Jeff Smith

Host

"Christie, Cuomo, & De Blasio"

Jan 29, 2014·6,291 visitors

Blake Zeff

Cohost

Stage· 315 messages

Jan 29, 2014

"Christie, Cuomo, & De Blasio: Power & Strategy in New York & National Politics"

Blake Zeff · 9:00 PM

Hi Jeff, ready when you are

Jeff Smith · 9:00 PM

Blake?

Jeff Smith · 9:01 PM

hey man

Jeff Smith · 9:01 PM

Thanks so much for joining us

Jeff Smith · 9:01 PM

Today's we're gonna be talking about 3 politicians in the context of power and political strategy

Blake Zeff · 9:02 PM

great

Jeff Smith · 9:02 PM

so let's start w Christie

Jeff Smith · 9:02 PM

first question:

Jeff Smith · 9:02 PM

does he make it thru Birdgegate? why or why not?

Blake Zeff · 9:02 PM

Ha, well that is THE question

Blake Zeff · 9:03 PM

Here's the problem for him, I think. I'd argue that "bridgegate" is bad enough. But this is far beyond bridgegate at this point.

Jeff Smith · 9:03 PM

cornelia, thanks for those questions, promise we'll get to em

Blake Zeff · 9:03 PM

There's, of course, the mayor of Hoboken's charge that he withheld Sandy $ because she wouldn't support an associate's development project

Jeff Smith · 9:03 PM

that's a lot like what i wrote in a recent politico piece - it won't be bridgegate that brings him down, but this opens the floodgates (sorry for the bad pun)

Blake Zeff · 9:03 PM

And now there's a series of old Christie-as-bully stories that are getting new life and context

Jeff Smith · 9:04 PM

gimme an example

Jeff Smith · 9:04 PM

i think a new christie as bully story just broke

Blake Zeff · 9:04 PM

So, I just saw this story before we began the chat: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/01/ousted_prosecutor_accuses_christie_administration_of_corruption_in_nj_court.html#incart_river_default

Jeff Smith · 9:04 PM

which also included his LG who was also the "enforcer" on the Hoboken story

Jeff Smith · 9:04 PM

man, that's not good

Jeff Smith · 9:04 PM

that story Blake just linked to

Blake Zeff · 9:04 PM

Here's the lede: "A veteran prosecutor ousted by Gov. Chris Christie’s administration waged a fierce battle in a state appeals court Tuesday, accusing top administration officials of corruption and asking the judges to unseal confidential documents "

Blake Zeff · 9:05 PM

I mean, people close to NJ politics tell me there are many grievances and stories like this with Christie that date back to even before he was governor

Jeff Smith · 9:05 PM

involves possible Christie admin interference in a corruption case againat a sheriff who was a big christie supporter

Jeff Smith · 9:05 PM

live by the sword, die byt he sword i guess

Blake Zeff · 9:05 PM

Given the national attention that "Bridgegate" and Hoboken have created, all those old stories will get new attention, credence, and scrutiny

Jeff Smith · 9:05 PM

and they are, every day

Jeff Smith · 9:06 PM

question blake

Blake Zeff · 9:06 PM

And so that's a big problem

Blake Zeff · 9:06 PM

sure

Jeff Smith · 9:06 PM

when you were in college, did you ever find a roach in your kitchen?

Blake Zeff · 9:06 PM

Sounds familiar. How did you know!

Jeff Smith · 9:06 PM

lol

Jeff Smith · 9:06 PM

and do you think there was just one?

Blake Zeff · 9:07 PM

Ha, no. Like Christie stories and investigations, there is something called infestation.

Jeff Smith · 9:07 PM

yep

Blake Zeff · 9:07 PM

And so this ties into what I was saying before

Blake Zeff · 9:07 PM

There will be many stories of old that now will be revived

Blake Zeff · 9:07 PM

and it also ties into what you wrote in Politico

Jeff Smith · 9:07 PM

and that's what it's starting to sound like: this mentality of "the law doesn't apply to us" seems to have pervaded the admin

Blake Zeff · 9:07 PM

which is that investigations may start one place but lead in many other directions

Jeff Smith · 9:07 PM

★ Spotlighted from Barbara Adams

“Does it not strain credulity to think that Christie did not know about Bridgegate in September 2013?”

