Cozze Campaign Complains Zrinski Not Gay Enough

Amy Cozze and Tara Zrinski are the two contenders for the Democratic nomination in this year's race for Northampton County Executive. The winner will go on to face Republican Tom Giovanni in November. Though the relatively nonpartisan Giovanni is known as Council's Quiet Man, I suspected he'll be laughing a bit after reading this story. That's because the two Democrats in this race, just like the protestors at Sunday's supposed "democracy" march at Easton's circle, are still walking in circles instead of addressing what matters most to everyday Americans. By the way, it's not menstrual products in men's rooms or trying to outdo each other with the trans and gay community. 

I'd be a bit more concerned about whether 911 dispatchers and county corrections officers have the resources they need to be effective. I'd be very worried whether we have the staff to deal with claims of child or elder abuse and neglect. Those are real county issues and ones that everyday voters care about. My party, however, has been so focused on being woke that the word "Democrat" has become something of a dirty word. How could Donald Trump be more popular now than he was eight years ago? It's because we Democrats have forgotten what we stand for. A tiff yesterday between the Cozze campaign and Tara Zrinski, spread out over the pages of Facebook, proves this point. 

Amy Cozze's "life partner" (she might be her husband) is Anne Wakabayashi, a political consultant for Democrats and progressive causes. Obviously, she's helping in and managing Cozze's race. Yesterday, she used Trans Day of Visibility (which of course had the obligatory flag raising in Easton and Bethlehem) to take a shot at Tara Zrinski. Here's what she said on her Facebook page 

Let me be clear. Trans and Nonbinary people are under attack in this country. Queer folks are under attack in this country. Amy Cozze will never back down from a fight to protect LGBTQ Folks in Northampton County, and that's why LGBTQ+ Victory Fund has endorsed her campaign. Her opponent may have spent the better part of a decade telling us how pro-equality she is without ever pushing forward LGBTQ+ rights in her role as an elected official, but that isn't Amy. Equality isn't a talking point. Protecting Trans Lives isn't a talking point. Protecting LGBQ+ Families

Zrinski pushed back:

Let's be clear, I have definitely worked to protect LGBTQ folks. This is some of the work from 2019 that the administration and County Council did to protect LGBTQIA rights. "It is the policy of Northampton County to provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, sex, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information, disability, or any other status protected by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and any other state, federal or local law.... this is one of the first policies enacted in Northampton County under the McClure Administration. I went on to promote this same policy at the LNAA Board and the Wildland's Conservancy Board and even asked our County Council, on March 7, 2019, to support a resolution supporting this effort which passed 6-0. This is an important issue to me as I have family and friends within the LGBTQIA community. These are human rights and all people are entitled to human dignity. As County Executive, I will continue to fight for and protect the human Rights of all individuals.

That's not good enough for the Cozze campaign, so Wakabayashi takes yet another shot: 

Unfortunately, the half-assed policies you named do not in any way protect me, a citizen of Northampton County. I can still be fired, denied housing, and denied public accommodations in the majority of municipalities in the county. These policies are a nice nod to equality, but have a fairly limited reach in terms of real impact on people's lives. I'm so sick of hearing from elected officials who show up at pride and use equality as a talking point but in office they leave some of the biggest opportunities to actually protect our community on the table. Why - in your 8 years on council, did you never introduce a non-discrimination ordinance? If you knew discrimination in employment was an issue, why d... See more

Wakabayashi is apparently unaware that county government has no authority to legislate these issues. But then again, Zrinski appears to be just as unaware, as she demonstrates in this response:

Anne Wakabayashi also, I did work with Adrian Shankar to write one. If you read the minutes, I didn't just reach out to my "gay friends" for advising—I went to the stakeholders and leaders in the LGBtQ community —Adrian and Corrine Goodwin— for policy advisement. This was on the agenda but was not well received by the other members of council because I was seen as "too progressive". You can spew as much venom as you will and say that I didn't do as much as I possibly could have as a part-time legislator but the reality is, there are many issues that warrant attention and your understanding of anything I did on council and the conditions that existed are woefully ignorant and misinformed. As a County Executive, I will have exponentially more potential to pass the kind o... See more

Unhappy with the answers she's getting from Zrinski, Cozze's campaign manager finishes with the last refuge of someone who is losing an argument - the ad hominem:

Tara M Zrinski What's the benefit of a controller that spends her work hours posting on Facebook instead of finding out what happened to the $10m missing at Gracedale?

As Democratic strategist James Carville himself has noted, people are sick of "woke era" politics.  As a result of voter dissatisfaction, we now have a President whose HHS has just laid off 10,000 workers; has threatened bombing Iran "the likes of which they have never seen before;" who kicked Ukraine's President out of the White House because he refused to bend the knee; and has generally alienated our allies while embracing our foes. 

If Democrats want to be taken seriously, they need to start acting like Democrats. not elitists with a stick up their asses.  

Unless that tune changes, the next NorCo County Exec will be Tom Giovanni.