Vote NYC

As many of you will recall from the time we spent together during the 2008 election cycle, I take elections pretty darn seriously. There's nothing I love more than sitting down with a nice big voters' guide and teasing honesty out of the mountains of political-speak!

So even though we've only lived in New York for a little more than two months, I've already made my picks for the November election. Want to know about my favorite candidates? Of course you do!

A New Philosophy's political endorsements for the 2009 New York City elections:

For the office of mayor, A New Philosophy endorses: Frances Villar

I admit, I'm not really all that enthused about the two main candidates for mayor— Mike Bloomburg seems kind of scummy, and Bill Thompson is hard to get excited about, despite his endorsement from President Obama. So this year is a pretty good year to vote for a long-shot third party candidate— and Francis Villar seems cool to me.

A Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate, Villar is also a working mom and a college student. She believes in free, open education from Kindergarten through college, and wants to tax the Wall Street fat cats in order to help pay for the programs needed to combat the recession. And of course, she's a socialist, and I can't resist a socialist candidate for major public office. I mean, where else could you find a candidate who openly— proudly!— admits to being a socialist? I love this city!

For the office of public advocate, A New Philosophy endorses: Maura DeLuca

Another fabulous socialist, this time from the Socialist Workers' Party! I can't get enough of these socialist candidates, especially coming from a place where the only candidates ever to run for public office were Blue Dog Democrats or folksy, cowboy-boot-clad Republicans.

DeLuca emphasizes raising the minimum wage (yay!), nationalizing several different industries, and reinforcing a woman's right to choose. I'm not sure I'm behind ending ALL income taxes on workers (as long as it's proportional), but at least she's being specific— unlike Bill de Blasio, the only other acceptable candidate for Public Advocate. I like him, but his campaign promises tend to be more along the lines of, "I understand the importance of a quality education or "I will work to restore [a fair] vision to New York City," instead of, "I will do X, Y, and Z in order to accomplish these goals." DeLuca's specificity is what wins my vote.

For the office of comptroller, A New Philosophy endorses: John C. Liu

He's smart, he's qualified, he's competent, and he's the only liberal candidate for the office whose political party doesn't actually contain a swear word (cf. Salim Ejaz, of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party. No, I am not making this up.)

For the office of Manhattan borough president, A New Philosophy endorses: Tom A. Baumann

Here is the entire reason for my endorsement (taken straight from Baumann's statement in the NYC Voters' Guide):

"I explain the need for a working-class revolution to take state power out of the hands of the propertied ruling class--the only answer to the expanding capitalist crisis and the frontal assault the capitalist rulers are beginning to wage against our class."

Plus he's, like, my age. AWESOME.

For the office of city council member (3rd district), A New Philosophy endorses: Christine C. Quinn

Not only is Quinn a gay activist— she's also tried (sadly, unsuccessfully) to get the stupid Ancient Order of Hibernians (what a silly name!) to let gay people march in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. As chair of the Health Committee on city council, Quinn sponsored the Equal Benefits Bill (which required that city contractors provide the same benefits to domestic-partnered couples as they did to married ones) and the Health Care Security Act (which guaranteed health benefits for grocery workers).

Quinn is my kind of politician!

I still haven't decided how I feel about the ballot issues. Fellow New Yorkers— what do you think about the two ballot proposals?