By Dan Murphy
Last week we wrote about how republican candidates in Westchester would fight for the few remaining posts they have in local government, and in the handful of county board races that the county GOP has a chance to hold and win in November.
This week, in fairness, we write about the problems of the republican party here in Westchester, and across New York State. Last week, republican Yonkers Councilman John Rubbo announced that he was switching parties and registering as a democrat.
“The Republican Party has moved so far right that it has disenfranchised middle-of-the-road and left-of-center republicans,” he said in a statement and in an interview with Yonkers Rising. “I have changed my political party but I have not changed my principles.”
A great deal of attention was given to Rubbo’s decision to switch parties because he is considered one of the few moderate republicans who many saw as a future candidate for Yonkers mayor.
“I align with many of the environmental, social justice and education issues taken up by the Democratic Party,” he said. “The far-right rhetoric of some of the members of the Republican Party has abandoned many members of the party who sit middle/left of center, like I do. Important issues cannot be looked at so narrowly: life and choice, universal background checks and national reciprocity for firearms, private/public health care that does not bankrupt families, businesses and government, and affordable housing options that do not force hardworking people to live paycheck to paycheck.”
Westchester republicans were said to be annoyed by Rubbo’s decision but decided to hold their tongue instead of blasting him in public. Another former republican and now democrat, Mayor Mike Spano said: “I welcome John Rubbo as a fellow Democrat and have long felt his views are in alignment with our party. I also know that Councilman Rubbo will continue to put Yonkers first, regardless of party labels.”
The election of President Donald Trump in 2016 and the “blue wave” election in Westchester in 2017 was the political earthquake that changed Westchester and Yonkers. That election saw County Executive Rob Astorino lose is seat to democrat George Latimer, and in Yonkers, Council President Liam McLaughlin lost to democrat Mike Khader. “Those two losses for republicans, Liam in Yonkers and Astorino countywide, put a dagger in our party,” said one republican.
And while the debate continues on whether Trump is hurting republican candidates in local elections (this reporter believes so), the tone of the Republican party in New York State, post President Trump, has changed. When he made his announcement, Rubbo shared with us a post that he found on Facebook from the New York Young Republican Club, which touts itself as the oldest young republican club in the United States.
The Sept. 2 post, to celebrate Labor Day, said: “Labor Day is a fake communist holiday and Trump is still your President. #LaborDay #MAGA #Trump – with Angela Van Buuren, Matthew Wilson, Evelyn Murray, Hilary Lo, Charles Charlii Sebunya, Matthew Tyrmand and Gavin Wax.” We included the names of the young republicans tagged in the post to show that it’s not fake, these are real New York Young Republicans who are fervent supporters of Trump, but who also embrace with this post – the worst of our national political dialogue.
In an interview with Yonkers Rising, Rubbo said, “If a single image could explain why I am leaving the republican party…” it would be that post. He also said he verified that the post was real and was true.
Other comments about the post included, “What a disgrace of an organization you are.”
And from Westchester republican Assemblyman Kevin Byrne: ‘This post is an embarrassment to hard-working Republicans everywhere (both union and non-union). It’s a national holiday, and it was just celebrated by the president yesterday. This post does not speak for me, and it most certainly does not speak for all Republicans (young or old).”
Byrne’s response drew the following comments from the NYYRC. “This was a tongue-in-cheek joke and entirely sarcastic and is not a statement on unions or the working class. If it came across otherwise to some people then we apologize but that was not the intention.”
But that is exactly how the post was being viewed by the former Republicans, Independents, swing voters and “never Trumpers,” who don’t appreciate or agree with some of the president’s behaviors and comments or tweets. The famous saying, “I didn’t leave the republican party, the republican party left me,” applies now to Rubbo.
The other interesting tidbit about the NY Young Republican Club is that it touts itself as the oldest Young Republican Club in the United States. Its website states: “The club’s first public activity was a dinner held in December 1911. The guest of honor was the president of the United States, William Howard Taft, and the principal speaker was U.S. Sen. William E. Borah. This auspicious debut was attended by the leading politicians and officeholders of the day and was well publicized… Since that day, the purposes of the club have not changed.”
We beg to differ from the last line of this historical account of the club, based on its recent Facebook post. While they tried to explain their comment, they did not delete the post, it remains up for all to see.
In Yonkers, the response from Spano was positive, as was the response from Yonkers Democratic Chairman Tom Meier, who said: “John is a middle-of-the-road guy. The Democratic Party is a big tent party, we welcome everyone, and that’s what makes us the permanent majority party in Yonkers. John Rubbo will be a fine addition to the democratic party in Yonkers. I welcome him to our party.”
But the democratic members of the Yonkers City Council were less than enthusiastic about Rubbo’s switch.
“As a proud Democrat, I believe that Councilman Rubbo needs to show us that this conversion is made out of alignment with key Democratic values, not political expediency,” said Council President Mike Khader. “I cannot disregard his voting record over the last two years, in which he has voted against almost every piece of progressive Democratic legislation placed before the Council.”
“When Democrats on the City Council fought for immigrants’ rights and driver’s licenses, Councilman Rubbo stood with his Republican colleagues and voted ‘no,’” added Councilwoman Corazon Pineda-Isaac. “When the Democrats on the City Council stood up for the women of New York State and voted for a resolution in support of the Reproductive Care Act, Councilman Rubbo stood with his Republican colleagues and voted ‘no.’ Like his fellow Republicans, Councilman Rubbo has remained silent with respect to the never-ending unpresidential behavior of Donald Trump.”
Many Trump voters will not tell the pollsters, or sometimes even members of their own family, that they support the president. Because of that silent Trump support, the same swing states that Trump narrowly won in 2016 – Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania – are still states that Trump can still win, and in doing so win re-election in 2020.
But these same Midwest states also have union members, or former union households, or have a family member or friend who is a union member, that voted for Trump in 2016. Those voters would certainly not support the Labor Day statement from the NY Young Republican Club, which reminds us of the need for another alternative in our current two-party system.
The Serve American Movement Party is open for business at joinsam.org.
