We don’t generally get involved in local politics, but this is too much. Those of you in Republican Jim Oddo’s 50th Council District – you know who you are – should be aware that he has accepted the endorsement of the Working Families Party, a coalition of ACORN, SEIU and other community activist organizations.
This “party,” besides having been accused of numerous campaign violations, and dirty dealings involving its for-profit company Data and Field Services, hardly represents the principals one would expect a Republican elected official to espouse; that they would offer Councilman Oddo their endorsement, and that he would accept it, can only be described as bizarre. It reeks mightily of quid pro quo.
So, while the country is focused on national politics and the healthcare debate, Councilman Oddo has quietly waded deep into the Staten Island political swamp; a festering, stinking amalgam of rotting cross-endorsements, murky deals, and, well, inbreeding.As a Republican/Conservative, I always thought it absurd to have a Borough President - himself a Conservative - actively campaigning for a Liberal Democrat in a Congressional race. Did Big Jim not realize that Mike McMahon would not only bring home the bacon, but that he'd be part of the cabal to shove it down our throats as well? I guess we can't all look at the big picture, especially when doling out the goodies is what it takes to get you re-elected to yet another term.
Well, our Borough President no longer swims alone.
By accepting the endorsement of the Working Families Party, Oddo is effectively thumbing his nose at, and making fools of, the loyal base of GOP voters in his mid-Island district. That’s right - we now have a Republican Councilman who shares a soiled mattress with a party that's synonymous with ACORN and SEIU, the poster children of election fraud, hooliganism and intimidation. In fact, the WFP shares offices in Brooklyn with the ACORN group that turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to prostitution and sexual slavery, and is now under investigation by the Brooklyn DA's office.
Strange bedfellows, right? No, not the WFP and ACORN - the WFP and Oddo.
It’s hard to believe that he would take informed Island Republicans for granted that way – but that’s just what he’s done. He thinks he has his Republican/Conservative base locked up, and that they wouldn’t consider voting for any Democrat opponent he may face - so the swamp of Staten Island politics just gets a little deeper, and Councilman Oddo is the one doing the digging.
I mean, if he doesn't think you're well-informed, what does that mean he does think? That you're dumb? Or ignorant?
Well, Jimmy, there are Republicans who can look past the end of their noses, and who don't like being taken for granted while you play footsie with a party that is anathema to all they hold dear. We have to ask ourselves if a Democrat could be much worse - at least Pocchia is consistent, and true to his core beliefs, such as they are.
You? Well, maybe not so much. You're either being disingenuous by accepting the WFP endorsement, or disingenuous by calling yourself a Republican. I can hardly see any middle ground.
Is pulling the lever for whichever candidate is NOT endorsed by the WFP an impossible thing for Republican voters? I'm curious to know the answer. Are you?
Some acts of political expediency can be swept under the rug, some cannot. This one cannot
