Monday: An Interview with Harriet Christian, NY Senate Seat Contender

Rumors have begun to swirl again that Paterson is about to appoint Caroline Kennedy to Hillary’s Senate seat.  The reason often cited is that Caroline, with her big, aristocratic name, will be able to raise her own funds and won’t suck up money needed for other races.  Does anyone besides me see the problem with that argument?  Ok. for the slow Obots out there, here it is: If we only appoint or nominate people with their own money, then only the rich will be able to serve in Congress.  I think one of the points of our Constitution was to prevent rule by the moneyed, aristocratic class.  Even the requirements for Senate and President are remarkably spare.  We aren’t ignoring the economic reality  of the money hunt but we would like to point out that Obama raised $600,000,000 and threatened to withhold it from many states and downticket races if the delegates wouldn’t flip for him at the convention.  Then he hogged it anyway.

So, money isn’t everything.  Dedication to public service should be at the top of the list of qualifications for any office.  We haven’t seen much in the way of that from Caroline Kennedy.  But Harriet Christian has worked tirelessly for the public for years.  She’s a waitress in Manhattan.  She was also one of our most reliable and dedicated Hillary Clinton fans.  We’d like Governor Paterson to meet with Harriet and give us commoner for the seat.

Our own Madamab had an interview with Harriet recently to talk about the Senate appointment.  Here is that interview:

Interview With Senate Hopeful Harriet Christian
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 – 3:00 pm (Transcribed from recording)

MB: What made you decide to vie for Senator Clinton’s seat? Was it 9/11?

HC:  I’m sure 9/11 has a part to play in anything anyone does today; however, primarily it was done because I thought the fact that an individual could enter a race and be given preferential treatment just because of their name made me feel that, even though I don’t have name recognition, I stood on equal standing with her. We have both never held a political office. What made her more qualified than myself?

MB: You are “as qualified as the most unqualified,” correct?

HC: Absolutely.
MB: How did you come to be involved in politics?
HC: I’ve always been a Democrat. I’ve always been active, I would say, in the peripheral sense. I’ve always been very interested in the different candidates that have run. I don’t think I’ve ever taken as active a role as I did this time. And I think that all began with the Rules and ByLaws Committee. That just opened my eyes to what was so wrong with our Democratic Party.
MB: Yours, and many others. Do you have children, and if so, how influential are they in your voting decisions?
HC: I have one daughter. I think I’m not the normal mother in the sense of, we make up our own minds. Am I taking a stance on things today just because of my daughter? Absolutely not. I’m at a point in my life where I feel it’s time to not only worry about the future, but to worry about the present.
MB: How is your voting record? Do you usually vote in primaries?