Jeff Smith · 9:08 PM

yep - as i wrote in that piece, al capone wasn't indicted for bootlegging, bribery, or murder, but for tax evasion

Blake Zeff · 9:08 PM

To Barbara's question.... I worked in a number of govt and political offices

Jeff Smith · 9:08 PM

once the Feds start looking, they're liable to find *something*

Jeff Smith · 9:08 PM

as a good friend of mine likes to say, "no man's life can withstand a FULL investigation"

Blake Zeff · 9:08 PM

And find it really hard to believe that a) there was a culture in this office where people felt bridgegate was "OK"

Blake Zeff · 9:09 PM

and/or b) Christie was so incompetent, incurious, and disrespected by his staff that he couldn't possibly have known something was up until those emails were published a few weeks ago

Blake Zeff · 9:09 PM

either way, it's not a good reflection of that operation, to say the least

Jeff Smith · 9:09 PM

my sense is that he knew well before the press conference, but not in september

Blake Zeff · 9:10 PM

And the more of these stories that come out, the more it's clear that this was precisely the kind of culture and operation he was running for a long time

Blake Zeff · 9:10 PM

One other point, that Jeff can probably speak to better than I

Jeff Smith · 9:10 PM

there is one really bad fact for him, as a lawyer would say, in terms of him maintaining he didn't know until the presser

Blake Zeff · 9:10 PM

go ahead, Jeff

Jeff Smith · 9:10 PM

the phone call to cuomo

Blake Zeff · 9:10 PM

Well, Cuomo's role in all this is also fascinating

Jeff Smith · 9:10 PM

which the WSJ reported and stood by in the face of cuom's denial

Jeff Smith · 9:10 PM

totaly

Blake Zeff · 9:11 PM

One last point on Christie before I say something about Cuomo

Jeff Smith · 9:11 PM

why is he calling cuomo to get cuomo to call the dogs off of the internal port authority investigation?

Blake Zeff · 9:11 PM

The subpoenas are due in the next 2 weeks or so

Jeff Smith · 9:11 PM

yes, sorry i interrupted

Blake Zeff · 9:11 PM

that means we may be seeing a fresh new round of stories and revelations around that time

Blake Zeff · 9:11 PM

It may be that these panels are leak-free, which would help Christie

Blake Zeff · 9:11 PM

but if not, more and more drips and drops may still be coming out

Jeff Smith · 9:12 PM

here's the problem as i see it

Blake Zeff · 9:12 PM

It may be very hard for him to continue to stay on as head of the Republican Governors Association

Jeff Smith · 9:12 PM

so as a few astute Tawkers may know

Blake Zeff · 9:12 PM

and if he drops out of that, then he's got big problems from a '16 perspective

Blake Zeff · 9:13 PM

go ahead

Jeff Smith · 9:13 PM

my best pal wore a wire on me for a couple months about 5 years ago and the outcome wasn't good. so that may color my opnion. but i gotta think that somebody here with some dirt is gonna wanna stay outta prison badly enough to talk

Blake Zeff · 9:13 PM

Well, that's certainly the investigators' hope

Blake Zeff · 9:13 PM

They will scare the you know what out of people like David Wildstein and Bridget Kelly

Jeff Smith · 9:13 PM

brudget kelly, she of the "time for some traffic in ft lee" email, is a dingle mom with 4 young kids

Blake Zeff · 9:13 PM

in the hopes of getting them to give up the big fish

Jeff Smith · 9:13 PM

not to be glib about it, but those kids won't raise themselves

Blake Zeff · 9:14 PM

I think that's certainly the approach investigators will take

Jeff Smith · 9:14 PM

and given the blood in the water around christie, how much confience can she have that ifg she stays loyal to him and doesn't talk, her kids will be taken care of?

Blake Zeff · 9:14 PM

and don't forget, Wildstein seemed to float the idea of immunity in his appearance before the legislative panel

Jeff Smith · 9:14 PM

if there were no media stories out there and the feds approached her, and he were still riding high after his landslide win, easier for her to keep quiet and assume he'll be there to help her put her life back together

Blake Zeff · 9:14 PM

I agree with you, Jeff. There are a lot more twists and turns that can happen here.

