Ocasio-Cortez Confronts Crowley Over His 'Third-Party Challenge'

[Jim Lane]

84. If you have a purported debunking, please share.

Without citing any Murdoch rag, I showed that Crowley's family resides in Virginia and his children go to school there. I have never heard those facts contested by any reliable source.

Many Senators and Representatives have crash pads in the DC area but their families live back in the district. Crowley doesn't do it that way.

Anyway, I'm in no position to "demand" anything. I'm simply pointing out undeniable facts, facts that under other circumstances would be eliciting shrieks of rage on DU: Crowley lost the Democratic primary; he will nevertheless appear on the general-election ballot as the candidate of another party, running against the Democratic nominee; it's a certainty that this will split the Democratic vote (Jill Stein! Jill Stein! Jill Stein!); the split in the Democratic vote increases the danger that the Republican will grab the seat; the district is blue enough that the Democratic nominee can probably win despite having Crowley on the ballot against her, but it's not certain (Hillary Clinton probably thought that she could win Wisconsin despite having Stein on the ballot against her); Crowley could remove this entire problem with a few minutes' work, by registering to vote where he spends most of his time and where his family is, and then switching back after the ballots are finalized; and, far from this impairing his career, everybody would understand that he wasn't renouncing Queens, but rather was helping make sure Queens continued to have a Democrat representing it in Congress.

If he chooses to stay on the ballot against the Democratic nominee, no one can force him out -- but if he ever does run for any other office in New York, a lot of people will remember his decision.