The Buffalo News
Buffalo, NY
http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/07/19/1117233/attorney-general-hopeful-in-town.html
By Robert J. McCarthy
The people surrounding State Sen. Eric Schneiderman at a downtown news conference today may underscore more than anything why he is considered a top Democratic contender for attorney general this year.
Union leaders from the United Auto Workers and SEIU 1199, representatives from Hispanic groups, and officials of liberal constituencies like the Citizen Action organization on which he once served as a board member all joined to endorse him.
All have money, manpower, telephone banks — and experience in getting out the vote.
“We look forward to working hard on his behalf in the upcoming election,” said Paul Schuh, the UAW’s regional director of community action programs in a statement that may have summed up the Schneiderman plan for 2010.
The senator, who is one of five Democratic contenders for attorney general in the September primary, is carving out a campaign based on challenging the “status quo.” He mentioned several times during remarks at Citizen Action headquarters on Main Street that he was the Democrat who often challenged “Joe Bruno’s machine,” referring to the former Senate majority leader who was convicted last year on charges of depriving citizens of honest services.
And he made it clear that the endorsements he received today of Citizen Action, Hispanic Alliance of Western New York, Sen. Antoine M. Thompson of Buffalo, and the two unions is exactly representative of his career and his campaign.
“I am not running for this office to preserve the status quo,” he said. “My vision is to further that essential American quality of greater justice for all.
“We’ve got lots of checklist liberals in this race,” he added. “I’m no checklist liberal.”
That “liberal” label may prove a major factor in a race that is expected to draw a relatively small pool of voters, but which history suggests attracts the most left-leaning Democrats. And while more conservative candidates often criticize the backing of public employee unions like SEIU/1199, Schneiderman extols the efforts of such health care workers and plans to proudly carry their endorsement.
“Millions of people in the United States would not have a living wage, health care or the basic dignity of work if not for 1199,” he said. “It’s a lifelong commitment for me and I couldn’t be prouder to have their support.”
Thompson, who noted his own beginnings in the political process by joining Citizen Action in 1996, also announced his support for his colleague in the Senate. He noted Schneiderman’s commitment to issues of “social, economic, environmental and racial justice.”
“He is the one on the Senate floor day after day fighting for issues supported by Citizen Action,” said Thompson, who may also bring a significant political army of his own to work on Schneiderman’s behalf.
Others attending the affair included Bruce Popper, vice president of SEIU/1199 United Health Care Workers East; Edwin Martinez, president of the Hispanic Alliance; and Ellen T. Kennedy, president of Citizen Action of New York.
Schneiderman is competing in an attorney general campaign that also includes Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester County, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, former Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, and former federal prosecutor Sean Coffey.
Staten Island District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan is the Republican candidate.