Blake Zeff · 9:15 PM

Chris Christie will be very distracted and potentially damaged over the next few months

Jeff Smith · 9:15 PM

totally

Jeff Smith · 9:15 PM

wildstein comes off like he's just itching to sing

Blake Zeff · 9:15 PM

I don't really see him as a presidential contender at all, at this point. I think he has to worry about holding onto his job right now.

Jeff Smith · 9:15 PM

and remaining a free man

Blake Zeff · 9:15 PM

And he seems to agree

Jeff Smith · 9:15 PM

so i think we're in agreement there

Blake Zeff · 9:15 PM

He told a group of donors he can't even think about 2016 for another year

Jeff Smith · 9:16 PM

a couple weeks ago on chris hayes show i said that his political and legal interests had begun to diverge

Blake Zeff · 9:16 PM

and while pols often say stuff like that for numerous reasons, I think he really means it in this case

Blake Zeff · 9:16 PM

or should

Jeff Smith · 9:16 PM

and based on his trashing of bridget kelly, he seemed to be choosing politics

Jeff Smith · 9:16 PM

but that's now changed

Jeff Smith · 9:16 PM

he now seems to have grasped the legal perils

Blake Zeff · 9:16 PM

Yes

Jeff Smith · 9:16 PM

and is making decisions differently

Blake Zeff · 9:16 PM

And if I may add one other thing

Jeff Smith · 9:16 PM

yep

Blake Zeff · 9:17 PM

This is not your run of the mill "gaffe" or "scandal" that the media likes to blow out of proportion

Blake Zeff · 9:17 PM

This isn't adultery, which is bad, but doesn't necessarily ruin the lives of constituents

Jeff Smith · 9:17 PM

★ Spotlighted from Barbara Adams

“As far as Bridget K goes, it depends on how many deep pocketed Christie supporters there are in whether she gives up anything, imo”

Jeff Smith · 9:17 PM

and thank god it's not adultery

Blake Zeff · 9:17 PM

In this case, the state government of New Jersey willfully put the lives of its residents at risk

Jeff Smith · 9:17 PM

b/c speaking coollectively for the nation

Blake Zeff · 9:17 PM

emergency assistance vehicles were delayed

Jeff Smith · 9:17 PM

i don't think any of us want that image in our heads

Blake Zeff · 9:18 PM

the search for a missing child impede

Blake Zeff · 9:18 PM

impeded, that is

Blake Zeff · 9:18 PM

really serious stuff

Jeff Smith · 9:18 PM

yes. the stakes are bigger than whether rielle hunter was gonna get dave mathews to play at their wedding

Blake Zeff · 9:18 PM

That's exactly right

Blake Zeff · 9:18 PM

or Anthony Weiner's dumb tweets

Jeff Smith · 9:18 PM

with bunny mellon's funny money

Jeff Smith · 9:18 PM

yep yep

Jeff Smith · 9:19 PM

ok. so barb adams makes a great pt

Jeff Smith · 9:19 PM

about christie's ricvh suporters

Jeff Smith · 9:19 PM

u see that comment?

Jeff Smith · 9:19 PM

and here's the issue tho:

Blake Zeff · 9:19 PM

That is a good point

Jeff Smith · 9:19 PM

christie can't tell anybody to do anything

Blake Zeff · 9:19 PM

Correct

Jeff Smith · 9:19 PM

almost every time he breathes right now he's risking an obstruction charge

Blake Zeff · 9:20 PM

Based on your experience, what kind of surveillance do you think is taking place right now? And by/of whom?

Jeff Smith · 9:20 PM

and so he has to hope that somebody's gonna take that kind of initiative which also potentially could put them at risk of tampering with a witness

Jeff Smith · 9:20 PM

oh shit blake

Jeff Smith · 9:20 PM

based on my experience everyone impt is being surveilled here, and maybe their families too

Jeff Smith · 9:20 PM

if the NSA didn't teach us that, what will?

Jeff Smith · 9:20 PM

these people have a lot of tools at their disposal

Blake Zeff · 9:21 PM

so the Governor's phone is being tapped? what exactly do you mean?

Jeff Smith · 9:21 PM

no one knows that beter than former Us atty chris christie

Jeff Smith · 9:21 PM

of course i can't say if his phone is being tapped, but they sure had blago's, huh?

