Capital New York - Nader Stumps for Hawkins

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By Will Brunelle

Calling for New Yorkers to reclaim their state from a "grotesque" two-party system that serves politicians and their "corporate paymasters," Ralph Nader endorsed Green Party gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins at a Sunday evening event in Albany.

In an hour-long address, Nader called on listeners to back both Hawkins and the Green Party's candidate for Congress in New York's 21st district, baker Matt Funiciello. Both candidates are currently polling just above 10 percent, according to two Siena polls released this week, and Nader said they're the best option for breaking the grip of the two-party system.

"The first step of democracy is to believe it's easier than you think," Nader said. He emphasized that, historically, major political movements and major policy changes in the United States have originated with the efforts of a small group of individuals. The second step, Nader said, is getting voters to turn out at the polls.

"Showing up is half of democracy," he said, pulling a $2 bill out of his pocket. He indicated to the crowd the picture on the back, of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. "When they signed that ... they felt they were signing their death warrant," he said, adding, "This was a very courageous thing. They showed up."

Nader also told the audience to demand debates for the gubernatorial election. (Governor Andrew Cuomo resisted a call to debate before last week's primary, but said this weekend he expects there to be debates before the general election.)

Nader concluded his speech with an auction of sorts, urging attendees to donate to Hawkins by slowly lowering the suggested donation amount from $2600, Hawkins' self-imposed limit, until more and more people volunteered to contribute. In all, more than $5,000 was pledged.

Both Hawkins and Funiciello also spoke at the event, touting their platforms as bipartisan. Hawkins focused his remarks on the "revitalization" of the public sector, outlining his "Green New Deal" as an injection of streamlined, focused government spending on job creation and public education.

"These are economic human rights," Hawkins said, recalling the era of the Civil Rights Movement. "How are we going to use our civil rights if we don't have the economic means?"

Hawkins advocated for what he calls "majoritarian" policies, which can be agreed upon by voters regardless of their political affiliations.

Hawkins took a few shots at Cuomo during his speech, referring to him as "Governor One Percent" and himself as "Candidate 99 Percent." He spoke optimistically about the potential for gubernatorial debates, and about his inclusion in them. (In an interview on Friday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino said that Hawkins had drawn enough attention, and polls well enough, to potentially merit inclusion in a debate.)

Hawkins concluded with a call to fund clean, renewable energy, asking fellow politicians to ban hydraulic fracturing and focus more emphasis on moving New York away from the use of fossil fuel.

Funiciello's speech centered around his experience as the owner of a small bakery in his district. (Nader referred to Funiciello as "Democracy's baker" during his address).

He attacked General Electric for receiving federal loans (and paying no interest) while still closing manufacturing centers, comparing the company's behavior to his own small bread shop. At his business, Funiciello said, several employees make more than he does himself, and no one in his store has health insurance because of its prohibitively high costs.

Funiciello also remarked on federal economic and foreign policy, sarcastically thanking former President Bill Clinton for "turning our country into the Third World" by approving Republican legislation that "destroyed our manufacturing base."

The Green Party, Funiciello said, is a "positive alternative" to both the Democratic and Republican parties.

"If we're not going to have a Labor Party, the Greens are the next best thing we've got going," he said.

He concluded his speech by equating President Obama to former President George W. Bush, calling the United States' use of airstrikes against the terrorist group ISIS "un-American."

"ISIS, for real? We're going to go kill civilians and we're going to call them something out of a cartoon--from 'Archer'" Funiciello asked. ('Archer' is a cartoon on the FX network which is set at the International Secret Intelligence Service, or ISIS, for short.)

In a later interview with Capital, Funiciello advocated for an "isolationist" approach to the Middle East, and said that America should "buy oil at the prices [Middle Eastern nations] want to sell it at, and get our military bases out of the Middle East."

Funiciello said that the execution of American citizens and journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff did not constitute justification for airstrikes against ISIS, and said that the two journalists would not have been captured or killed had the United States not invaded Iraq in the first place, as they would not have been in the area, reporting on the war. (Foley and Sotloff were captured by extremist forces while covering the Syrian civil war.)

Randy Credico, a former Democratic primary challenger to Cuomo, attended the event to "publicly and physically" endorse Howie Hawkins in the race. He said he has had long conversations with Cuomo's more successful Democratic primary challenger Zephyr Teachout, along with Astorino, encouraging them to continue calling for debates to be held before Election Day.

Hawkins has appealed for support from the Democrats who voted in the primary for Teachout, who has so far declined to endorse Cuomo.

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