Former/current Gang of Three member Senator Ruben Diaz must be feeling the heat from his district. For nearly two months he has subverted the new Democratic majority to achieve his own ends. Preventing gays from getting married and enjoying equal civil rights are among his priorities and in the means, he had threatened the power of his own party in the State Senate. Once the blogs, unions and his own constituents started going after him, he has decided to fight back.
From NY Politicker:
State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. sent out this open letter in response to a campaign by labor groups to try to bring him in line behind State Senator Malcolm Smith.[...]If he didn't think the efforts by NY Democrats, WFP and others was serious, Diaz wouldn't have put out this "I'm still a Democrat" response. He knows that his actions with Kruger and Espada have been detrimental to the party and the Senate. If the voters in the district fully realized what a threat he was, they would have kicked him to the curb in the primaries. Now he's doing damage control while still holding on to his anti-civil rights stance for the GLBT community."I have always been a Democrat. I am still a Democrat. And I will always be a Democrat," Diaz wrote in the two-page letter to constituents.
He said it was being released "in response to the negative campaign some special interests have begun in my community."
We'll see if it works.
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