What's the local election?

I believe the challenger to Ed Towns you're mentioning is Kevin Powell.

Towns is your prototypical "establishment" Democratic who's deeply involved in anti-progressive beltway b.s. As Kos writes below, is he the worst Democrat in congress? Not by a long shot. Does he do a pretty mediocre job of representing the third most democratic district in the country? Yes.

Powell is an activist and writer (and former contestant on MTVs Real World). His big red flag is that for a period of time in the late 80s he abused women. And I understand how that will automatically disqualify him to some people. But he's sought redemption and has dedicated himself for a long time to being a much better human being. Here's what he says on that topic in an open letter to Ed Towns:

I was born and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey, to a young single Black mother, who was never married to my father. Indeed, my father so emotionally devastated my mother by his irresponsibility, absence, and neglect, that my mother turned that hurt on me, her only child. Yes, like many young people in your district, Mr. Towns, I was a victim of all manner of violence as a child, including physical and mental abuse. I strongly recommend that you Google my poem "Son2Mother" to get the full picture of what an inner city child like me, born on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, had to live through in terms of violence and low self-esteem, and feelings of worthlessness.

In spite of all the above, Congressman Towns, I was able to get a decent public school education, enough for me to see some glimmer of hope out of the poverty and misery of my youth. That is why public school education matters so much to me today....

...As I have done in my speeches all across America, in several of my eight books, in essays in Essence magazine in 1992 and in Ms. magazine in 2001, on the website huffingtonpost.com in 2008 (see my essay "Ending Violence Against Women and Girls"), I have always spoken publicly, locally, nationally, and in all forms of media, about my life's journey and my personal challenges. I have nothing to hide. Nothing. My life is an open book, a testimony of the possibilities of personal growth and redemption and change if one is willing to do the hard work.

So once again, for the record -- yes, between the years of 1987 and 1991, I did have a pattern of violence against women. And, it took me even longer to control my temper and aggression toward other males. But thanks to years of therapy, spiritual development, and personal evolution, and the support and encouragement of women like bell hooks, Susan Taylor, Pearl Cleage, Dr. Johnetta Cole, and Gloria Steinem, I have moved beyond that destructive behavior to become a pro-feminist, anti-sexist man committed to gender equality and nonviolent conflict resolution. I have worked alongside males like Michael Kimmel, Byron Hurt, Jelani Cobb, and Charles Knight, in trying to craft new ideas of American manhood not rooted in domination, violence, homophobia, fear, and confusion.

Here's a post by Kos talking about Kevin Powell (and a fundraiser put on for him by Dave Chapelle).

Here's a post on Open Left introducing Kevin Powell.

Here's a fundraiser for Towns employing the full power of conservative Democrats and Republicans.

Here are some lovely dirty politics being employed by our Mr. Towns.

Personally I don't know enough about Powell to say yet if I'd vote for him. But I've been sour on Towns for a while now.

Yeah, he faces an uphill battle for sure. But in recent elections mediocre capitulating Democrats like Towns (and Wynn down in Maryland who lost to Donna Edwards) can no longer assume victory. Hopefully we continue to put more progressive Democrats in the house.

A man that can admit his past discretions and faults and will speak about them is pretty impressive to me. How many politicians have lied to us about things, only to find out the truth?

I don't excuse anything that he did, but I can forgive...

I am a father (little girl), brother (3 sisters), & a son (single mom raised us). Violence against women is just wrong...violence is wrong!

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out!

If he took a bite out of a guy in a nightclub in 2004, as reported, it wasnt during his teenage years. He's what, 40 now? So he did a Mike Tyson when he was 36! He still sounds like someone in need of help. More power to him, but as inactive as some say Towns has been, at least he has used his teeth on food, and not people. Lets get a better candidate to face Towns in 2010. Powell is not the one..

Powell would certainly be an interesting change of pace, and he's worth a look. Still, we could do a lot worse than Ed Towns.

Kevin Powell is a joke. He has no real track record in the community other than giving speeches and appearing at forums. I'm totally unimpressed with Ed Towns also...lazy and very poor consituent services. Would love to get a good candidate to run against him next time. Kevin Powell is too tainted to win plus the fact that he has barely raised any funds.

