Stars over substance — Hochul calls in celebs in last-ditch effort to stave off Zeldin

Kathy Hochul has no enterprise being governor, and to cover that reality, she’s been trotting out celebrities to inform New Yorkers to vote for her — as if we care even a little bit who Hollywood thinks ought to run our state.

She ascended to energy after Andrew Cuomo was ousted by political rivals, and now that New Yorkers have an opportunity to get her out of Albany, that is her last-ditch effort to retain that unearned energy. 

What Hochul and her fellow Democrats overlook, nonetheless, is that New Yorkers aren’t impressed with superstar standing. They’re not swayed by bling, they don't seem to be charmed by the glitterati. Celebrities come to Gotham exactly as a result of New Yorkers don’t give them a second look — they'll stroll the streets of the best metropolis on the planet unencumbered by their fame.

That’s merely to say New Yorkers know celebs are not any completely different from the remainder of us, and their backing means little if something in any respect.

But Hochul has embraced endorsements from high-profile celebs like Cher, Amy Schumer, Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo — exhibiting she’s sadly out of contact with the town and the state. As an alternative of making an attempt to reverse horrible insurance policies like bail reform which have led to skyrocketing crime, the gov prefers to hobnob with the wealthy and well-known.

Governor Hochul Attends LGBTQ Rally At Stonewall Inn Stonewall Inn, NY - Governor Kathy Hochul.
Gov. Kathy Hochul was joined by Bravo’s Andy Cohen at a marketing campaign occasion on Saturday.
Janet Mayer/Startraksphoto.com

She has spent her time altering legislative language to learn “incarcerated particular person” as an alternative of “inmate,” working to convey organic males who establish as transgender into girls’s prisons and advocating New York develop into a nationwide chief in intercourse adjustments for teenagers — and celebs have eaten it up.

Schumer, who has made her profession on jokes about being fats and feminine, backs Hochul as “a champion” on abortion — which is enshrined in New York regulation and actually not on the poll this election. Schumer’s huge pitch: Hochul’s nice on “abortion entry, gun security, and equality,” whereas Lee Zeldin “is Trump 2.0.”

Cher hit the stump for Hochul by way of a social-media video. “Proper now, you've a Trump supporter,” she begins, “making an attempt to oust your Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul.” As she reads fairly passionlessly from a script — you'll be able to see her eyes transferring backwards and forwards — she claims she’s spent half her life in New York, as if that offers her authority to push her politics on the state. When was that, Cher, 40 years in the past?

“This man Lee Zeldin,” she goes on, “has riled up the MAGA base to help him” — earlier than noting that the race is shut. Sure, Zeldin, as soon as thought a distant long-shot, has overtaken Hochul in some surveys, proving it’s way more than “the MAGA base” fired as much as exchange the gov.

Cher claims Zeldin desires to ban abortion. Truly, he’s mentioned outright he wouldn’t search to vary New York’s abortion legal guidelines. She warns Zeldin desires to “frack the state.” Effectively, sure, that’s true: Zeldin says he’d search to reverse the “ban on the secure extraction of sources below many elements of the state” — it’ll create jobs and decrease power prices.

Cher leaned into the absurd concept Zeldin and different conservatives throughout the nation wish to ban the phrase “homosexual” as a result of they don’t need pornographic content material in colleges or lecturers protecting their children’ in-school gender transitions secret. Zeldin’s working mate, NYPD vet Alison Esposito, is overtly homosexual.

Mark Ruffalo, of “Hulk” fame — one thing this New Yorker needed to lookup, he’s that memorable — is considered one of Hochul’s strongest supporters, touting her stance on preventing local weather change. The gov plans to observe California Gov. Gavin Newsom into the longer term by banning gross sales of gas-powered automobiles by 2030.

Ruffalo referred to as Cher an “inspiration” and has shared his personal movies. “New Yorkers, be part of me in telling Republican candidate for Governor Lee Zeldin to #FrackOff!” he tweeted alongside one. “Let’s get out the vote for Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul! She is going to shield New York’s fracking ban & lead on local weather motion.”

Leo DiCaprio has extra star energy. However he merely repeated what Ruffalo mentioned — doubtless as a result of celebrities aren’t paid to suppose for themselves.

Bravo talk-show host Andy Cohen joined Hochul in an look to induce LGBTQIA+ folks to get themselves to the polls. Hochul made the false declare that Zeldin is making an attempt to “take away the rights” of the LGBTQ neighborhood — but there are not any rights homosexual or trans folks don’t have in New York and no manner they might lose these rights. (Plus, once more: He selected a homosexual working mate.)

Celebs and different high-profile Democrats suppose that repeatedly calling Zeldin a Trump supporter, an election denier, a fracker, anti-LGBTQIA+ will flip Hochul right into a stand-out candidate. However when an incumbent can’t run on her personal file and has to trot out celebrities to tout lies about her opponent, it’s not the opponent that's the downside — it’s the incumbent herself.

Libby Emmons is the editor-in-chief at The Put up Millennial.

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