Senior Democrat Rep. Charles Rangel is holding his 80th birthday bash at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, and the list of confirmed attendees leaves one's head scratching at the way politicians are more than willing to ignore Rangel's ethical and legal problems.
Among those who will be attending: NYS Gov. candidate Andrew Cuomo has confirmed he will attend. So too will US Senator Chuck Schumer. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Gov. David Paterson are planning to attend. Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s campaign said the event is still on his schedule.
In fact, the fact that so many top Democrats are in attendance provides an all too easy GOP advertising campaign.
Rangel's ethics mess threatens Democrats' reelection chances in November, but these New York Democrats aren't likely to lose their reelection bids, so they're all too comfortable showing up next to Rangel.
For Cuomo, this looks particularly bad since he's running on a platform to rid Albany of corruption. Yet, he's showing up to honor a guy who's been in office 40 and spent the last decade ignoring his obligations to pay his taxes, fulfilling his ethics obligations, and violating state rent control laws.
Watch for the image of Cuomo in attendance of Rangel's function working its way into attack advertisements in the Fall.
UPDATE:
Mayor Bloomberg certainly isn't going to improve his recent polls by attending Rangel's party tonight, and yet he's going.
Is there anyone among the Democrats that will stand up to Rangel and demand that their fellow Democrats stand up for proper ethics and against Rangel's corrupt and unethical behavior?
UPDATE:
Apparently Rangel's party has sold out - it's maximum capacity.
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