By Hunter Walker and Colin Campbell 11:02am

Escape From New York

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Charles Barron Making Mayoral Endorsements Far From Home

Outspoken Councilman Charles Barron is backing John Liu in the New York City mayoral election this year and he’s also getting involved in races out of state. On Tuesday, Mr. Barron served on the host committee of a Soho fundraiser for Chokwe Lumumba, who is running for mayor in Jackson Mississippi. Mr. Lumumba is an attorney and City Council member whom Mr. Barron said he has known for years through their work in activist circles.

“Chokwe Lumumba is a long-time friend and freedom fighter,” Mr. Barron told Politicker at a forum on stop-and-frisk last night in Brooklyn. “He got elected to the City Council in Jackson, Mississippi, which is, you know, a majority-black population town. There’s seven Council Members. So it’s good to see black, strong, conscious people getting involved in the electoral arena. And [when] he becomes mayor of Jackson Mississippi–that’s going to be a historic moment.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 9/26/12 1:11pm

With Friends Like These...

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Would-Be Child Molester Campaigns For His ‘Friend’ Tom Allon’s Mayoral Bid

Timothy McDarrah, a former New York Post editor who was convicted of soliciting sex online from an undercover FBI agent posing as a 13-year-old girl in 2006 sent an email to friends and former business associates yesterday announcing his support for local media mogul Tom Allon’s mayoral bid. Mr. McDarrah’s message, which was addressed to “my fellow Americans,” included an invite to a fundraiser for Mr. Allon at the Woolworth Tower Kitchen next month.

“Tom Allon and I were high school and grad school classmates, and have been friends for over 30 years. I simply feel we could use a guy like him in City Hall,” Mr. McDarrah wrote. “Do some research, get to know him, cover his campaign. If you live in New York and vote, please consider pulling the lever for Tom in 2013.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 9/18/12 11:12pm

P to the OTUS

Beyonce and Jay Z at President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009.

President Obama Parties With Jay-Z and Beyoncé

Hip-hop’s biggest power couple, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, held a fundraiser for President Barack Obama tonight at Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club in Manhattan. In his speech at the event, Mr. Obama discussed his daughters’ love for the musicians and what he and Jay-Z have in common.

“Let me just begin by saying to Jay and Bey, thank you so much for your friendship. We are so grateful. Michelle and Malia and Sasha are mad at me because they are not here,” Mr. Obama said. “That doesn’t usually happen. Usually they’re like, we’re glad you’re going–we don’t need to go. But every time they get a chance to see these two they are thrilled, partly because they are just both so generous, particularly to my kids. And Malia and Sasha just love both of them.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 9/18/12 4:49pm

Rangel's Wrath

Video

Charlie Rangel (Photo: NY1)

Charlie Rangel Calls Romney’s 47% Rant ‘Ridiculous,’ Untrue and Amoral

Congressman Charles Rangel is the latest Democrat to pile on Mitt Romney after Mother Jones released a blockbuster secret video of one of the Republican candidate’s fundraisers in which he characterized President Barack Obama’s supporters as the “forty seven percent of Americans” who “pay no income tax,” suggested he’d have an easier chance of winning the White House if he was Mexican and called peace between Israelis and Palestinians “almost unthinkable,” among other controversial remarks.

Mr. Rangel issued a statement slamming Mr. Romney’s comments this afternoon describing them as “ridiculous,” far from the truth and amoral considering Mr. Romney’s own income tax situation.   Read More

By Hunter Walker 9/18/12 10:39am

Field Trips

Allen West (Photo: West.House.gov)

Allen West Is Not Coming to New York to Go Clubbing

Conservative Florida Congressman Allen West is having a fundraiser in New York City October 1, however, in spite of what the invitation says, he won’t be holding the event in a Meatpacking District nightclub that is at least a decade past its heyday, Lotus. The official invite for the luncheon says it will be held at “The Lotus Club,” which has been closed for years. Mr. West’s event is actually being held at The Lotos Club, a private “literary club” on the Upper East Side. Read More

By Hunter Walker 8/08/12 6:33pm

Garden State

Mitt Romney (Photo: Getty)

Romney Motorcade Mobbed by Orthodox Jewish Wedding Guests

Mitt Romney’s motorcade ran into an interesting obstacle before a fundraiser this evening in Lakewood, N.J. Lake Terrace, the venue for Mr. Romney’s event, was also being used by an Orthodox Jewish wedding party and, according to a pool report filed by Yahoo’s Holly Bailey, the guests at the nuptials became rather excited when Mr. Romney’s motorcade arrived.

“As we turned into Lake Terrace, the motorcade drove past an Orthodox Jewish wedding party that had been posing for pictures outside. Immediately, the family abandoned the bride and groom and began chasing Romney’s car in the parking lot, waving cameras,” Ms. Bailey wrote. Read More

By Hunter Walker 6/14/12 9:00am

Zombies

Cory Booker (Photo: Getty)

RNC Spokesman Says The Obama Campaign Brought Cory Booker ‘Back From The ‘Dead”

Newark Mayor Cory Booker says the fact he’s co-hosting a fundraiser for President Barack Obama tonight should prove rumors he somehow split from the president’s re-election campaign were greatly exagerrated, but the RNC says it’s just a sign the campaign is desperate after a month where Mitt Romney raised over $16 million more than the president.

“It looks like the Obama Campaign has to bring Mayor Booker back from the ‘dead’ to raise money after a terrible month where the President’s fundraising lagged and he declared to millions of unemployed Americans that ‘the private sector is doing fine,’” RNC Regional Press Secretary Ted Kwong told The Politicker. Read More

By Hunter Walker 6/13/12 6:17pm

Garden State

Cory Booker (Photo: YouTube)

Cory Booker Says Rumors He Broke With The Obama Campaign Were Greatly Exaggerated

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is co-hosting a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at The Plaza Hotel tomorrow and he hopes it will lay to rest once and for all any impression he somehow defected from the president’s re-election effort after his comments he was “nauseated” by the Obama campaign’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital. The Politicker reached out to Mr. Booker to ask whether he believed the fundraiser would put to rest persistent chatter in the New York Post and elsewhere that the Bain brouhaha signified a break between him and President Obama. His response was emphatic.

“Since when do you all at NY Observer give so much credence to the Post on chatter? I’m giving speeches around the country for the party, I’m co-chair for the DNC Platform committee, I’m fund-raising for the campaign, hosting Thursday’s event and more,” Mr. Booker wrote. “Draw your own conclusions.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 6/13/12 8:58am

Comparisons

President Obama (Photo: Getty)

President Obama Says Mitt Romney Is No John McCain

President Barack Obama explained told an audience at a fundraiser in Philadelphia last night that he has much less in common with Mitt Romney than he did with his opponent in 2008, John McCain.

“The choices in this election could not be starker,” President Obama said. “Back in 2008, I had some strong disagreements with John McCain, but there were certain baselines that we both agreed on. We both agreed on things like immigration reform. We agreed on the existence of climate change. We agreed on the need to control campaign finance spending. This time out, across the board, there is just a fundamental disagreement, a difference of vision in terms of where we want to go.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 6/12/12 2:33pm

Fighting Words

President Obama (Photo: Getty)

Obama Says Romney’s Campaign Messsage Would Fit ‘On A Tweet’

At a fundraiser in Maryland today, President Barack Obama criticized the core message of Mitt Romney’s campaign as simplistic.

“Because folks are still hurting right now, the other side feels that its enough for them to just sit back and say, ‘Things aren’t as good as they should be and it’s Obama’s fault,’” the president said. “You can pretty much put their campaign on, on a tweet and have some characters to spare.” Read More