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One Leg Up With Nationally Syndicated Radio Host Frank Morano · OneLegUpAlex Media

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Here's your host, Alex Garrett. All right, well on the one Leg
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Up with Alex Garrett feature. A longtime friend and a colleague has rejoined me,
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Frank moranod, thanks for joining me today once again. You are,
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of course a radio host, naturally syndicated. By the way, there's an
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update for everybody. Well, it's great to be back Alex. You know,
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I've been following your career since it began in radio, and it's great
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to see how far you've come. I enjoy not only this podcast, but
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I seeing your contributions regularly on the Arthur I Dollar Power Hour as well.
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So congratulations on everything that you've done. Thanks for having me. Well,
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let's and thanks to Arthur and everybody for and of course for you forgetting my
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start ten years ago. Can you believe that I can? Absolutely? All
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right, Well, let's get to the heart of the matter, because you
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know, as much as everybody's on the mind of Israel and what's going on
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over there, the Supreme Court has kind of made it difficult for independence to
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vote here in New York? Am I reading that right? Frank? Yes,
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So it's a little complicated, but I'll boil it down as simply as
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I can. When Governor Cuomo was in office, he was at war with
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the Working Families Party and they didn't care for him. He didn't care for
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them, and the Working Families Party was the bane of Governor Cuomo's existence,
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and so he did whatever he could to try to eliminate them from the ballot
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and eliminate them from existence. So he pushed through the legislature a bill that
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significantly raised the threshold for how you could get on the ballot in New York.
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So they made it so that in order to get on the ballot for
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governor, you had to collect forty thousand signatures rather than fifteen thousand signatures,
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quite an increased threshold. On top of that, instead of being able to
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be a party that qualified a candidate with fifty thousand votes, meaning if you
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got fifty thousand votes for governor, you could have ballot access, they raised
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it to one hundred thirty thousand votes or two percent of the vote's cast,
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whichever is greater. And if that wasn't enough, they made it so that
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instead of qualifying once every four years, you needed to qualify once every two
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years. Now, it was not successful in killing off the Working Families Party.
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They were able to meet that threshold, but it did kill off every
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other minor party in New York State, including the Green Party and the Libertarian
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Party, except for the Conservative Party. So the only two minor parties that
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are left are the Conservative Party and the Working Families Party, which are really
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parties that almost always endorsed the Democrat or the Republican So one would ask the
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question, are they even third parties. So two of the parties that were
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affected by this, the Green Party and the Libertarian Party, sued. They
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said, look, this is an unreasonable criteria, and on October second,
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this case went through the federal courts, went through the appellate courts, and
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on October second, the Supreme Court made their decision that they were going to
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refuse to hear this case a Libertarian Party versus New York State Board of Elections,
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and that means that the New York state law gets to stand. And
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it's very difficult to be a minor party in New York State, or even
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if you're a major party voter that wants to vote for a third party candidate,
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that's very rare as well. So there's a very real possibility that this
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could be the first election, the first presidential election in you know, maybe
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ever, certainly since the forties where there are only two candidates on the ballot,
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which it would be a real shame. Now, I know that you
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may not endorse RFK Junior right away, but you've had them on your show
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and pushing for that independent. Would he have a foothold in New York if
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he was allowed to run here? It sounds like you may not even be
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allowed to run here, Frank, It's a great question. Alex RFK Jr.
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Has said a lot of things that I like, and as you point
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out, yeah, I'm not ready to go with a full throated endorsement yet.
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But he has name recognition and a lot of money, which is what
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you would need in order to beat this, this forty thousand signature threshold.
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And I think it's possible that he might be able to beat this. But
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the other problem is what the New York State Legislature and Andrew Cuomo did was
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they not only raised the number of signatures required, but they did not expand
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the amount of time that it takes to get the signature. So you still
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have to get forty thousand signatures, but in six weeks, which is the
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same amount of time that they used to give you to get fifteen thousand signatures.
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So I don't know if Kennedy's going to be able to get on the
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ballot, but if if anybody can do it, I would think it's somebody
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like Kennedy that has a combination of resources and organization, or maybe the no
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Labels candidate. But it's going to be very difficult, and it's going to
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cause him to spend a lot of money on New York State just to get
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on the ballot before you even get to the point of before you even get
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to the point of asking people to vote for you got to ask you this
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because you've had a history of being part of the independent world. You had
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the Reform Party, you had the same party. What drives Frank Morano to
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be involved in this political game known as you know, getting signatures and getting
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on the ballot? I mean, this is what your passion, isn't it?
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You know, Alex I asked myself that question all the time, because
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by and large, it is a thankless job. It's one that's not glamorous,
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one that doesn't it doesn't bring you a lot of glory, and most
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of the time for reasons like what we're talking about with this Supreme Court situation.