Here's a NY Daily News article regarding Powell's past:

Chris Rock, Dave Chapelle and other stars come out for a bully
Saturday, July 19th 2008, 11:55 AM

When conservatives accuse liberals of defining deviancy down and excusing unacceptable behavior, they are talking about situations like the case of Kevin Powell, an author and community activist currently mounting a long-shot bid to unseat Congressman Ed Towns in Brooklyn's 10th District.

As I wrote in 2006, Powell has a long history of directing physical violence at innocent people - yet big-name left-wingers like Gloria Steinem, Dave Chappelle and George Soros are going ga ga over him.

When I interviewed Powell last week, he gave the same response as last time: that he's really, really sorry for his thuggery and has put it behind him with the help of therapy and an analysis of the social roots of violent behavior.

He says this eloquently and with conviction. I don't buy it.

While Powell attempts to make his violence sound like a long-ago nightmare, the truth is that he has repeatedly hit, beaten and (yes) bitten people - mostly people smaller and weaker than him - in incidents documented over a 17-year period.

In the mid-1980s, according to Powell's account in his book "Who's Gonna Take the Weight," he was a "student leader pimp" at Rutgers University who mistreated women - including physically - and was eventually expelled after brandishing a knife during an argument with another student ("My intent was to scare her into submission," he says in the book).

According to a 2003 article in Newsday by Katti Gray, there was at least one other time Powell menaced a woman with a knife at Rutgers.

The pattern continued after Powell's expulsion, when he ended up on the MTV show "The Real World" in 1992, and another cast member accused him of brandishing a heavy candlestick and threatening to break all her fingers.

In 1996, Powell got fired from his job as a writer at Vibe magazine after an outburst in which he had to be physically restrained. Five years later, in 2001, he got arrested for attacking Brooklyn writer Knox Robinson (Powell believed he'd been misquoted).

And in 2004, according to an item in the New York Post, Powell "sucker-punched" a writer named Bart Graham in the course of an argument. "After security pulled me off, he crawled over and bit me in the shin," Graham told the Post. That was four years ago.

On page 65 of his book, Powell compares himself to "a recovering alcoholic or a crack fiend who has righted her or his ways," and warns that "I can lapse at any time."

At any time?

A rational, reasonable reading of Powell's rap sheet leads to the conclusion that he lacks the stability and self-control required of a member of Congress.

Yet he has been embraced and endorsed by an A-list of Hollywood celebrities and liberal establishment figures - people who, in my opinion, are either completely out of their minds or surprisingly careless about extending their names, reputations and money to an ambitious pol with a dubious past.

Especially those who consider themselves heroes of women.

There's billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who donated $500 to the Powell campaign; feminist icons Gloria Steinem and Susan Taylor, whose names appear on a support group called Women for Kevin Powell; and comedians Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock.

Some of Powell's support stems from a desire to hit back at incumbent Rep. Towns, who has angered liberals and unions by supporting free-trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA and endorsing Rudy Giuliani for reelection in 1997.

But liberal reformers should realize they only hurt their cause and make themselves look ridiculous by failing to take a stand and acknowledge that the violent personal conduct makes an otherwise attractive pol completely unfit for office.

[email protected]

NY Daily News wrote:
This article starts off making strong points that clearly Powell still has violence issues and he is far from achieving "redemption", however this article then devolved into worthless self-righteous Republican lecturing.

True. But, it also gives you more info on Powell, which is what you were looking for. I think the Brooklyn Paper website now has audio of interviews they recently did with Towns and Powell. I have not listened to them yet, but you can check them out and let us know what you think.

Powell's campaign is in a shambles. Seems he has some explaining to do to the Federal Election Commission: http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?_28039812601+0

For those who are interested, I received my palm card from Lambda Independent Democrats (the Brooklyn Gay and Lesbian club). They make no endorsement in the Towns/Powell race, endorse Steve Harrison in the 13th Congressional District, Martin Connor in the 25th Senate District.

Of more interest may be their endorsement of William Saunders as male district leader in the 57th Assembly District. I recently received a mailing of his opponent Mosley showing his endorsements from Jeffries.

Also they endorse Devin Cohen for civil court in the firt Judicial district. This is over Adler who evidently has spearheaded much activity against equal marriage rights for all.

Putnam-denizen wrote:
Also they endorse Devin Cohen for civil court in the firt Judicial district. This is over Adler who evidently has spearheaded much activity against equal marriage rights for all.

Adler was Clarence Norman's lawyer fer pete's sake!
I'm voting for Devin Cohen.

And I wish someone who wasn't a biter would run against Towns.