Fusion in Jew York

Jews had to sell their souls to acquire Israel and are required to do the dirtiest work of capitalism-to function as mass murderers of people of color-in order to keep it."

-Lenora Fulani, Nov. 16, 1989

Those words and Independence Party leader Lenora Fulani's refusal to take them back are the only reasons why I attend her press conferences along with every other pencil pusher in town. No matter what the day's topic might be, we all rush in to ask about her most famous quote.

Anti-Semite has become Lenora's unofficial middle name.

But in political circles she's as well known for her Independence Party's valuable name and ballot line-the voters who pulled the lever for Bloomberg on her line, many of whom feared their arm might fall off if they were to vote for a Republican, account for his margin of victory over Mark Green in the 2001 mayoral race.

Fulani never lets anyone forget about the 59,091 votes her party collected for Bloomberg, Hymietown's latest Hymie mayor, however WASPish he may be.

Mike hasn't either. He's donated $250,000 to the party. In 2002, he gave $50,000 to Lenora's All Stars Project-a youth theater group best known for a play about the Crown Heights riots that blames Jews for inciting blacks to attack them and climaxes with a saintly Lemrick Nelson character marrying his Jewish attorney-and tried to steer a $246,000 contract to that same non-profit this year.

The bizarre relationship between our Jewish mayor and the anti-Semitic cultist underscores what is wrong with New York's political landscape. In a word: fusion.

I remember the white kid holding up his black baseball hat with the word inscribed on it in Dr. Dre's "Dre Day" video, making it clear that white people too should get down with the gangsters, or at least buy the album. But in New York, fusion is what allows different parties to back the same candidate, meaning candidates can combine all the votes they receive on different party lines.

New York has had fusion for more than a century, and similar laws are in effect in other states-Idaho, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi, Delaware, South Carolina, South Dakota and Vermont (and then we're going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House! Yeeeeeeah!)

Ask yourself: "What's the difference between Democrats and Republicans in New York?"

The Assembly sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act is Anthony Seminerio, a Democrat who's represented Ozone Park since 1978.

Governor and Republican presidential wannabe George Pataki handed out an election-year pay raise to members of 1199 SEIU healthcare union. Thanks to that and other generous financial deals, New York State taxpayers are going to wrestle with a three to four-billion-dollar deficit next year.

Everyone here answers to the same interests.

Enter the stampede of third parties. Some of my favorites are Marijuana Reform, No to War, Better Schools (Bloomberg 2001) and Smaller Classes (Miller, 2005); no doubt Anybody but Bush and Good Things For All are coming soon. (There was an actual fusion party, by the way. It's 2001 mayoral candidate was noted gun and ferret rights activist Bernie Goetz.)

Third parties are supposed to help identify where on the political spectrum major parties really are. Their ballot lines are the closest thing we have to a parliamentary check on the tyranny of the majority. Some candidates base their careers on fusion appeal.

"Bloomberg could not have been elected with the Independence Party," said former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern, who's presently trying to revive the Liberal Party (which lost its ballot spot when Andrew Cuomo's gubernatorial bid collapsed) in its traditional, albeit unlikely place to the right of the Democratic Party. "Giuliani," Stern says, "could not have been elected without the Liberal Party."

Three-term Republican Mayor Fiorello La Guardia rode fusion tickets into office in the Tammany Hall-dominated 1930s and 40s.

In 1965, John Lindsay (the original RINO) would go so far as to tell campaign aides: "Do not become involved with other candidates or local contests." How many Republican City Council candidates are feeling déjà vu right now?

Some third parties are more consistent than others. Alex Navarro, a spokesman for the fast-growing Working Families Party (more on them another week) explained that "We'd like to move the Democratic Party a few degrees to the left. That's part of the mission? It's not clear to us that the Independence Party is an ideological party." Rather, its Gotham branch is Fulani.

Don't take Navarro's word for it, though. Independence Party State Chairman Frank MacKay agreed that "We are not a party that takes positions on social issues: We are the party of political reformists and reform."

After using her horde of Newmanite cultists to take over the once-independent Independence Party (a great name, given just how many independents there are; even our "pussy-ass liberal bullshit" letter writer this week mistakenly claimed to be a member of the Independence Party when we spoke to him on the phone), Fulani, who once upon a time used to lend her zombies to Al Sharpton when that great man needed to create the appearance of "street" support, steered the party towards such logically connected candidates as self-described liberal Bloomberg, class-act conservative Pat Buchanan (this back when Fulani's undead had infiltrated the Ross Perot-founded Reform Party) and-why not?-Democrat destroyer Ralph Nader.

No ideology. No worries.

There's a reason that we hacks continually ask Fulani about her anti-Semitism. Take her press conference last week.

At the event, Fulani listed the key political (read: racial and religious) identities of those with her, including a gaggle of Muslim and Christian preachers. I asked if there were any Jews present.

"I didn't take a poll," she told me. A few minutes later, she told another reporter that she could "give you the name of each person here."

So, no Jews.

When pressed on her famous quote, Fulani said that "My political friends and advisers told me it's impossible to have a serious dialogue and discourse in this city at this time about those issues." She declined to name these friends or advisors.

Fulani supporter Rev. Charles Norris, Sr. chimed in: "I don't know if it's the environment or if it's some of the media."

"Right. That environment," added Lenora.

She'd called the press conference to remind people-before the primary had ended-to vote for Bloomberg in the general election on the Independence Party's line.

Feel that independent spirit?

Me neither. The real independents are the city's 770,069 voters who are not registered with any party. They're larger than the Republican Party (566,782) and Independence Party (97,214) combined.

By the time you read this former Bronx President Freddy Ferrer, a three-time loser in his quests for higher office, will be slugging it out with U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner in a runoff for the Democratic Party mayoral nomination. And reporters like me will either be saying "I told you so" or finding other people to blame if I'm wrong.

A more considered analysis will be [online Wednesday]. For now, though:

This runoff may well resemble 2001, when race-baiting left Democratic whites and Hispanics sitting out the general election or voting Republican.

This year, Freddy and Rev. Al will urge Virginia, Giff and loyal Democrats to support the front-running Freddy while Weiner will keep after those Koch/Rudy outer borough homeowners.

Giff and Virginia supporters, a small but decisive bunch, will be up for grabs.

In the 2001 primary, 785,365 Dems turned out for the four candidates. In the all or nothing runoff, only 218,017. Fewer voters, bigger prize.

Giffocrats will ask whether they can work with Freddy. Virginia's paltry following will keep hearing Freddy explain, not apologize, for saying the Amadou Diallo shooting was not a crime.

And the party faithful will wait for City Comptroller Bill Thompson and Bronx Beep Adolfo Carrion to start their far more promising 2009 mayoral bids.