Dan's Papers - July 18, 2008 - Analyzing Schneiderman's Shift

Politics are pretty tricky. A general rule for many people is to never talk politics or religion when dealing with people they do not know well. When you are a politician, however, you have to lay all of your beliefs on the table and be judged by the entire community of your peers. It is not an easy job.

One man who has such a job is Montauk resident Jay Schneiderman, a local politician who has grown from the Town Supervisor of East Hampton to Suffolk County Legislator, and who has just left the Republican Party to register as an Independent.

In general, for the entire time that Schneiderman has been embraced by the Republican Party, he has also been beloved by most Democrats in a very Democratic community. When he was elected as Town Supervisor in 1999, Schneiderman sort of fell into the Republican Party. For that election there was no Republican elect, so to increase his chances of winning the election, he needed to join the Republican Party. Immediately, his charm and political skill was embraced by the party, and he won.

In an interview with Dan's Papers in late March, Schneiderman briefly expressed his interest in leaving the Republican party: "I've been thinking a bit about registering as an Independent because I have some fundamental disagreements with the Republican party on the national level."

Schneiderman describes himself as being straightforward and honest, not just to his district, but also to his own feelings on issues. He doesn't agree with the war in Iraq and doesn't like where the country is headed socially.

He also said that he wants to feel, along with his district, "a sense of belonging." This, however, is not something Schneiderman is likely to feel after deciding to leave the Republican Party. He has asked Republican leaders to embrace him as an Independent Republican, but the answer from party leaders was, "Absolutely not."

Over the last decade in politics, Schneiderman has managed to collaborate with both Democrats and Republicans. Unlike many politicians on both sides of the coin, he has not traditionally endorsed everybody that has played for the Republican team. He gave his backing to Vivian Viloria-Fisher of East Setauket, a Democarat who made a run for deputy presiding officer.

Interestingly, at the end of the day, most people already had an understanding that Schneiderman was an Independent Republican, but not too many people foresaw that he would actually leave the party. And while it may be regarded as political suicide, it will be interesting to watch what happens since Schneiderman has gained so much respect from both sides.

He is still very much the same Jay Schneiderman. He is still very much fiscally conservative, but at the same time, socially progressive, and because he wants to be as straightforward to his district as possible, he recognizes that he can't fully commit to all of the views of the Republican Party.

How does this translate into being good for the community? If Schneiderman manages to stick around after making this decision, he will be able to make decisions without any pressure put on him from his Republican colleagues, which was something he never liked, and the battles that he faces as legislator will not be about the growing battle between Republicans and Democrats, but about what he thinks is best for the community, and the right thing to do. "I want my bills to be judged on their merits," Schneiderman said.