The Short, Unhappy Comeback of Liz Holtzman
The end—again—for now of what was once one of the New York’s most promising political careers
Wed, 02 Jun 2010 07:30:00
After Liz Holtzman finished up yet another speech at yet another Democratic political club during her brief yet frenzied run for New York attorney general, she was outside, talking with friends she has known in political circles since she first ran for district leader 40 years ago.
“So, are you running, Liz?” said Sean Coffey, who had joined the group outside and who had good reason to have a keen interest in the question. “I think you are running. It sounds like you are running.”
Everywhere Holtzman went, she was introduced as a candidate for attorney general. But she would quickly correct her introducer, saying, “I am not yet a candidate for attorney general, but I am looking seriously at this race,” before listing her reasons for running—a litany of left-wing concerns that included women’s rights, immigration, environmental regulations, etc.
The audiences were mostly small, and skewed older, but if the crowds were smaller it meant they were mostly hard-core Democratic activists, and if they were older, it meant they remembered Holtzman from the three decades she had served in public office—her eight years in Congress, two terms as Brooklyn district attorney, one term as city comptroller and two failed runs for U.S. Senate, where she became a standard bearer for the old-guard left.
But even in a political culture that has seen its share of second acts, few aspiring politicos have attempted a comeback quite as audacious as Holtzman’s. Young voters were not yet born when Holtzman last won an election, in 1989, or even when she lost the Senate primary in 1992 (before going down mired in scandal from the city comptroller’s office the following year). In the years since, she has worked for the corporate law firm Herrick Feinstein, retired a campaign debt, and served on a Congressional commission that investigated Nazi and Imperial Japan war crimes. She wrote a book in 2006 that called for the impeachment of George W. Bush, helping remind people of her role on the House Judiciary during the Watergate scandal.
Then, when Hillary Clinton gave up her Senate seat, Holtzman surprised many by putting herself forward as a possible replacement. And, as the attorney general race began to heat up, she was suddenly shocking them again, talking about her candidacy and releasing a poll showing her with a 20-point lead over presumed frontrunner Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.
She started making the rounds, chatting grudgingly with reporters, stopping by political clubs. At the beginning of May, she was up in Niagara Falls at the Democratic Rural Conference, unaccompanied by any aides and paying for her ticket to the dinner with a personal check. Perplexing the hardened political operatives working the delegates at every chance, she floated around the receptions, barely engaging conversation and greeting everyone with the same tight smile. But she did get herself someone to nominate her from the floor, and someone to second it, and even Senate President Pro Tem Malcolm Smith to prod state party executive director Charlie King into making sure she got a chance to speak.
And then, after all that, Holtzman made a short speech talking about her past and prime issues, then removed herself from nomination, stopping only to collect the handbag she had stored next to the podium during her remarks before heading out in advance of the vote.
Holtzman was not, she said, considering running for attorney general because she had some burning desire to return to public life, or because she desperately missed being a politician. She liked, she said, having time to spend with family and friends, to make her way through the stack of novels that had been growing during her twenty years as an elected official
“‘Miss’ is not exactly the right word,” she said in an interview at a Thai restaurant a few blocks from her Carrol Gardens home. She had taken the day off from politicking to stay at home and make fundraising phone calls, and was dressed in full-on weekend wear—a blue sweatshirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes.
“I think that this job is one that I have some very special qualifications for and so that’s why I am seriously considering it.”
But of course, Holtzman’s public career is so long and so varied, that she is pretty well-qualified for most political offices.
“This is a special opportunity that came up,” she said. “The way the Senate was.”
Holtzman said she had polled before for political offices during her time at the law firm, but would not say which ones. When asked what made this opportunity special, Holtzman was blunt: “The vacancy.”
The other candidates, though not yet perhaps gaining traction in Holtzman pollster Doug Schoen’s tallies, had been doing the club circuit, raising money, and gathering institutional support since late last year. Holtzman had name recognition, but no money, and no formal backing.
Throughout her short campaign, she expressed regret that the time frame was so short. “It’s very hard to do everything all at once,” she said. “It would be nothing if you had eight months to do this, but there is only one me.”
Besides Schoen, she retained Cindy Darrison to help with the fundraising, and former Mark Green campaign manager Anne Strahle to help with some of the scheduling.
But by the time Holtzman decided that it was her time, most of the top campaign talent and election lawyers were gone. The major unions and county organizations had been courted for months by the other campaigns. Her rival campaigns never took her seriously, with several operatives saying that they could not recall talking to a single major Democratic donor or state committee person who was withholding their support while Holtzman made up her mind. In the end, there were just simply not enough old-school Democratic activists left.
After she dropped out, Holtzman said that she was disappointed that things had worked out the way they had. She was, she felt, a victim of the clock.
“This is not like a fairy tale where you rub a magic lantern and things pop up,” she said. Getting in late created innumerable obstacles to putting together a winning campaign.”
And Holtzman refused to say whether there would be a political future, and what it might be.