HC: I usually vote in the primaries, elections, local, city council people, whatever is up, I vote for. That’s one of the things I considered to be great about being a Democrat, is that we have the primaries. There are very few Republican primaries and there are absolutely no Independent primaries.
MB: In fact, in New York, if you are not registered as a Democrat or Republican, you cannot vote in any primaries at all.
HC: Right, and the Republican primaries are very few and far between. I felt we had an advantage as Democrats that we could vote in almost a primary a year.
MB: That was before we realized that the primaries don’t actually mean anything anymore to the Democratic Party.
HC: Well, that’s before we realized how easy it was to blatantly fix the election, or the primaries. I think we’re all adults and we all realized that there’s corruption at every level, and patronage at every level. I just had never seen it so blatant at a national level.
MB: Exactly. Now, Mayor Bloomberg is about to run for a third term, controversially. Would you support a Democratic challenger over Michael Bloomberg in the mayoral race?
HC: I definitely do not want to vote for Mayor Bloomberg, because of what he just recently did by overturning the limits. Hopefully – I will most probably vote for whomever the Democratic candidate is, unless it is somebody who is sexist, or misogynist, that it just would make me not want to vote for him. If I chose not to vote for the Democratic candidate, I would find somebody that’s running to vote for. I would not choose Bloomberg primarily because of what he did to overturn the term limits.
MB: But staying home is never an option for you.
HC: No, no. It’s my given right. I feel very privileged to have the right to vote.
MB: Would you be willing to make full financial disclosure if you were put forward as one of the candidates?
HC: Absolutely.
MB: Now I’m going to ask you some position questions. Democrats have traditional positions on these issues, and I just wanted to see what yours were. On abortion, do you agree with the “safe, legal and rare” frame?
HC: I believe in pro-choice. I am 1000% pro-choice.
MB: And what about gay marriage?
HC: To me, I would prefer to see equal rights for all. But if it’s the only way that we can attain equal rights, I’m all for gay marriage.
MB: And what about the Bush Doctrine? Basically, if you’re not with us you’re against us; it’s okay to invade a country that hasn’t attacked us – how do you feel about that?
HC: To me, it’s the most horrendous thing that occurred, when we were made to feel that if we didn’t approve of the war, that we were anti-the military, anti-the soldiers, and that could not have been further from the truth. Just because I don’t approve of the war does not mean that I do not FULLY support our soldiers.
MB: Amen. And what do you think is the best way to stimulate the economy? Do you think we should cut spending; do you feel that we should increase taxes, increase spending and increase taxes – what do you think about that?
HC: I think what’s occurred right now – and again, I’m not an economist, but I think there’s been so little common sense used. The bailouts were a big mistake, only because those bailouts were given, and there were really no guidelines as to how those bailouts were going to be used. I think like so many things in this country things are rammed down our throats. And granted, there was an urgency – but that urgency has been building for the last seven years.
MB: Yes, indeed.
HC: All of a sudden, to turn around and say it’s got to be done now, and if it’s not done now, you don’t support it – who are the bailouts for? Where is the bailout for all? I mean, do I feel that you can tax the rich and not tax the poor? Absolutely not, because you’re going to have your wealthy leaving this country. And it’s part of the basis of our economy in this country. How many more companies do we have to leave America before we realize that then we’ll have nothing? Do I believe in a program where we’re going to begin spreading wealth around? Absolutely not. And I’ll tell you, I’m at the very low end of the rung, so I can sit hear and say okay, let me wait and see what PE Obama brings in and see which one of these programs I’ll qualify for, and I could raise both hands and both feet and probably qualify for all four. But that’s not the way I’ve been raised. I’ve worked all my life, and I think there are issues that really have not been seriously thought out.
MB: I could not agree with you more on that one.
HC: Where does it stop? If retail business now, which is doing so poorly, comes and asks for a handout, why should you turn them down if you’re giving to so many others? I mean, we’re giving to the banks, and the banks aren’t making loans. We’re giving to the car companies, and I’m not anti-union, but there are union people who are still drawing from a job bank. I don’t have a job bank to draw from. I either get my ass out there and work, and find a way to meet my bills, which I’ve always done, or I’m lost. And if I can do it, as a waitress, why can’t others find a way to do it?
MB: Yup. I think common sense is sorely lacking. I agree with you. And I do think that rather than just handing big corporations hundreds of billions of dollars without any regulation, or allowing a loophole that will allow them to avoid the regulation that’s in there, whether it be the car companies or the banks, there has to be a quid pro quo. If you’re going to give money to the car companies, then they’re going to have to start making cars that people want to buy, that are also energy- efficient.
HC: And also affordable.
MB: Exactly.
HC: I mean you talk about hybrid cars, but what average person has $50-60,000 to buy these cars?
MB: Right! And you know, the hybrid cars, the ones that are affordable, are small; so if you have a family, or if you live in the Northeast, where the weather is quite a factor, you don’t want to be driving around in a teeny little hybrid without four-wheel drive. It’s just not practical.
HC: I absolutely agree with you.
MB:  So, if the free market is so wonderful, and always produces the best, the most efficient products, then why is the car industry making these outdated products?
HC: But have you noticed something? With gas prices being down – and again, I think all you have to do is use some common sense and realize that the Arab Emirates are eventually going to stop producing as much gas as they are – and gas is going to go up again – meanwhile, the car companies are pushing SUV’s again, and trucks.
MB: Why don’t they cut the prices on the hybrids?
HC: I don’t know.
MB: They should cut the prices on the hybrid SUV’s, and everybody would buy them. Because everybody knows those prices are going to go up again. It’s just that people cannot afford to buy those hybrid SUV’s.
HC: You’re 100% correct.
MB: My final question, Future Senator Christian, is: what do you think you can offer the citizens of New York as their Senator?
HC: I’m born and raised in New York. I use common sense. I believe I have more in common than – I can only single out one other nominee right now, or one other appointee that’s being considered, who I think is totally unaware of the average individual’s problems. I know I was criticized because, when I had the incident on the YouTube, and they said, Oh, you know, she’s so pro-Hillary, she only spent $250 or $300 on donations. Meanwhile, they totally excluded that I put my personal time and money into traveling to different states to help try to get her the nomination; that I went to numerous concerts and fundraisers that were given for her. Then I find out that somebody that has $100 million plus, donated a thousand dollars. Now, if I could reach deep into my pockets, where I’m sure I could have found something else to do with that money, but I felt so passionately about what was the upcoming nomination for our next president of the United States – it just flabbergasts me. Speaking to other people on a similar level as myself, maybe much more prosperous, it appears their sentiments are the same as mine. So I am definitely closer, I would think, to the people of New York, than Caroline Kennedy could ever presume to be. So why shouldn’t I give it a shot, when I am THE ordinary Democratic citizen of New York State?
MB: I see no reason why you should not be seriously considered. So, thank you very much for your time, I appreciate it; and I wish you all the best in your Senatorial campaign.
HC: Well, I want to thank you very much for taking the time to do this for me, and I truly appreciate it; and anything else I can do, you’re more than welcome to call.
MB: Thank you, Harriet.