Congressman Charles Rangel may be facing stormy times due to a string of ethics controversies, but no one's going to rain on his parade—at least in the eyes of a circle of politicians and constituents who continue to fervently back him.
Marching amid the blare of Caribbean music, throngs of dancers, and parade floats carpeting the streets, Rangel joined thousands of people in the Dominican Day Parade on Sunday. The smiling congressman, flanked by well-known politicos and Harlem residents, seemed to find solace in the day's festivities in Midtown—miles away from the bitter ethics battle ensnaring him in Washington.
"I mean, even Adam Powell said something nice to me at the breakfast this morning," Rangel told Spectator, referring to one of his opponents, Adam Clayton Powell IV, whose father was unseated by Rangel in 1970. "It [the parade] has to do with politics. It has to do with culture. It has to do with Washington Heights and it has to do with what America is all about. ... It’s hard not to feel Dominican here today."
The embattled congressman used this same type of rhetoric throughout the day, harping on the significance of the Dominican Day Parade while circumventing questions about his ongoing ethics case at the Capitol.
"Let's talk about the parade," he said matter-of-factly to a group of reporters as one reporter pressed him about the ethics controversy.
This controversy, though simmering for several years, reached its boiling point in July when the House Ethics Committee brought 13 charges of violations against Rangel, laying the groundwork for a public trial that some say could end his career. Following a 21-month investigation, an investigative subcommittee of the Ethics Committee laid out its findings in a 41-page Statement of Alleged Violation.
Among the charges Rangel faces are falsely disclosing his personal assets, failing to pay federal income taxes on a vacation property, renting rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem at rates far below market value, and abusing franking privileges to solicit donations from potential donors for an eponymous building at the City College of New York.
A separate adjudicatory subcommittee is now reviewing the SAV, and a public trial will likely take place in September unless Rangel strikes a plea bargain with the Ethics Committee. Despite speculation that Rangel would eventually reach an agreement in order to avoid the embarrassment of a public trial, he maintains that he will not admit to any violations of which he says he is being wrongly accused.
"I have never heard of a case where somebody's accused of something" and is expected to plead guilty without a proper hearing, Rangel said at a Harlem Week event at Columbia last week.
Seeking to distance themselves from a man whom they consider a liability, a slew of politicians from Rangel's own party have called on him to resign. As it stands, the midterm elections likely will be a referendum on the Democratic Party and their handling of the economy, putting a number of Democrats' seats at risk.
And now, many Democratic congressmen worry that party association with a scandal-fraught politician will further damage their own electoral prospects. Just last week, President Barack Obama, CC '83, entered the discussion, stating that Rangel has reached the end of his career and should retire now with dignity.
But at the parade, this mounting pressure on Rangel to resign seemed to have been all but offset by a band of loyal supporters. Braving the stifling heat and carrying signs reading, "Re-elect Congressman Rangel: He Delivers," a host of New York politicians and Harlem residents came to the parade specifically to march alongside Rangel.
"You don't abandon your family, you don't abandon your friends," said City Council member Robert Jackson in an interview at the parade, who represents West Harlem. Jackson said he has sat through many meetings with Rangel in which Rangel would take pains to brief all the local politicians in his district on the decisions being made in Washington.
"Charlie Rangel has served our community for 40 years, and he deserves to serve another 40 years," Jackson said. "This is the United States of America, where everyone is innocent until proven guilty."
Others agreed with Jackson, arguing that Rangel is innocent and simply a victim of the Republican Party's efforts to portray Democrats as part of a culture of corruption in anticipation of the midterm elections—much as Democrats did to Republicans in 2006.
"We have to make sure people understand who is behind this whole thing—this is all the conservatives, who are very focused on hurting him," Maria Luna, vice chair of the New York State Democratic Party, told Spectator at the parade. "This attack is a reflection of the movement to limit the participation of people who are entitled to participate equally. ... It has racial undertones," she added, citing another ongoing ethics controversy involving Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). Waters, like Rangel, is black and a senior Democratic House member.
State Assemblyman Keith Wright—who some have speculated will be Rangel's chosen successor should Rangel run for re-election and win—dismissed concerns about whether voters will be influenced by the recent ethics charges.
"Harlem does not let pundits, prognosticators, or the press choose their elected officials," Wright told Spectator. "It has a great history of that."
Those Harlemites that came to march with Rangel in the parade echoed Wright, explaining that Rangel has worked tirelessly for local residents for 40 years and that his constituents will in turn pull the lever for him.
"I came here when I was 18, one of the first Dominicans in Harlem, and Charlie was one of the first people I met," said Marcello Puello in an interview, who met Rangel through his work as a former employee for Local 372, the union representing New York City Board of Education employees. "Because of him, I learned how to speak English, and I learned how to become a good citizen."
John Huang, a former intern for Rangel and a City College student, described an incident during his internship that he said spoke volumes about Rangel's genuine concern for the people in his district.
"There was this huge storm on a day that Mr. Rangel was supposed to have an event for people in the community. It was so bad that you couldn't see anything in front of you and it was really dangerous to travel," Huang told Spectator. "But Mr. Rangel showed up. When he walked through the door, everyone was shocked that he was there."
Others focused on the substantive changes Rangel has brought to Harlem, particularly in terms of affordable housing. As the former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee—he stepped down under pressure due to the ethics controversy—he was able to use his powerful post to bring federal money into low-income housing programs in New York City.
"If it weren't for Rangel, we would not have the low-income housing that we do today. He has really protected those in NYCHA housing," said Elisa Vasquez in an interview, president of P.A.'L.A.N.T.E. Harlem, an organization that aims to help residents with housing-related issues.
Politicians at the parade said that they, too, are indebted to Rangel.
"Fourteen or 15 years ago, I became a member of the Appropriations Committee because of him," Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) told Spectator at the parade. "I never forgot that."
Yet despite his popularity among many New York City politicians and his constituents, some expressed concern about whether the younger voting cohort will be influenced by the controversy, since they were not around to see and appreciate Rangel in the prime of his congressional career.
"This might affect people in a way, cause them to second guess," said Jennifer Beltre of the Washington Heights Youth Council in an interview at the parade, who worked on a policy recommendation that she said Rangel supported and lobbied for in Washington.
But few of the parade-goers seemed worried about Rangel's ability to be re-elected. They consider him far too entrenched in the Harlem political establishment to be defeated.
"Powell is a non-issue—Rangel cleared his clock many years ago, and he will do it again," Wright said in an interview, referring to when Powell challenged Rangel in 1994 and lost. Among the candidates for Rangel's seat, Powell comes in with a projected 21 percent of the vote—second to Rangel, who remains the frontrunner with 39 percent of the vote, according to a recent poll by Public Policy Polling.
Jackson said that a Rangel victory is not just highly probable, but inevitable.
"We are going to re-elect him, without a doubt," Jackson told Spectator at the parade. "The only question is, by what margin?"
Check out Spectator's photo slideshow of the parade here.
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