Gowanus Lounge's Thursday Political Round Up

City Council Member Letitia James endorsed 57th Assembly District candidate Bill Batson yesterday. The Council Member said that Batson's platform extends far beyond his opposition to the Atlantic Yards project. "In Albany, Bill will be dedicated to fighting for more affordable housing for this district, for increased subsidies for NYCHA residents, and for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity money so desperately needed by our public schools," James said. Batson has collected endorsements from Rep. Major Owens, City Council Member Bill DeBlasio, and City Councilman/Congressional Candidate Charles Barron, Congressional Candidate Chris Owens and others.

Speaking of Letitia James, the Clinton Hill Blog is running an item about their conversation with the City Council Member.

Meanwhile, the Batson campaign has just posted a new Batson internet campaign ad. We've seen more political ads than any one person should ever have to watch thanks to our coverage of them when we worked in Washington, but Batson's ad is so grassroots and real that it's worth 60 seconds of your time. No joke. Whether you agree or disagree with Batson, you have to give him credit for being genuine and for caring, and that's not something we say lightly about anyone running for public office.

Voting is still open in the Brooklyn Record/Brownstoner Democratic Primary Poll. Brownstoner reports that 300 people have participated so far.

If you missed it, Norman Oder has a fascinating item in his Atlantic Yards Report about the trail of campaign money from developer Bruce Ratner including how the money is bundled and funneled through a variety of relatives. Among the beneficiary of Ratner money is Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who is a key vote on the Public Authorities Control Board which must approved the Atlantic Yards project. You might recall that Silver was the man who killed the West Side Stadium.

Meanwhile, even though Congressional candidate David Yassky has been piling up endorsements in the 11th District race, some in the community are still taking shots at him. Blogger Sail Brooklyn, who has been reporting on a crumbling building in Boerum Hill, notes that as a City Council Member, Mr. Yassky has been of no help recently. "Numerous calls and e-mail messages have been made to City Council Member David Yassky, who has not returned one," Sails writes. "We're assuming that he's too busy trying to move up the political ladder to take care of his constituents."

On the endorsement front, today's Daily News endorses Yvette Clarke in the 11th District race and list her support of Atlantic Yards as one of the reasons.

And, finally, CQPolitics.com, which is produced by the venerable DC-based magazine, interviews State Sen. Carl Andrews, one of the four Democratic candidates vying to replace Major Owens.