Stephen Harrison supporting the NYPD

Matthew Lysiak writing for the Brooklyn Paper covers a story about Stephen Harrison's recent participation and speech at an anti-war rally. I covered the story in two posts, here and here, but Matthew focuses on a different aspect, Harrison's praise of the local police;

But when one of the organizers of the protest berated two police officers, Harrison couldn't hold his tongue.

"Those police officers, I know them personally, and I don't want this group to alienate them," said a visibly angry Harrison. "Everything they have ever done in this community is appropriate and what they deserve is a thank you."

Matthew goes on to compare this to a Bill Clinton moment.

But it was Harrison's "Sister Souljah moment" that stood out. A reach? Perhaps, but unlike Clinton's attack on the rapper, at least Harrison's "moment" wasn't pre-scripted. And that made it even more effective, because it showed that Harrison is a stand-up guy.

I find it to be a good strategy to reach out to these groups of constituents. Vito Fossella continues to try and own them through his tough rhetoric and fear car, yet it is Democrats who are leading efforts to support them. We saw that Rep. Jerry Nadler has long led the fight for treatment of illnesses related to September 11th while Fossella postured in the publicity. We know that Fossella is backing a presidential candidate who is reviled by our own Fire Fighters. Time and time again Fossella terrorism and fear as a means to have photo ops yet it is the Democrats who are fighting for the unions these men and women belong to, for the pensions, health care and public education systems they come to rely on for them and their families.