Jeff Smith · 9:21 PM

technology has gotten so good

Blake Zeff · 9:22 PM

It's kind of amazing. He is in some ways so powerless and needs to just hope that bad stuff doesn't happen now.

Jeff Smith · 9:22 PM

they prob have more tools than you or I could imagine at their disposal

Jeff Smith · 9:22 PM

yep

Jeff Smith · 9:22 PM

and so let's move to cuomo

Blake Zeff · 9:22 PM

And so he goes on with his job being governor, being the head of the RGA, being a potential presidential candidate, as if all this crap isn't on the horizon

Jeff Smith · 9:22 PM

because - how fascinating - cuomo is a possible white house rival of christie

Blake Zeff · 9:22 PM

sure

Jeff Smith · 9:22 PM

and yet he might - MIGHT - be holding the keys to christi'es freedom

Jeff Smith · 9:23 PM

i don't think that's an exaggeration...do you?

Blake Zeff · 9:23 PM

Well, so I think the Cuomo-Christie relationship is key and fascinating

Blake Zeff · 9:23 PM

Wrote about it a bit here: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/01/8539059/why-cuomo-isnt-touching-bridgegate

Blake Zeff · 9:23 PM

The gist is they have long had a de facto non-aggression pact

Blake Zeff · 9:23 PM

despite being from different parties and states

Jeff Smith · 9:23 PM

because if cuomo ends up being subponaed...

Jeff Smith · 9:23 PM

but ya know blake

Blake Zeff · 9:24 PM

yeah?

Jeff Smith · 9:24 PM

what a lot of ppl not in politics don't get

Jeff Smith · 9:24 PM

is that the easiest ppl to be pals with are pols from diff parties, and diff states

Blake Zeff · 9:24 PM

yes

Blake Zeff · 9:24 PM

but here are additional reasons why Cuomo is motivated to stay far away from this

Jeff Smith · 9:24 PM

the hardest friendships are like, say, cuomo and his Dem AG, schneidermann

Jeff Smith · 9:24 PM

when you're always competing

Blake Zeff · 9:25 PM

Oh, I worked for Chuck Schumer when his relationship with Hillary Clinton was in a "delicate" phase

Jeff Smith · 9:25 PM

as opposed to relationship b/w christie and cuomo which has been sorta symbiotic

Blake Zeff · 9:25 PM

this is when they were the two senators repping NY

Jeff Smith · 9:25 PM

yep

Jeff Smith · 9:25 PM

exactly

Blake Zeff · 9:25 PM

So, here are added reasons why Cuomo wants nothing to do with this:

Jeff Smith · 9:25 PM

so give us a few of em

Jeff Smith · 9:25 PM

and leave the biggie for last

Blake Zeff · 9:25 PM

1) Christie runs the RGA and decides which governor races the GOP will "play" in and spend $ in

Jeff Smith · 9:25 PM

and cuomo doesn't want astorino - his potential rival - well funded

Blake Zeff · 9:26 PM

When a decent candidate was rumored to be running against Cuomo, yes Astorino

Jeff Smith · 9:26 PM

so #1 is critical

Blake Zeff · 9:26 PM

and Christie was reportedly encouraging him

Blake Zeff · 9:26 PM

Cuomo was very upset

Blake Zeff · 9:26 PM

and got Christie that day to deny any interest in the race

Blake Zeff · 9:26 PM

it was kind of amazing

Jeff Smith · 9:26 PM

it really was

Blake Zeff · 9:26 PM

Makes you wonder what kind of leverage Cuomo might have over him

Jeff Smith · 9:26 PM

for an aspiring repub prez candidate

Jeff Smith · 9:26 PM

who ALREADY has trouble with the base

Blake Zeff · 9:26 PM

But at the very least, reinforces this idea of Cuomo having reason not to want to ruffle Christie's feathers

Jeff Smith · 9:26 PM

and is about to assume reins of the RGA

Jeff Smith · 9:27 PM

to then disavow any interest in taking down a leading D gov?!

