Marxists and fascists cross accusations in New York

It dawns in New York with a very reddish sky.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
08 November 2022 Tuesday 15:30
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Marxists and fascists cross accusations in New York

It dawns in New York with a very reddish sky. Perhaps it is only the reflection of the tail of the lunar eclipse, of the so-called "blood moon".

For the doomsayers, however, it allows them to interpret this phenomenon as the omen of what is approaching on this mid-term election day in the United States. That color would be the reflection of "the red wave" that is forecast in this country.

Do not get confused: the reds are the conservatives, who start as big favorites. So much so that even in New York, liberal city if any, the Democrats have gotten on their nerves. They fear that Lee Zeldin, 42, a replicator of Donald Trump, one of the least loved characters in the Big Apple, will unseat Kathy Hochul, 64, from the government of the "imperial state."

Recently there was no contest for the huge advantage of the Democrat. But this Tuesday, despite the fact that the polls maintain the leadership of the progressive, the reduction of the hole offers room for surprise.

The struggle between Hochul and Zeldin summarizes the diagnosis of the division of the country and is expressed in full light in Verdi Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Here, in front of one of the subway entrances, the two irreconcilable faces of the country coincide. Debora Cooper hands out pro-Hochul pamphlets, "in defense of decency, safety and democracy." Eli Offenbach offers Zeldin pamphlets to "secure our streets, protect your wallet, and fight for our children."

They agree to speak, as long as it is at the same time, taking turns. A commendable gesture, more than anything because it gives the feeling of denying that there is no way to dialogue.

Open Cooper. “We have to save democracy. The Republicans believe that only they can govern and that is fascism.” Describing herself as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, she accuses the Republican Party of glorifying anti-Semitism.” Offenbach shouts to the heavens: "I am an Orthodox Jew, and do you know who the Orthodox Jews of Brooklyn support? Zeldin."

The Republican candidate has made insecurity his argument. “Crime has been down in New York since the 1990s,” Cooper replies. He cuts him Offenbach. “Who got it? Giuliani,” he says. "No," she adds, "the change began with Democrat Dinkins, who hired 3,400 police officers."

There are a few thick line reproaches. Although the moderator intervenes asking for calm –“we are on the street, please”–, the issue escalates when the issue of abortion comes up, one of the relevant issues of this campaign and one that most confronts the country.

In this ungovernable situation, the journalist opts for withdrawal, although Offenbach insists that he does not like Trump, that "he is a loudmouth", but endorses the lie of electoral theft and praises that with him there was no inflation. "People don't go by subway out of fear," he stresses. When asked if he is one, he replies that “I have been cycling for decades”.

Thus begins a visit to various polling stations in Manhattan, from which the conclusion is drawn that, if it were for the city (despite Staten Island), Hochul would have it won. But since there is deep New York (Upsate, or north and northwest of the metropolitan area), it is necessary to see if what he gains in one place compensates for the loss in the other, according to Democratic expert Philip Greenwald.

“Normally the state of New York is Democratic. I had never worried, but this time the Republican seems to be close, someone who is against women's rights, reproductive rights, who is in favor of weapons, ”says Elana, 32, after voting east of 33rd Street. Her three-month-old daughter Phoebe sleeps peacefully in the backpack on her chest.

Five other New Yorkers express themselves almost identically to Elana at that same school. And in two others. Among those who agree to answer, there is no way to find a pro Zeldin. Except once back in the Upper West. On 85th Street, Eugene Honeycutt expresses the theory that Joe Biden is not president. “I think – he maintains – that there is a group of Marxists that is the one that governs”.