Common Sense: A Clear Message

Last week’s election results represented far more than simply a list of winners and losers.  It was a clear message that the policies of Obama on a national level and de Blasio on a local level were immensely unpopular.

The many new Republican members of the House and Senate and the new solid Republican majority in the State Senate are taking into office a mandate to oppose many of the policies and proposals of Obama, Cuomo and de Blasio.

Even Governor Cuomo, who won re-election with a much smaller victory than would have been predicted just three months ago, has been humbled by the results. He was rejected in something like 50 of the state’s 62 counties.

In overall vote totals, he lost the entire western part of the state, which is amazing considering the billions in tax dollars he threw into projects in a failed attempt to prop up the economy artificially. People simply were not buying it.

Candidates ran squarely against these three men. They used their names in mailers, TV ads and all sorts of advertising. Candidates spoke out with specifics about and against their agendas. Stopping Mayor de Blasio was almost a rallying cry in the suburbs and in upstate New York campaigns.

And the mayor was all too happy to assist in proving their point. He sent staff and raised millions of dollars in a universally unsuccessful effort to defeat Republicans. His extremist allies in the Working Families Party as well as several allied unions like the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) joined in the effort and can be declared like him big-time Election Day losers.

The Working Families Party is an object lesson for political observers. It is about the changing tea leaves of politics. One day you are on top and the next day you are fighting for your political survival.

From playing a pivotal role in electing Mayor de Blasio in 2013, it came close to going out of existence in 2014. Its coalition has fallen apart. The governor it endorsed worked diligently to do it in.  There is now a new progressive party (WEA) on the ballot that will certainly negatively impact its influence.  And it even lost its ballot position to the Green Party.

Of course, Republicans and Conservatives cannot rest on their Election Day victories. There is much work to be done in keeping commitments, unraveling mistakes and coming up with solutions to the many problems that confront us on a national and local level. No less can be or should be expected from this incoming class of elected officials.

***

Possibly the most expensive campaign in the history of Brooklyn, maybe the history of the United States from the perspective of dollars spent per vote, took place in the 48^th Assembly District this year. And unless you live in Borough Park or Midwood, you may not have even known it was occurring.

It was the campaign between Assemblyman Dov Hikind and Nachman Caller. Caller, as of his last report, had spent $750,000 to end up with 3,306 votes or around $224 per vote.  Now there are reports emerging that his actual spending that will appear shortly in his post- election report will come in close to $1 million or over $300 per vote.

Caller said he wanted to help the economy and I guess he did!