Jeff Smith · 9:27 PM

that is like party heresy

Blake Zeff · 9:27 PM

Yes, it was chilling

Jeff Smith · 9:27 PM

but it shows exactly what u said

Jeff Smith · 9:27 PM

it's like when santorum endorsed specter over toomey in 09

Jeff Smith · 9:27 PM

someone asked me why

Jeff Smith · 9:27 PM

i said, "specter must have pictures" lol

Jeff Smith · 9:28 PM

★ Spotlighted from Trey Williamson

“It's always tax evasion! Why is everything else so easy to get away with, but criminals can never seem to find a good accountant!”

Blake Zeff · 9:28 PM

Of course, another reason Cuomo wants to lay low here is that the last thing he wants is for him or his aides to be subpoenaed! Sure, they're not a target here. But as all smart pols know, investigations can start one place (eg, Whitewater)

Blake Zeff · 9:28 PM

and end up another (Monica)

Jeff Smith · 9:28 PM

great point trey - tax evasion is just easier to make stick, i guess!

Blake Zeff · 9:28 PM

He doesn't want his top aides' emails subpoenaed either

Jeff Smith · 9:28 PM

hell i know that as well as anybody

Blake Zeff · 9:28 PM

right

Jeff Smith · 9:28 PM

in my case, they started out investigating a car bombing!

Blake Zeff · 9:28 PM

and I'm not saying Cuomo has anything illegal or anything he's hidingf

Blake Zeff · 9:29 PM

but he doesnt' want his internal deliberations out there. No pol would.

Blake Zeff · 9:29 PM

right

Jeff Smith · 9:29 PM

(which of course i had nothing to do with, but a guy, who had dealt with some of my campaign aides, did have something to do with)

Blake Zeff · 9:29 PM

So Andrew Cuomo has his own reasons to want to be very far away from this mess

Jeff Smith · 9:29 PM

so cuomo more broadly

Jeff Smith · 9:29 PM

how is he dealing with the NKOTB?

Blake Zeff · 9:29 PM

He hates Donnie

Jeff Smith · 9:29 PM

sorry i'm kind of an 80s kid and couldn't resist the reference

Blake Zeff · 9:29 PM

me too!

Jeff Smith · 9:29 PM

lol

Jeff Smith · 9:30 PM

but for real

Jeff Smith · 9:30 PM

are he and de blasio frenemies?

Blake Zeff · 9:30 PM

So, his relationship with de Blasio is fascinating

Blake Zeff · 9:30 PM

they claim to be close buds

Blake Zeff · 9:30 PM

haha

Blake Zeff · 9:30 PM

but BDB poses real issues for Cuomo

Jeff Smith · 9:30 PM

explain

Blake Zeff · 9:30 PM

he is suddenly a national icon when it comes to economic liberalism

Blake Zeff · 9:30 PM

by contrast, Cuomo is not at all, and this is a constant complaint of his base

Jeff Smith · 9:30 PM

cuomo, with his national aspirations, doesn't need somebody exposing his center-right fiscal ways?

Blake Zeff · 9:31 PM

and could pose problems in a natl primary, yes

Jeff Smith · 9:31 PM

talk briefly about how cuomo sabotaged senate dems

Blake Zeff · 9:31 PM

esp at a time when there's a clamor for elizabeth warren types

Jeff Smith · 9:31 PM

and explain why

Blake Zeff · 9:31 PM

Well, in NY the assembly has been controlled by dems forever

Blake Zeff · 9:31 PM

but due to weirdly drawn lines and other reasons, GOP actually controlled the senate

Blake Zeff · 9:32 PM

then suddenly, surprisingly, dems managed to win majority of seats in '12

Blake Zeff · 9:32 PM

this would be good for a true liberal who wanted a same-party legislature to get things thru

Blake Zeff · 9:32 PM

as de blasio has in NYC

Jeff Smith · 9:32 PM

(and as he picked true lib Melissa mark -viverito to be council speaker)

Blake Zeff · 9:32 PM

but cuomo quietly encouraged a faction of runaway dems to unite with the GOP state senate minority and create a new majority

Blake Zeff · 9:32 PM

that is essentially GOP controlled now

Blake Zeff · 9:33 PM

and blocks certain liberal things

Jeff Smith · 9:33 PM

so that he could look more lib by comparison against a ceter-right governing regime

Blake Zeff · 9:33 PM

this enables him to blame the rejection of liberal measures on that darn senate

Blake Zeff · 9:33 PM

not just that, jeff

Jeff Smith · 9:33 PM

and block things he thought would either hurt the state fiscally, or hurt his donor base

Blake Zeff · 9:33 PM

but when these things like public finance fail

Blake Zeff · 9:33 PM

it's that awful senate's fault

Jeff Smith · 9:33 PM

yep

Blake Zeff · 9:33 PM

right

Jeff Smith · 9:33 PM

makes perfect sense

Blake Zeff · 9:33 PM

but so de blasio poses a real threat

Jeff Smith · 9:33 PM

that damn senate!