“I haven’t given it any thought,” she said. “Jesus. I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
“So, are you running, Liz?” said Sean Coffey, who had joined the group outside and who had good reason to have a keen interest in the question. “I think you are running. It sounds like you are running.”
Everywhere Holtzman went, she was introduced as a candidate for attorney general. But she would quickly correct her introducer, saying, “I am not yet a candidate for attorney general, but I am looking seriously at this race,” before listing her reasons for running—a litany of left-wing concerns that included women’s rights, immigration, environmental regulations, etc.
The audiences were mostly small, and skewed older, but if the crowds were smaller it meant they were mostly hard-core Democratic activists, and if they were older, it meant they remembered Holtzman from the three decades she had served in public office—her eight years in Congress, two terms as Brooklyn district attorney, one term as city comptroller and two failed runs for U.S. Senate, where she became a standard bearer for the old-guard left.But even in a political culture that has seen its share of second acts, few aspiring politicos have attempted a comeback quite as audacious as Holtzman’s. Young voters were not yet born when Holtzman last won an election, in 1989, or even when she lost the Senate primary in 1992 (before going down mired in scandal from the city comptroller’s office the following year). In the years since, she has worked for the corporate law firm Herrick Feinstein, retired a campaign debt, and served on a Congressional commission that investigated Nazi and Imperial Japan war crimes. She wrote a book in 2006 that called for the impeachment of George W. Bush, helping remind people of her role on the House Judiciary during the Watergate scandal.
Then, when Hillary Clinton gave up her Senate seat, Holtzman surprised many by putting herself forward as a possible replacement. And, as the attorney general race began to heat up, she was suddenly shocking them again, talking about her candidacy and releasing a poll showing her with a 20-point lead over presumed frontrunner Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.
She started making the rounds, chatting grudgingly with reporters, stopping by political clubs. At the beginning of May, she was up in Niagara Falls at the Democratic Rural Conference, unaccompanied by any aides and paying for her ticket to the dinner with a personal check. Perplexing the hardened political operatives working the delegates at every chance, she floated around the receptions, barely engaging conversation and greeting everyone with the same tight smile. But she did get herself someone to nominate her from the floor, and someone to second it, and even Senate President Pro Tem Malcolm Smith to prod state party executive director Charlie King into making sure she got a chance to speak.
And then, after all that, Holtzman made a short speech talking about her past and prime issues, then removed herself from nomination, stopping only to collect the handbag she had stored next to the podium during her remarks before heading out in advance of the vote.
Holtzman was not, she said, considering running for attorney general because she had some burning desire to return to public life, or because she desperately missed being a politician. She liked, she said, having time to spend with family and friends, to make her way through the stack of novels that had been growing during her twenty years as an elected official
“‘Miss’ is not exactly the right word,” she said in an interview at a Thai restaurant a few blocks from her Carrol Gardens home. She had taken the day off from politicking to stay at home and make fundraising phone calls, and was dressed in full-on weekend wear—a blue sweatshirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes.
“I think that this job is one that I have some very special qualifications for and so that’s why I am seriously considering it.”
But of course, Holtzman’s public career is so long and so varied, that she is pretty well-qualified for most political offices.
“This is a special opportunity that came up,” she said. “The way the Senate was.”
Holtzman said she had polled before for political offices during her time at the law firm, but would not say which ones. When asked what made this opportunity special, Holtzman was blunt: “The vacancy.”
The other candidates, though not yet perhaps gaining traction in Holtzman pollster Doug Schoen’s tallies, had been doing the club circuit, raising money, and gathering institutional support since late last year. Holtzman had name recognition, but no money, and no formal backing.
Throughout her short campaign, she expressed regret that the time frame was so short. “It’s very hard to do everything all at once,” she said. “It would be nothing if you had eight months to do this, but there is only one me.”
Besides Schoen, she retained Cindy Darrison to help with the fundraising, and former Mark Green campaign manager Anne Strahle to help with some of the scheduling.
But by the time Holtzman decided that it was her time, most of the top campaign talent and election lawyers were gone. The major unions and county organizations had been courted for months by the other campaigns. Her rival campaigns never took her seriously, with several operatives saying that they could not recall talking to a single major Democratic donor or state committee person who was withholding their support while Holtzman made up her mind. In the end, there were just simply not enough old-school Democratic activists left.
After she dropped out, Holtzman said that she was disappointed that things had worked out the way they had. She was, she felt, a victim of the clock.
“This is not like a fairy tale where you rub a magic lantern and things pop up,” she said. Getting in late created innumerable obstacles to putting together a winning campaign.”
And Holtzman refused to say whether there would be a political future, and what it might be.
“I haven’t given it any thought,” she said. “Jesus. I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
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Liz Holtzman If the Democratic Party's choice for AG (or any other office) was based on just the individual candidates' qualification and experience, Ms. Holtzman is certainly the most qualified candidate of the lot. It might do us all a lot of good if we had a few elected officials with institutional memory. Kudos to Liz Holtzman for considering this opportunity. |
| Comment By: Inderjit Singh on June 3rd, 2010 |
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