One New York representative said he could not make it because he had to march in a local firefighters parade. Another said that, as much as she wanted to go, she had to visit family out of town. Yet another just sent his regrets, saying he would be traveling that day in Connecticut.
It was supposed to be the grandest New York political party of the year: a rousing birthday tribute to the powerful dean of the states Congressional delegation, Representative Charles B. Rangel, a Democrat from Harlem.
Organizers reserved the gilded main ballroom at the Plaza Hotel, booked Aretha Franklin to serenade Mr. Rangel and sent out an elaborate video invitation featuring a testimonial from Bill Clinton (who, as it happens, was also invited but said he had to be in Arkansas that day).
But far from being a moment of celebration, the gala, planned for next week, is becoming a painful and public embarrassment for the 80-year-old congressman, and a brutal test of friendships and loyalties that are decades old.
High-profile guests have either bailed out or are publicly agonizing about whether to show up at all. In a striking illustration of the discomfort coursing through political circles over Mr. Rangels soiree, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said he did not know if the party was still on when asked recently if he would attend.
I dont know what the facts are, Mr. Bloomberg said. I was planning to go, but....
It is a humbling experience for Mr. Rangel, a proud and pugnacious man in his 20th term in Congress. Even at the depths of a two-year Congressional investigation into his conduct, he has been largely spared public rebuke in his hometown, where he is widely regarded as an institution and is still hailed as a hero on the streets of Harlem.
It is hurtful to him, said H. Carl McCall, a close friend of Mr. Rangels and a former New York State comptroller. He is frustrated.
For those who sought to honor the congressman, the snubs and equivocations are infuriating. They point out that Mr. Rangel has been very generous to many of the Democratic lawmakers now turning away from him, that he campaigned for them, raised money for them and offered counsel to them, even in tough times.
Loyalty counts, Mr. McCall said. They have to live with the fact that they were helped, but when somebody else needed help, they were not there.
The shrinking guest list is perhaps the most stinging measure of how far Mr. Rangels standing has tumbled in the months since the House of Representatives began investigating him for alleged financial improprieties.
Last week, a committee laid out the evidence behind 13 charges of ethics violations, including failure to pay taxes and asking lobbyists and corporations for millions of dollars in donations for a college center to be built in his honor. Rather than settle the case, Mr. Rangel has vowed to fight in an unusual public trial.
To many of his colleagues, the timing of his birthday party, which will double as a campaign fund-raiser, could not be worse, coming as many of the lawmakers face a hostile campaign climate. Several are privately fuming that Mr. Rangel is forcing them to choose between their gratitude to him and their shot at re-election.
Republicans, and even some Democratic challengers, are making the gala an issue. On the Upper East Side, Reshma Saujani, a Democratic candidate for Congress, criticized Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, who was on the partys host committee, for planning to attend.
These 13 charges against Congressman Rangel are serious allegations, not cause for a lavish birthday celebration, and our elected officials should not be joining him, Ms. Saujani said in a statement from her campaign.
A few hours after the statement was issued, aides to Ms. Maloney let it be known she would not attend, citing a family commitment in Virginia. I wish I could be at his birthday party, Ms. Maloney said in an interview, adding that her plans to skip the event had nothing to do with the ethics charges.
Some of her colleagues are being less diplomatic. When asked why he would not attend, Representative Michael E. McMahon of Staten Island, a freshman Democrat in a conservative-leaning district that Republicans are eyeing, responded: All I am saying is I sent my regrets and I will be out of town. Thats my answer.
Explanations for why others will not show ranged from the plausible to the strained. Take Representative John Hall, a Democrat from the northern suburbs of New York City, who has attended a birthday party for Mr. Rangel in the past but is facing a potentially tough race in the fall.
He said he would appear at a high-profile event in his district that day: the Fire Department parade in South Salem, a hamlet of 7,000 people.
Its too bad the party is scheduled for the same day of the parade, Mr. Hall said. This was scheduled way in advance.
Representative Edolphus Towns, a Brooklyn Democrat, will be just across the border, at a fund-raiser in Connecticut, but aides said it would be impossible for him to make it back in time.
Several prominent Democrats simply refuse to say whether they will attend generally a signal that they will not. Aides to Andrew M. Cuomo, the state attorney general and the leading Democratic candidate for governor, threw up their hands, saying he had not finalized his schedule even though the party is five days away.
Asked repeatedly if Senator Charles E. Schumer would make it, his aides declined to comment.
Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television and chairman of the event, said the wavering invitees needed to search their conscience.
There is no reason for them not to show up, Mr. Johnson said. He complained about what he called sunshine patriots now abandoning Mr. Rangel, saying: When Charlie is riding on top, they are there. But when there is a cloud overhead, they dont show up.
Mr. Rangel clearly does not want to discuss the no-shows and the might-not-shows. Asked about them on Thursday after an event in Harlem, he said tartly, Well, its not a birthday party for them really; its for me. (His actual birthday falls on June 11.)
There is no question the congressman has been kind to his colleagues in the delegation. Since 1989, he has showered $250,000 in campaign money on New York members.
The party is a much-anticipated annual rite, usually drawing huge crowds of elected officials, business leaders and celebrities (including Tony Bennett and Chevy Chase). The Clintons are regulars. The retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark was the special guest at Mr. Rangels 75th. The congressman generally makes brief remarks, then mingles for hours.
Of course, this year was supposed to be especially memorable, because many believe Mr. Rangel is in the final stretch of his career.
And still, many luminaries will appear. Aides to Mr. Bloomberg said Thursday that he was simply confused in his earlier response and would, in fact, show.
So will Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand; Representative Jerrold Nadler; the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn; and Gov. David A. Paterson, a friend and Harlem neighbor of Mr. Rangel.
We have had a strong response, and we think its going to be a good party, said Bob Liff, a spokesman for the Rangel campaign.
A few lawmakers scoffed at the notion that Mr. Rangel was being deserted. Representative Anthony D. Weiner, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said many of his colleagues were overbooked during the August recess, traditionally a time when they crisscrossed their districts. I would not read too much into the attendance of members of Congress, he said.
Is Mr. Weiner going? He made no promises.
My August days and nights are just jammed, he said. I will do everything I can to get there. |
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