Jeff Smith · 9:33 PM

(that he created)

Blake Zeff · 9:33 PM

because he's a truer liberal

Blake Zeff · 9:34 PM

at a time when the state and national parties want that

Jeff Smith · 9:34 PM

so my district in MO was majority

Jeff Smith · 9:34 PM

majority black

Jeff Smith · 9:34 PM

and the black newspaper had a saying

Jeff Smith · 9:34 PM

"what it is, it ain't."

Jeff Smith · 9:34 PM

that really seems to apply to everything cuomo does

Blake Zeff · 9:34 PM

Ha, yes

Blake Zeff · 9:34 PM

I am being summoned into a meeting... should we take another commenter question?

Blake Zeff · 9:35 PM

before we go?

Jeff Smith · 9:35 PM

so what is cuomo's gambit here on universal pre-K, the signature de blasio initiative?

Jeff Smith · 9:35 PM

let's close with that

Blake Zeff · 9:35 PM

Ok, cool

Blake Zeff · 9:35 PM

So BDB ran on the idea of starting universal pre-K that would be funded by a tax on the rich

Jeff Smith · 9:35 PM

this is the de blasio initiative that would mean a tax hike for the wealthy

Jeff Smith · 9:35 PM

yep

Blake Zeff · 9:35 PM

it was roundly approved and backed by nyc voters

Jeff Smith · 9:35 PM

and how did cuomo reply?

Jeff Smith · 9:35 PM

savy tactician that he is?

Blake Zeff · 9:35 PM

cuomo never likes to do anything that would cut into his wealthy donors' profits

Jeff Smith · 9:35 PM

haha

Jeff Smith · 9:36 PM

★ Spotlighted from Tesha Miller

“What kind of liberal things get blocked?”

Blake Zeff · 9:36 PM

so after withholding $ from pre-k for years

Jeff Smith · 9:36 PM

public financing for one

Blake Zeff · 9:36 PM

suddenly he found a pot of gold

Jeff Smith · 9:36 PM

the extension of the millionaire's surtax, for a second thing, tesha

Blake Zeff · 9:36 PM

and announced that he would fund pre-k for nyc... and he doesnt need new taxes on the rich to do it

Jeff Smith · 9:36 PM

will the program cuomo is seeking be as extensive?

Jeff Smith · 9:36 PM

as the one de blasio proposed?

Blake Zeff · 9:36 PM

(background: in nyc, you need the state govt to give you taxing authority of this kind)

Jeff Smith · 9:36 PM

yes i forgot to explain that, thanks - my bad

Blake Zeff · 9:37 PM

so the result is, optically it looks like BDB can do the program without having to do the tax

Jeff Smith · 9:37 PM

even tho the program cuomo proposes is, shall we say, neutered?

Blake Zeff · 9:37 PM

now BDB says that he wants a pot of $ the city can control, that the state can't just take away each year on a whim

Blake Zeff · 9:37 PM

or use as leverage

Blake Zeff · 9:37 PM

and says he needs more $ than what cuomo is offering

Blake Zeff · 9:37 PM

and so he has not backed down

Jeff Smith · 9:37 PM

de B wants a dedicated revenue stream

Jeff Smith · 9:37 PM

which makes sense

Blake Zeff · 9:37 PM

and smartly has enlisted a lot of big NYC political and business giants to publicly support the tax

Blake Zeff · 9:38 PM

so this will be an interesting showdown, for sure

Jeff Smith · 9:38 PM

i wouldn't want to give up control to cuomo either, given his traditional desire for tight reins on $ and power

Blake Zeff · 9:38 PM

right, sure

Jeff Smith · 9:38 PM

well this showdown should tell us a lot about the direction of NYC and NYS governance in the coming years

Blake Zeff · 9:38 PM

but Cuomo has all the logistical leverage (he gets to call the shots) while BDB is trying to marshall political leverage

Blake Zeff · 9:38 PM

will be very interesting and revealing, yes

Jeff Smith · 9:38 PM

(and yes, nationally business has often backed pre-K as a great long term investment - so a smart tactical move by DeB)

Jeff Smith · 9:39 PM

uphill battle for deB it seems - esp when NYT is editorializing against him

Blake Zeff · 9:39 PM

Yes, that's another thing. Cuomo a great political tactician. He's finally coming up against someone else who is.

