unite behind our candidates. Volunteer. Donate. Now. Today.

Joe Crowley's friends and family are mourning his demise because it signals the end of their cash machine, court appointments, and all the perks his power gave them. Voters knew about the corruption in Queens with the Crowley family but never had an option to get rid of him, because the Queens machine intimidated anyone who tried to challenge him. He hadn't faced a primary in 14 years, and had inherited his seat. Once voters were given a choice, they booted Crowley out. There are many well evidenced articles on Crowley-led corruption/nepotism in the NY Post, Village Voice, The Intercept, and yesterday a great background story on the Queens Machine in the Daily News, explains how Crowley's attorneys still control it, and have become multi-millionaires by manipulating the Machine, courts, to their advantage, yet they all live on Long Island, not in NY-14. Don't feel sorry for Crowley - he's used his office to become very wealthy, his friends are multi-millionaires due to his seat in Congress, it would follow that he has a piece of the pie. For example: Ghosts in the Queens machine: Rep. Joe Crowley's profiteering political partners http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-queens-machine-shaken-2018062... How People Close to Joe Crowley Have Gotten Rich While the Queens Boos Has Risen in Congress https://interc.pt/2JQukfw

The "bosses" need to learn to listen to the voters. It sounds like he assumed he would win with little effort.

If only a similar ending to the Boss era could end in Philly. It's more entrenched and corrupt than NYC.

Now if we could only get rid of Pelosi and McConnell.

All good wishes to Ms. Occasio-Cortez. No tears to waste on the incumbent. But say what you will about the old party machines, they would never have nominated somebody like Trump. They went for the comfortable, electable center. Open primaries, for all their participatory virtues, tend to favor the extremes of each party. Might that be a cause of our current paralysis?

How is this kind of "party boss of a political machine" not seen as corruption, at least in the moral sense, if not in the literal legal sense? How is this not antithetical to "one person, one vote" and not destructive of democracy, even a representative one? How could this have gone on so long in NY14? Apparently, this type of machine is not only ok for local politics, but it's ok for national politicians, too. Pelosi has expressed her disappointment in Crowley's loss in every way she could, short of bursting out in tears, and she has not been all that welcoming of Ocasio-Cortez. Moral concerns for the Republican Party is a lost cause, but Democrats, too? It really is time for a moral renewal of the Democratic Party.

I was a legislative staffer and met Mr. Crowley several decades ago, he was always polite and friendly and supportive of the good cause. So my boss toward him is that he was always a good Joe. Some may take great joy in taking down this "boss" but New York also lost its best shot at having a Speaker of the House residing in the state. What that means, we will never know, but it is something to ponder.

After this presidency, Americans have little tolerence for bullies in all walks of life, especially politics.

I have likened residing in the 14th - and surely many other NYC congressional districts - to living in the old Soviet Union, where there is one-party rule, and where some candidates run unopposed in general elections. And, best of all, the party's machine has final say on the lone candidate we are supposed to vote for. This is not the type of democracy young men and women have lost their lives defending. So the outcome of this one primary is hopeful news for all of us, regardless of party. Our incumbent elected officials (or politicians, if you prefer), need to remember they work for their constituents, not for donors, lobbyists, or a taxpayer-paid pension plan. We need more participation - from people willing to step forward and run for office, as well as apathetic registered voters. That is whey this primary result was so welcome - and why it should NOT be viewed as a surprise.

Ocasio-Cortez won because she ran as a Latina in a 47.5% Latino district. What her win portends is the disappearance of white Democrats from minority districts - recapitulating what happened in the South. Which collapsed the Democratic party, as is happening in Texas today. Identitarian politics tends to have the paradoxic consequence of exacerbating racial polarization.

I thought when Tammany Hall died that was the end of the political bosses? You mean they came back right under our noses? Look at my shocked face. The party bosses will never die in NYC, too much corruption to milk.

Old School party politics are hurting the Democratic party. The DNC undermined Bernie Sanders run for President as they had already selected Hillary as their preferred candidate. Democracy should be about the voters and not old men in a back room deciding on our future. We need more diversity to make our union stronger - more leaders that come from different backgrounds to strengthen our union. Crowley's loss should be a signal to Pelosi and Schumer that it is time to retire and make room for the new leadership of the Democratic party!

While I laud Ms. Ocasio's victory, as a fellow 56-year old, I truly resent the implication that Mr. Crowley was old. He was certainly old-school and that cost him, which it should have, but the suggestion that he is old is simply ageist. Remember, Barack Obama turns 57 in August and no one would call him "old".

The Republicans have a president for several more terms. They have a Republican majority in the house the Senate Judiciary, they have most of the state houses most of the state legislatures and 90% of the media. The structures of the Democrats are breaking down. We're almost one party country: hard right Republicans and middle right Republicans. There's nothing else

Really?? A ‘Democratic Socialist’ who won in a Latino district because she’s Latino — she’s going to change the course of national politics? Ha! Her message will fall on deaf ears anywhere west of the Hudson River.

Except that the Democratic party badly needs reinventing so that it comes closer to the public mood and aspirations nothing much should be read in the New York 's district primary wherein the novice Hispanic activist Cortez trounced the experienced Crowley.

Donald Manes, Stanley Friedman, etc. for over 60 years corruption existed within queens democratic machine. And look what it did to the area? Look who lined their pockets. Thanks god the king is dead.

