President vs. NYC

Donna Lieberman Executive director, New York Civil Liberties Union; “staunch civil libertarian”

Joan Malin President and CEO, Planned Parenthood of NYC Action Fund, a nonpartisan, nonprofit political arm of PPNYC

Lynn Krogh President, New York Young Republican Club; “conservative libertarian”

Gregory Wright Chairman, Log Cabin Republicans, NYC caucus

John Carney Editor in Chief, Dealbreaker; “reactionary libertarian”

Christine Quinn City Council Speaker, Democrat

Amy Goodman Host, executive producer of the radio and television news program Democracy Now!; “independent journalist”

New Yorkers have so many reasons to dislike Dubya, he might as well be pitching for the Red Sox.

Dubya—good or bad for NYC?

Christine Quinn: There’s too long a list. We start almost every City Council meeting by reading the bios of any servicemen or -women from the five boroughs who died in Iraq or Afghanistan since the prior meeting. Also, our public-housing authority is in terrible economic distress: This year we had to allocate $18 million of taxpayer money to help stabilize the budget; two years ago it was $120 million. That’s money that should be coming from the federal government.

Donna Lieberman: New Yorkers have so many reasons to dislike Dubya, he might as well be pitching for the Red Sox. His administration is responsible for rounding up and detaining thousands of immigrants, detaining them under inhumane conditions, denying them due process, and in the process destroying untold numbers of hardworking New York families. And his national-security surveillance program threatened the Constitutional rights of all Americans but is especially likely to impact the many journalists and organizations based in NYC.

Gregory Wright: The Federal Marriage Amendment was a policy that could have affected New York City—in fact, just the idea of limiting marriage to two opposite-sex people shaped policies and amendments across the nation and put cities like NYC on a fast track to defending its policies. Many states at that time also took up the gay-marriage issue, to either amend their constitution or pass laws that would prevent same-sex marriage. A positive move from Bush was the recent overturning of the ban on HIV-positive tourists and their entry into the USA, a move that he previously had indicated he would not support. [The administration] also increased funding for AIDS/HIV treatment and prevention.

John Carney: Let’s start with the “better.” Bush’s capital-gains tax cuts helped New York City’s economy, bolstering the gains of investors and bringing more business to Wall Street. Now for the “worse.” The calamity we’re seeing on Wall Street can largely be laid at the feet of George W. Bush. New York will suffer for years thanks to this government-built catastrophe.

Lynn Krogh: On September 12, 2001, it seemed inevitable that there would be further attacks on New York City in the near future. It’s now been almost seven years and though we remain one of the most coveted targets of terrorists, there haven’t been any attacks. The Bush administration put a strong homeland security policy in place that has protected this city and kept us safe from our enemies.

Amy Goodman: With the September 11 attacks, the administration immediately lied about the health safety of lower Manhattan. And the war has a devastating effect on the city every which way, from the financing of it to the lack of financing of the public sector—mass transportation, education, alternative energy. Not to mention the kind of recruiting that’s been done, reaching poorer people and people of color; the devastation of South Asian, Arab and Muslim communities. Look, for example, at Brooklyn and the Pakistani community and how it was decimated—the number of people who have been rounded up, the number of people who have been deported.

NEXT: McCain: What are New Yorkers in for? And Obama? »

Follow our conventional wisdom and check out these election-related happenings.

• Head to an exhibit of election ephemera, such as “If Elected: The Game of American Politics” at the New-York Historical Society (through January 20), or “Campaigning for President: New York and the American Election” at the Museum of the City of New York (through November 4).
• On September 18, Citizen Joe (citizenjoe.org) hosts “This is Your Brain on Politics,” a discussion of the subconscious factors that guide voting habits.

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