I Have Seen Andrew Yang and His Teams Work Up Close. This Is My Cautionary Tale for NYC.
What voters should know and journalists should examine.
--
Dear New York City,
My name is Andrew and I live in Western Wisconsin, about 1,000 miles away from New York City.
If you think it’s weird that a guy like me is getting involved in your mayoral race in any way, don’t worry, I agree.
I am not a New Yorker, and I am not going to tell you who to vote for or not vote for in your mayoral election.
However, I do know a bit more than the average person does about your leading candidate for mayor, Andrew Yang, and I feel a responsibility to let you know what I know and ask that you consider the concerns I have and which have yet to be raised anywhere else.
Even though I am not a New Yorker, I am aware that the triumphs and tribulations of New York City have ramifications far beyond the lines on a map that define the boundaries of your great city. And after spending more than a decade of my life in progressive Democratic politics, I am keenly aware of the political truism that elections have consequences.
And by all accounts, NYC is at one of the most significant inflection points in its history — making the city’s always consequential choice for mayor, more consequential than ever.
For those reasons, before you choose your next mayor, I want to inform you what I know about Andrew Yang, the people he tends to surround himself with, the concerns I have, the patterns I have seen, and the unanswered questions I would encourage you to ask.
To be clear, I know little about the other candidates. I just know that there are numerous and many of them seem superbly qualified and capable. And in fairness to Yang, I doubt that any of the other candidates are flawless either and they should also be fully vetted.
Like Yang, I am a husband, a father, and a patriot who wants what is best for our country. We all know that the better New York does, the better our country does. And for New York to do its best, it deserves the best mayor possible. I have always believed, and still do, that the more informed electorates are, the better…