As New York prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of September 11, the day of remembrance is colliding with the sharp edges of national politics. On this episode of From the Lobby, host Joanna Pasceri sits down with Jack O’Donnell, managing partner of O’Donnell & Associates, to unpack why the anniversary has become a flashpoint, where the New York governor’s race is heading after violence at the West Indian American Day Parade, whether Democrats should open their primaries to unaffiliated voters, the serious allegations facing State Senator Jessica Ramos, and President Trump’s eye-popping promise of $5,000 checks to every adult citizen if Republicans hold Congress. O’Donnell argues voters should “see right through” the president’s pitch — and warns that the enthusiasm gap may be widest among traditional Republicans, not the MAGA base.
Joanna Pasceri
Hi, everyone, and welcome to From the Lobby with Jack O’Donnell. We’re back. As New York prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11, this should be a moment of remembrance and unity. Instead, politics is already taking center stage. President Trump will mark the anniversary at the Pentagon, but four former presidents are expected at the New York ceremony. And New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he will attend despite calls for him to stay away. So what does this moment tell us about where our politics are today? Let’s turn to Jack O’Donnell, political insider and managing partner of government affairs firm O’Donnell & Associates, for his take. Jack, so glad to have you back in the lobby.
Jack O’Donnell
Back in the lobby and back to school, right?
Joanna Pasceri
Yes. Lots going on. Let’s get right to it. 25 years later, why has the 9/11 anniversary become such a political flashpoint?
Jack O’Donnell
What a good question. And, you know, some of it, of course, is just because everyone’s become angrier. Politics has become angrier, the culture has become angrier. I think some of it is just that, you know, we can’t expect this to be immune from that either. I do think that it also remains incredibly raw and incredibly real that the masterminds of this terrorist attack who have been in American hands for so long now, have not faced justice. And we just saw a court recently throw out a confession from one of those masterminds, arguing that it was coerced. And all of the things that have gone wrong since then, I think that’s a big part of it. Some of the things that 9/11 brought to the forefront is about justice and justice for evildoers. And I think a lot of us are really frustrated that we haven’t seen that happen.
Joanna Pasceri
I thought it was discouraging when they brought up that, you know, all these years later, Al Qaeda is still existing in Afghanistan. Do you think the threats will ever go away?
Jack O’Donnell
Well, I don’t know that the threats will ever go away. I mean, being America, being a superpower, being who we are, there are always going to be people who don’t like our way of life and object to it and raise money and raise terror on the back of it. What’s more concerning to me is I feel less safe today than I did a year ago. Whether that is the actions of the president to pull out of some of these alliances, whether it’s the partisan wrangling in Congress about the Homeland Security department, whether it is the just trust factor we have with our men and women in blue who are guarding our borders and guarding our trains and our planes and the homeland. All of those things are really discouraging. I am still optimistic that there will come a time soon when someone will lead to bring us together again. I don’t know who she is or he is, and I don’t know when it’ll come. Not soon enough, I guess, is all I can say. And we’ll never forget.
Joanna Pasceri
Turning now to New York State politics. New York Democrats are weighing open primaries, allowing unaffiliated voters to take part in either Democratic or Republican primaries. Is this a good idea?
Jack O’Donnell
This is something that I’ve been thinking a lot about and we’re gonna write about in this week’s Monday Morning Memo. But, you know, moderate Democrats feel under attack from Democrats on the left — people who are members of the Working Families Party, but voting in Democratic primaries. And we’ve seen a number of establishment Democrats lose those primaries. And I think that is the biggest motivating factor behind this push. To the extent that any serious Democratic leadership is considering it, that’s where it’s coming from. Now, more broadly, there has been a push by reform-minded leaders to do this for a while and there’s plenty of states that do this. But I’m kind of a little old fashioned, Joanna. I think Democrats should pick who’s going to be the Democratic candidate. I think Republicans should pick who’s going to be the Republican candidate. But some folks see this as a quick fix to losing those primaries. So it’s going to get a real hearing.
Joanna Pasceri
Now to the governor’s race. And a very important issue, crime, always seems to bubble up. After violence broke out at New York City’s West Indian American Day Parade earlier this week, GOP candidate Bruce Blakeman pointed fingers at Governor Hochul and said her policies make the public less safe. What does this tell us about where the governor’s race is headed right now?
Jack O’Donnell
Well, I think this is a golden oldie. This was the whole campaign that Lee Zeldin ran and that I think that Bruce Blakeman is looking to run against Hochul. And my sense is that that’s effective with 36 to 44% of the electorate, but not 50 plus. And polling kind of bears that out. But more conservative-minded voters, suburban-minded voters, like in Nassau County, where Blakeman represents and where he comes from, crime is really high on their agenda. And so you’re gonna see him pushing this to try to make up some ground with Hochul. And Hochul’s trying to flip the switch here and going after President Trump and Republicans in Congress for withholding counterterrorism funds from New York. So there it’s going to go until November 3rd.
Joanna Pasceri
This news out this week: State Senator Jessica Ramos is facing scrutiny and an investigation over allegations that she double-billed travel and hotel expenses to both her campaign and state taxpayers. How serious is this and what does it say about accountability in Albany?
Jack O’Donnell
Well, we’ll start with she’s certainly innocent till proven guilty. And we’ve worked closely with the senator over the last couple years. She’ll be missed in Albany. But these accusations are really serious. We have seen plenty of folks from the state legislature, some really powerful members, go to prison over things like this. And so it is really serious. It raises questions about how those things are being paid, the scrutiny that they’re getting internally. I think this is just the beginning of this story, not the end.
Joanna Pasceri
And finally, the GOP’s first-ever midterm convention in Texas kicked off with a two-hour speech from President Trump promising $5,000 to every adult citizen if Republicans keep control of Congress. That’s a pretty big promise there. What should voters think of all this?
Jack O’Donnell
Well, my first reaction is that voters should see right through it. I mean, it started with the president’s declaration that the hall was overflowing and that there was one guy going to the bathroom. But if you looked, there were rows and rows of empty seats, and talking to friends who were there, there were rows and rows of empty seats. So look, I think the president has a unique way of connecting to the people who believe in him. And he’s doing everything he can to try to get them to turn out to vote in the midterm elections. The interesting part is that in the surveys I’ve seen, it’s not the MAGA Republicans who have the enthusiasm gap as much as it’s more traditional Republicans, Republicans who may have held their nose and voted for Trump, who are having their doubts now and who may be the ones to stay home. So I don’t know if this speech and a somewhat fantastic promise — right, it’s something like 80% of the GDP would be spent on these refunds. I don’t know very many people really believe that. But he’s got a unique way of connecting with folks and we’ll see on November 3rd how effective that was.
Joanna Pasceri
Looking forward to a full report in our Monday Morning Memo this week. Thanks for joining us, Jack.
Jack O’Donnell
Joanna, I would be remiss if, you know, we’re back to school, back to all these other things, if we didn’t end the podcast, at least with a quick go Bills.
Joanna Pasceri
Exactly. Here it comes this weekend.
Jack O’Donnell
Thanks, Joanna.
Joanna Pasceri
There’s a lot to watch, and we’ll keep you up to speed for the latest on what’s happening in Albany, New York City and Washington, and what it means for you and your business. Subscribe to this podcast and be sure to sign up for Jack’s Monday Morning Memo, a no-paywall newsletter breaking down the week’s top political and policy issues. Just head to our website, odonnellsolutions.com. Thanks for listening, everyone. We’ll be back soon from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell.
