Erica Vladimer, Another Strong Progressive Challenging Carolyn Maloney In New York

It's always tough for Blue America when more than one competent progressive runs in the same district. Several are running this cycle to represent New York's 12th district, which encompasses part of the east side of Manhattan as well as Greenpoint and Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Astoria, Long Island City and Sunnyside in Queens. The seat is held by Carolyn Maloney, a Wall Street Democrat who may not be aware that her district includes chunks of Brooklyn and Queens-- or even the Lower East Side. Maloney is all about the Upper East Side. She represents, for example, Trump Tower. A few weeks ago we talked with Lauren Ashcraft, another super candidate running for the seat. Now let's meet Erica Vladimer. If you like what she has to say, please consider contributing to her campaign here.


Where Have All The Leaders Gone? Why We Need New Voices To Lead Us In Congress
by Erica Vladimer

Way back in June, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly addressed where the Democratic conference stands on addressing rape allegations made against “President” Trump by E. Jean Carroll: “I don’t know what Congress’s role would be in this,” she said at a press conference, “but in any of these things, this is about what the President’s own party would do… I’m busy worrying about children not being in their mother’s arms.”

Quite frankly, that is an insulting misdirection that belies out-of-touch leadership. It is classic demagoguery, employed to evade addressing the issue at hand. And what’s behind it is worse: the idea that Congress would proactively choose to limit its role in addressing sexual violence is not only abdication of duty, it is also eerily reminiscent of a lesson that should have been learned from the recent spectacle of an out-of-control New York state legislature, one I sadly witnessed firsthand. More on that in a moment.

This feigned helplessness by elected officials is not surprising and it seems to have become a required skill on all levels of government and on so many pressing issues. Remember when the 1994 Firearms Act that banned assault weapons expired in 2004, and Congress refused to renew it-- in part because Democrats put politics over protection of the people? Or just recently, Speaker Pelosi’s pooh-poohing Medicare for All, implying that an issue polling above 70% nationally might still cost Democrats dearly on Election Day 2020? Spare us.

This is just more evidence of everything wrong with a Democratic leadership that had to be dragged to even discussing the possibility of considering impeachment proceedings, and still hasn’t gotten up the guts to really go after Trump’s cabal of stooges and third-rate grifters with the full extent of the law. It’s cowardice that extends to the Democratic establishment across state governments, too, including here in New York State.

Without true blue Democrats who espouse aggressive-progressivism, and center the voices of their constituents, we will continue to get nothing more than lip service from our status quo representatives, who have long been allowed to talk-the-talk without ever walking-the-walk.

That goes for now, but it also goes for January 2021, and even with a Democratic president in the Oval Office (which we will have). Because it’s not enough to be concerned with children being ripped from their mothers’ arms while also passing a budget that includes additional ICE funding.

It’s unacceptable to say you support the Green New Deal, like my opponent Rep. Carolyn Maloney runs around town saying, while continuing to bankroll your re-election campaign with corporate and PAC funding from the world’s largest fossil-fuel investor, Black Rock, as my opponent also happily does. Oh, by the way, she also refuses to return years of donations from one Donald J. Trump. That’s not just a tin ear, it is a slap in the face to the constituents of one of the most progressive districts in America, and it’s the biggest reason I am running-- to give a voice to those who have been ignored by their current representative for far too long.

It’s time to elect legislators who will be the change agents we expect them to be, who will fight for the long overdue reforms that have fallen to the wayside.

Two examples from New York. One: The Child Victims Act languished in limbo for over a decade in Albany, while legislators caved to powerful lobbying influences: the insurance industry and the Roman Catholic Church. It was never even brought to the Senate floor, not even when a rogue group of Democrats, known as the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), held a power sharing agreement with Republicans, who controlled the Senate for forty years. With the IDC caucusing with the GOP, pretending to be some kind of sentinels of true progressivism, actual progressive legislation sat on the shelf for years. Sounds a lot like the status quo Democrats on Capitol Hill going along to get along, doesn’t it?

Two, and another failed opportunity to learn: In January 2018, I spoke publicly about how Senator Jeff Klein, the leader of the IDC, abused his power over me, shoving his tongue in my mouth outside a bar one night. Along with other survivors of sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation we asked the governor and legislative leaders to include victims in a meaningful process to craft stronger protections. Known as New York’s Sexual Harassment Working Group, we pointed to Senator Klein’s mere presence in the negotiating room as blatant disregard for the dignity of all workers-- especially legislative staff. He remained, the bills were jammed into a must-pass budget bill, and the protections fell woefully short of what was truly needed.

But all of that changed in September of 2018, when New Yorkers elected representatives who ran in part on a simple promise-- to put people over profits, and human rights over politics. The New York Legislature convened in January 2019 with a fully-- truly-- Democratic Senate, with Senator Jeff Klein no longer in office, and the IDC completely disbanded.

Working in partnership with the Sexual Harassment Working Group and other workplace protections advocates, these thoughtful, bold (and mostly new) legislators also helped advocates secure two joint-legislative public hearings on sexual harassment-- the first of their kind in 27 years.

In June, the Senate and Assembly passed sweeping legislation that will better protect millions of New Yorkers against workplace harassment and discrimination, passing nearly unanimously in the Assembly and unanimously in the Senate.

The Child Victims Act was also-- finally-- brought to the Senate floor, and passed. Unanimously. After years of languishing, it passed... Just ... Like ... That. Meaningful legislation passing because of the new voices and new vision of a new generation of leaders.

Grassroots efforts on issues like these, aimed at inclusion and breaking down barriers of old, launched New York forward to become the progressive capital of the country. It’s the type of movement we continue to see in states like Virginia and California, the kind of movement we need all across our country.

That means in a legislative body of 435 people, we need electeds who will embody leadership that is illustrative and respectful of where we need to go as a society. The sweeping reforms we seek will only happen with sweeping new representation, otherwise we’ll continue fighting with long-term incumbents who prioritize the status-quo (and the campaign cash behind them) over everything else.

I challenged the status quo once, shirking demands from state leaders to “shut up” and “go away” because my fellow advocates and I were making it harder for them to, you know, do their job and keep state workers safe from harassment.

And I’ll challenge the status quo once again in Congress, until our full representation governs with the forward-thinking compassion and inclusivity we all deserve.

Because I do know what Congress role is-- it’s to do just that.