Socialist Worker, May 11, 2018

Now that the WFP has endorsed Cynthia Nixon, she has a potential ballot line to run against Cuomo in November in the likely event that she loses the Democratic primary. But the WFP's Lipton has already declared that that's not going to happen. "We will not be a spoiler," the state director told reporters. "In 20 years, we have never been a spoiler."

In other words, don't count on Lipton to break the abusive cycle in which Cuomo kicks down at the unions, who kick down at the WFP, who then kick down at grassroots activists backing the Green Party campaign of Howie Hawkins and Jia Lee, the latter a New York City teacher and opt-out activist.

How unrealistic to back a third party campaign, the argument will go, at a time when Cuomo and the unions won't even tolerate a primary challenge inside the Democrats.

THERE ARE many teachers like Jia Lee, a member of the Movement of Rank and File Educators caucus inside the UFT, who disagree with the concessionary strategy of their union's leadership. They face the challenge of organizing to bring the spirit of the red-state rebellion into the bluest of cities.