April 18, 2003

A TALE OF TWO POLS.

By James Eugene*

I recently had the opportunity to see Elliot Spitzer at a breakfast of manufacturers in New York City and I came away struck by the differences between him and another politician (or former politician) cut from similar political cloth.

The first two thing you are probably wondering is what is the State Attorney General doing at a breakfast of manufacturers and what can he possibly talk about? (At least those were my thoughts before the breakfast, and I must admit that I was anxious to learn the answer.) Spitzer did wonderfully, and in his success was a perfect juxtaposition about why his political career will continue to grow against another political career that has probably ended. For this column, I will contrast Elliot Spitzer with former Public Advocate Mark Green, two somewhat left-of-center politicians, and I will start with Mark Green.

You are probably aware of the saga of Mark Green, a former Nader protégé, unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate, former Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, ultimately Public Advocate and then unsuccessful Mayoral candidate. He is a man the press unfairly characterized as someone who never met a press release he did not like (well, really, what else does a Public Advocate to do folks? It's not his fault). Now, I am not the biggest Nader fan. Stick to issues of consumer protection and he is fine, go beyond that and he is nothing to write home about (a perfect example of the fact that brilliance in one field does not necessarily cross over to another). For many years, Green did not have to cross over, even when he was Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, as that political position was a natural extension of his consumer advocacy background.

However, when Green became Public Advocate, he had an obligation and responsibility to look beyond things in that mindset. In a position with no power or responsibilities, he had the time and the opportunity to do so. Moreover, Green knew that he would be running for another public office, one that would require a greater breadth of knowledge and again, as Public Advocate, he had the time to prepare himself. But, as Public Advocate, reports and press releases are not enough. Any staffer can write them. It is the responsibility of a leader to understand the issues and their nuances. Green had eight years to do this.

The problem is Green never did. I saw Green at two functions where he struck me as woefully inept. The first one was in 2000 at a breakfast of…. manufacturers. That day he strained to make education relevant to a group of manufacturing leaders. As the presentation wore on, it became apparent that Green knew little about manufacturing and even less about the running of a business. His presentation would have been better geared to a teachers union. It was to say the least, a disappointment.

One year later, I saw Green at a City housing organization function. Now you should know that Green's family is a major player in the New York City real estate industry. Yet, his knowledge of real estate and housing was eerily thin. This time, he spoke to the point, but he failed to even comprehend that in creating affordable housing, you simply cannot get around the cost of bricks and mortar. (Unfortunately, this is a sin that many other politicians commit). I was not the only one stunned, most, if not all, of the audience was as well.

A chief executive officer, whether of the City or the State, has an obligation to understand all of the groups that make up the populace, whether they are rich or poor, business owner or labor, advocate or silent majority. Green never showed an understanding beyond the framework of consumer affairs. He never understood the business community except in the most simplistic ways. Even Green's one shining achievement of his public advocacy career (forcing the Giuliani Administration to take on the carting industry) was really an outgrowth of his Commissioner days where he regulated the carters as Commissioner of Consumer Affairs. (Green then proceeded to make this consumer affairs piece an example of his stance on crime because the carting industry was mobbed up… oh boy! Talk about trying to get mileage out of something.) Green believes he lost the mayoralty because Bloomberg spent $70 million and the 9-11/Giuliani factor. But neither of these would have been a factor if Green had not made his own mistakes and had bothered to learn more about this City and its people.

So I was curious about Spitzer at this breakfast. What can an attorney general say about manufacturing? Spitzer pointed to the work his office had done on insuring that immigrant employees actually get paid minimum wage so that all manufacturers are on an even playing field. He talked about ensuring that banks open accounts for immigrants so that they would not need to use a check cashing service and could make their earnings go further. He spoke about how the entrepreneurial spirit of the immigrants makes it so those minor bank depositors of today might be the business clients of tomorrow (and don't laugh at that because many immigrants, with limited resources, hard work and sometimes little English, have made it as manufacturers over the years in New York and even now). Despite the limited jurisdiction of his office, Spitzer made a connection to his office and it was the right connection. It is one thing to talk to an audience of friends. It is another to talk to one that is neutral or not attuned to your strength. Spitzer got it, he got his audience, and he got its feel, like Green never did.

Moreover, while Spitzer got it, he also showed remarkable restraint. About two-thirds through his speech he decided to talk about accountability, but he joked and said he would not discuss corporate accountability at length, first, because it was too easy, and second, because he had done so too much in the past year. It was funny and self-effacing and modest. Qualities that he did not necessarily show years back when he ran for offices in New York City and lost. And his discussion on accountability cut across numerous lines and was appropriate to the occasion and smoothly transitioned.

In the end, Spitzer delivered a speech that pleased his audience, was on point, and demonstrated his intelligence as a leader and politician. You felt confident that you could go to him on a problem that was not necessarily his area of expertise and he could learn to understand it. And this is key, because no person running for Governor or Mayor knows it all right away. Spitzer showed me the ability to learn and grasp issues.

If Governor Patacuomo runs again in a few years, then I think we have a delicious race shaping up. This is the battle I want to see: Spitzer vs. Pataki. It would be a lot of fun.

WEB SENSE

My very first column noted that each of the Democratic County offices had a web page, and that except for the Bronx, each incorrectly listed their local officials. I guess they don't read my column as even now, they continue to list the wrong people. I think I should contact Council Member Walter McCaffrey. Maybe I should talk about Jamaica with Council Member Una Clarke. Let's take Council Member Jay O'Donovan out to lunch. Or maybe have a quick dinner with Council Member Kathryn Freed at my favorite Chinatown restaurant.

Again, kudos to the Bronx for still being right (though I can still go to Arthur Avenue with Council Member Provenzano… then and now). Also kudos to Staten Island's Republican Party for also correctly listing their two members. Unfortunately, the Queens Republican Party does not have a website. I guess there is no Republican Party in Queens.

AND YES...

I do realize that I used Governor Patacuomo's actual name above and it was on purpose.

* James Eugene is the pseudonym of a veteran of NYC government affairs. Inside The Big Apple will appear exclusively on the Empire Page. If you want to send tips or column ideas to James Eugene, email them to jameseugene@empirepage.com.