Old Man- Old School Democrat made the same mistake Hillary made.. Both took for granted their positions and completely misread the writing on the zeitgeist wall. Recap Hillary: She campaigned on the East Coast, swilled champagne with global bankers, discussed more open borders- She flew OVER THE MIDWEST thinking they voted for Obama twice, certainly they'll vote for me- then landed on the West Coast to eat $300,000 farm to table dinners with George Clooney to discuss better movie roles for transgender actors. Recap Crowley: Stayed in Washington too long- never visited his base- and sent a surrogate to his debate. You reap what you sow...

New Jersey needs a BIG dose of this. See: George Norcross. Some will argue that bosses still get things done, or had in the past. But bottom line, a bunch of white men still call all the shots in the Garden State.

Crowley could very well run as a write in candidate like Lisa Murkowski successfully did in Alaska. I'd guess we are one stupid statement by Ocasio-Cortz away from Crowley being urged to "save" the party. That would be interesting.

I'm not sure she'll make a difference but I sure hope she does. I thought the Queens machine died with Donald Manes but I was wrong. There are hangers-on and sychophants who will be cut adrift. They'll see her as the enemy rather than any harbinger of political change. She'll have to watch both sides every day. But if this is thecend of the machine in Queens, good riddance.

The emergence of Punk Rock Orange Haired Donald "Rotten" Trump has turned Congress into a Tilt-a-Whirl. I think this is a great development. One moment, I'm ready to give up...its hopeless.....next spin, Trump appears to be genius.....with 435 Congressmen/women screaming their heads off, scared to death...trapped in the ride. The hidden action was Joe Crowley's attempt to wrestle power away from Nancy Pelosi.....and Nancy just schooled Joe Crowley. He's off the ride....temporarily. Step right up, young lady! Here we go!

I think come November the country will come closer to abolishing Democrats than ICE and open borders.

Free stuff for everybody, paid for by the evil rich. That's the new mantra of Democrats, liberals and progressives.

This is the Age of Populism on the Right and on the Left. Lets try to find the Center.

So Mr. Crowley wound up at his own Irish wake. This machine has done much harm to Queens, even as it played power broker in the city. Let's see if it manages to hold on under new leadership, as in 1986; perhaps a machine pol of color to give the appearance of responding to change.

Gee, I can't remember the last time is saw the headline "Last of the Party Bosses." Oh yes. Now I do. Apr 12, 1878. Some things never change.

A couple of take a ways: The people are ultimately the boss, you can only ignore them for so long before they throw you out. As Hillary and the Press learned, echo chambers are dangerous to your political health.

(conversation around the campfire near Newburgh NY) "A Bernie organizer who was most recently a bartender just won the democratic primary for congress from the east Bronx" brother in law: "that could really mess up the state democrats" other brother in law: "how could New York State politics be any more corrupt than the status quo?"

Too bad the Democrats don't promise anything and simply serve their donors while ignoring their base. That's why they've lost over 1,000 seats nationwide during Barack Obama's presidency.

It has never been more important for democrats of all stripes to stand together and resist the looming fascism in Washington. We cannot get involved in our usual intramural squabbles if we are to take back the House in November. The stakes are literally life and death of our democracy.

For those of us who used to live in New York, but left, Crowley's name is an unknown. He had no national name recognition. Important in Queens, maybe. Schumer's defeat, if ever arises, would be important nationally. But I do enjoy the outcome of the race where a young woman with decent ideas can win an election.

Party "bosses" are antagonistic to the concept of representative democracy. Often, they are aloof and indifferent to the needs of their constituents. They deserve to lose, and lose hard. This is a long overdue generational shift taking place. I am in my late 30's and I have felt utterly ignored by my supposed representatives, who are more interested in smooth talk and never rocking the boat, since they see politics as a job and not a way to improve the lives of the American people. I can only imagine what younger Americans are feeling, saddled as they are with crushing debts, soaring costs, and stagnant wages. So, to all of the indifferent career politicians out there, who have secured their positions through backroom deals and donor-kissing, your time is up and not a moment too soon.

I applaud Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s win in the Democratic Primary. It demonstrates the Democratic Party’s continuing evolution. The Democratic Party of the United States is the oldest political party in the world, and this process of evolution has been going on for 190 years. Not to quibble, but Boss Tweed did not loom over Democratic politics for generations— the definition of a generation being 30 years. His reign took place mainly in the 1860s, and he did a lot of damage. By 1872 he was in jail, and dead by 1878. The arc of the Society of St. Tammany is epic, and it had four Bosses after Tweed: John Kelly, Richard Croker, Charley Murphy, and finally Carmine De Sapio, the last Tammany Hall Boss, defeated by Ed Koch in 1965.

¨ I am running against the machine,” This is a populist claim that does not address any of the deficiencies in both major parties. Trump also ran against the machine and won when a better system would have ensured a better candidate. Hillary ran supported by the machine, when a better system should have ensured that a better candidate, not despised by the electorate, would have been nominated.

Representative Crowley's loss ends and era of corporate, socially liberal Democrats in the image of Bill and Hillary Clinton and a renewal of the era of working class, progressive New Deal Roosevelt Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There's a new New Deal in town so lead, follow or get out of the way!

Win or get out. Work for all our futures or get out. Enough of the legacy candidates and a " secure " seat. WE need fresh new blood and energy. Seriously.

This long article did not mention the voter turnout in this Queens primary election which was only 11.8%. I worked at the polls in a Philadelphia suburb where the primary turnout was about 25% (18% for PA. as a whole). Voter turnout should be emphasized if we are to encourage people to vote and get true representation. It's the easiest act of patriotism!

The democrats too, just as did republicans, vote in inexperienced people who promise redress. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez seems experienced at grass root politics, but is promising what cannot be accomplished (free this and that in the say did Bernie).