Blake Zeff · 9:39 PM

BDB was a longtime political operative for Hillary Clinton, among others.

Jeff Smith · 9:39 PM

is deb as savvy as cuomo?

Blake Zeff · 9:39 PM

But actually the Times just came out for BDB

Blake Zeff · 9:39 PM

amazingly

Blake Zeff · 9:39 PM

they reversed themselves

Jeff Smith · 9:39 PM

really??

Jeff Smith · 9:39 PM

i missed that today

Jeff Smith · 9:39 PM

thanks for letting me know

Blake Zeff · 9:39 PM

yep, yesterday I believe

Blake Zeff · 9:39 PM

you bet

Jeff Smith · 9:39 PM

that's like unheard of

Blake Zeff · 9:40 PM

Thanks for having me for this chat!

Blake Zeff · 9:40 PM

I really enjoyed it

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

to stop on a dime like that

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

so hey Blake - I know ya gotta

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

but thanks so much for taking the time

Blake Zeff · 9:40 PM

You bet

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

u were super

Blake Zeff · 9:40 PM

Had a blast

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

went by too fast

Blake Zeff · 9:40 PM

Would love to do it again

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

we'll do it again

Blake Zeff · 9:40 PM

Thanks everyone

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

thanks agin - you rock - super insightful styuff - thanks allk for your questions

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

take iy easy blake!!

Jeff Smith · 9:40 PM

take it easy

Jeff Smith · 9:41 PM

thanks to all the tawkers and readers for joining us!

Forum · 16

Forum· 16 comments

6,291 visitors

Tawkers AdminJan 24, 2014, 5:02 PM

Welcome to the comment section of the Tawk, where audience members can share their thoughts about the main conversation happening on the left. Don't by shy! Entering questions and comments is the only way to get the attention of the two Hosts on stage!

Cornelia ElsaesserJan 29, 2014, 7:58 PM

In National Politics, why do corporations dictate so much of our politics here?

Cornelia ElsaesserJan 29, 2014, 7:58 PM

How can we separate politics from Corporative power?

Robert CruzJan 29, 2014, 8:30 PM

im waiting

Robert CruzJan 29, 2014, 9:03 PM

ok folks lets go

Barbara AdamsJan 29, 2014, 9:04 PM★ Spotlighted

Does it not strain credulity to think that Christie did not know about Bridgegate in September 2013?

Robert CruzJan 29, 2014, 9:04 PM

Jeff?? Blake??/ did you guys even show?

Robert CruzJan 29, 2014, 9:06 PM

looks like they are a noshow

Robin MaynardJan 29, 2014, 9:06 PM

robert, maybe 'reload' i see them both

Tesha MillerJan 29, 2014, 9:08 PM

Political corruptions are nothing new but Christie reads like a crime boss. Good luck trying to spin out of that tainted image.

Trey WilliamsonJan 29, 2014, 9:08 PM★ Spotlighted

It's always tax evasion! Why is everything else so easy to get away with, but criminals can never seem to find a good accountant!

Robert CruzJan 29, 2014, 9:12 PM

the power and wealth has been taken they are all in their end game now. protect each other from procicution

Barbara AdamsJan 29, 2014, 9:16 PM★ Spotlighted

As far as Bridget K goes, it depends on how many deep pocketed Christie supporters there are in whether she gives up anything, imo

Tesha MillerJan 29, 2014, 9:35 PM★ Spotlighted

What kind of liberal things get blocked?

Barbara AdamsJan 29, 2014, 9:40 PM

how do we find out when it happens again?

Carl RodyJan 30, 2014, 5:16 PM

New Jersey politics has always been a place of pond scum. What you are seeing in the national news in about the governor of that state is simply what goes on all the time. Its always been illegal and its always been wrong.