The Little Super PAC That Could (Stop Andrew Cuomo)

DREAM’s message has managed to break through a crowded and
fragmented information ecosystem in a major world city, in part because it’s catchy,
aspirational (Dream big!), and, to journalists and Cuomo critics—hardly
mutually exclusive groups—deeply compelling. Veteran radio personality Brian
Lehrer, who hosts a long-running politics show on WNYC, recently discussed
it with Gothamist reporter Elizabeth Kim on the air (“Kind of creative, right,
Brian?” said Kim, referring to the switch from “Don’t Rank Eric or Andrew for
Mayor” to “Don’t Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor”). References to DREAM have appeared
in The
New York Times, Politico,
City
& State New York, Crain’s
New York Business, and more.

Anti-Cuomo organizations, elected officials, candidates, and
individuals are also eager to spread the DREAM gospel. Speaking of DREAM in a
phone conversation, State Senator Gustavo Rivera, who represents a Bronx district,
said, “I don’t have any official [role], but I am a full-on Dreamer.” Cuomo is
“not only a terrible human,” he added, but a “terrible governor” who “should
not be anywhere near public service and certainly should not be the mayor of
New York City.” Rivera added that sharing his perspective “in English or in
español” about what a “hot garbage pile” Cuomo is would be one of the “happiest
volunteer activities” of his summer.

Joining Rivera in his mission are the New York Working Families Party, or NYWFP,
the NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (of which I’m a member),
and Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, or JFREJ, among others. Ana Maria Archila, co-director of the NYWFP, said in a
phone conversation that her organization has focused on “encouraging
collaboration” among like-minded candidates “aligned with the Working Families
Party agenda.” The NYWFP can’t engage in independent expenditure activity and isn’t
involved with any DREAM-adjacent super PAC, but it hopes to cultivate a united
anti-Cuomo front by supporting the broader effort to persuade New Yorkers not
to rank him.