Despite Critics, Independence Party Gaining Power

NY1News/December 18, 2003

A liberal U.S. senator, a Democratic-turned-Republican mayor and a conservative state Senate majority leader - they are from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but they have one thing in common: all three are courting the Independence Party.

Charles Schumer, Michael Bloomberg and Joe Bruno were all at a fundraiser in Chelsea Monday night for the party, which was inspired by former presidential candidate Ross Perot but has changed since it got ballot status in 1994.

Now, there are defectors and critics who charge the party has turned into a political machine for one of its leaders, Lenora Fulani. Fulani has been called anti-Semitic by the Anti-Defamation League and others.

In a 1988 press release, when Fulani ran for president under the new Alliance Party, she wrote "I do not believe it is insignificant that a slumlord is Jewish." And in 1993 she aligned herself with Yasser Arafat, writing about a "powerful Zionist lobby" that portrays Palestinians as ugly and filthy.

But asked about her views Monday night, Fulani says she has nothing against Jews.

"They are wrong; I am not," she said of critics who charge she is anti-Semitic. "What I am is independent. What I've done for years is to work in this city and throughout the country with everybody."

Critics charge Fulani has been taken control of the Independence Party with her strong Manhattan base. Likening it to a cult Michael Niebauer says the party he helped build with former gubernatorial candidate Tom Golisano is long gone.

"The state chairman, Frank MacKay, is a puppet of Lenora Fulani," said Niebauer, who is part of the Save the Independence Party Coalition. "Any legitimate grassroots Independence Party member, like myself, is challenged the party state committee, the governing body. Our designating petitions are challenged, and we're knocked off the ballot, or they put up another candidate to run against us."

But party officials say they're filling a much-needed void for thousands of people who don't believe in the traditional two-party system. And they say Fulani is not the all-controlling powerbroker her critics make her out to be.

"This notion that she has somehow taken over the party or controls the party is a ridiculous notion," said party member Jackie Salit. "People who say that have no idea how the party works. They have no idea what the party has done."

There are 270,000 Impendence Party voters statewide, including 80,000 in the five boroughs. That's enough to give candidates an edge in tight races.

Independence Party officials credit themselves with putting Bloomberg over the top in 2001. Bloomberg accepted the party's endorsement even though Fulani made remarks after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that were considered anti-American.

The mayor continued to distance himself from Fulani at Monday's fundraiser. One of Bloomberg's press aides tried to block NY1's camera from getting shots of the mayor at the event.

The mayor's spokesperson called the incident unintentional.

But not all candidates want to be aligned with the Independence Party. Hillary Clinton didn't want its support when she ran for the Senate in 2000 because Pat Buchanan received its endorsement when he ran for president that year.

But the reality is that the Independence Party voters are out there, and they can be a powerful force in deciding who ends up in the winner's circle, even though they may not know exactly what the party stands for.

"If you can get the validation of the Independence Party," said Josh Isay, a Democratic political consultant, "then to those voters - the McCain voters, the Perot voters - you are seen as an acceptable choice."

For the Independence Party, the goal is to convince more New Yorkers they it is a real player in politics, despite the critics who say this party is far from independent.