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It leaves you frustrated. So really what it is is a desire to
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see the political system improved and a dissatisfaction with the way things are. You
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see, you have half the country that thinks the biggest problem in the country
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is Joe Biden. You have half the country that thinks the biggest problem in
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the country is Donald Trump. My belief is that the problem is not necessarily
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Joe Biden or Donald Trump. It is the political process and the structures that
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led to the creation and the emergence of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. I
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mean, if you look at what's going on this year or this cycle in
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twenty twenty four, you have a majority of Americans who say they would prefer
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not to see a Biden versus Trump rematch, and yet it seems that is
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where we are headed. So there's something really wrong with a political system that
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keeps producing matchups that nobody seems to want. And for that reason, and
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I think, you know, it was a Gallup poll that showed sixty three
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percent of Americans think we need a third major political party. And I think
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because both Trump and Biden are so polarizing, and because they have such baggage,
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this could be the election cycle where some sort of a major third party
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candidate emerges. I don't know if it's going to be Robert F. Kennedy
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Junior. I don't know if it's going to be someone like Joe Manchin with
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no labels, or if it's going to be someone entirely different, or maybe
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both of them. But I think I think it's really interesting. Well it
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is. And as you're talking about this, you know, firstly, when
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Democrat we're talking about reminds me of when Bernie Sanders was pretty much etched out
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of the Democratic primary things to you know, the DNC, and that was
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proven with rage, you know, Washerman Schultz and whatnot. But when the
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court says a candidate can't go on the ballot, is that dangerous when the
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judicial system starts to decide who gets on the ballot and whatnot, Well,
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it's a good question. I mean, in what the Supreme Court did here,
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it's into a pattern with them in which they've refused to hear all what
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they call cert petitions by minor parties or independent candidates on ballot access issues since
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nineteen ninety one. They haven't heard any cases regarding ballot access for independence of
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third party candidates in over thirty years. So I see it two ways.
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On the one hand, I believe that that limiting the access to who can
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get on the ballot and by extension, who can vote for alternative candidates,
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that does infringe upon all sorts of constitutional rights, including freedom of association.
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But on the other hand, I kind of understand where the Court is coming
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from. They're saying, on the one hand, look, if you want
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to change the laws in New York State, elect people to the state legislature
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that are going to do that. Don't come running to the Supreme Court to
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solve your political problems. So I'm disappointed in the Court's decision, their refusal
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to even hear this case, because I wanted this horrible law struck down.
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But I do understand where the Court's coming from in that their job is not
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to solve all of New York State's problems. That's why there are voters in
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New York State, and we should elect people that are interested in changing that
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law. All right, I'm sure you've covered this on the other side of
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Midnight, right, I mean, come on, this is what your Ballywick
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is, isn't it. Well? You know, as you mentioned, Alex,
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the show's nationally syndicated now, so I don't get to spend as much
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time covering New York State issues as I would like to. We do do
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these local three minute commentaries at the top of each hour, and I have
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mentioned it in one of these three minute commentaries, but I haven't really had
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the opportunity until now to talk about it at any great length, which is
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why I'm so appreciative of the opportunity you've given me to talk about it.
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You know, being that reform party with you, you kind of gave me
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that political knowledge. Well, I mean, because who knew fifty thousand votes
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to say Alive is a party? Now? Is that different from forty thousand
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petitions? What's the difference there? Well, so yeah, it's you throw
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out all these numbers. It gets a little confusing. So yeah, let
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me clarify again. And I appreciate the opportunity to clarify because I know sometimes
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I go a little quick and maybe these people get lost in all these numbers.
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So the way it worked, in order to run for governor, you
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needed fifteen thousand signatures you needed fifteen minimum. You needed fifteen thousand New Yorkers
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to sign a petition to get you on the ballot. Now you need more
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than double that. You need forty thousand signatures just to get you on the
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ballot. Now, what they've done, though, is if you actually got
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those forty thousand valid signatures, which so far nobody's been able to do under
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the new law, including very well organized candidates that running for governor last year,
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like Larry Sharp, like Harry Wilson, like Lee's Eldon, none of
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them could get meet this new forty thousand signature threshold to create an independent line.
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But even if you somehow, against all odds, are able to get
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the forty thousand signatures, you still have to then get fifth, excuse me,
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one hundred and thirty thousand votes, meaning one hundred and thirty thousand people
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have to say I'm voting for Alex Garrett under the Blue Party, and that
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would give the Blue Party ballot access not for four years, but for two
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years. It used to be only needed fifty thousand votes, which was which
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was difficult enough to get. Now you need one hundred and thirty thousand.
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So this petitioning right that's a staff in and of itself. It sounds like
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right now for these candidates, right yeah, And that's what I'm saying,
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Alex in that I don't know that anybody is going to be able to do
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it. It's kind of alarming. Now you are fering from Staten Island as
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Arthur Idella reverse us. So how is the Great Borough of sat I know
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there's a lot of crises going on, but give us an update straight from
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the burrow. I Well, I think Stanton Island is doing great. You
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know, they just last weekend opened the When I grew up, the biggest
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problem in Staten Island was the Fresh Kills landfill or is. Everybody out here
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just referred to it as the dump. Every time you would drive along Richmond
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Avenue or drive towards the mall, especially during the summer, you would smell
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this horrible stench. Even if you were in your car with the windows closed,
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this stench from this dump would permeate your car and you would smell.
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It was horrible, and it was not only an unpleasant thing, it was
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something that led to a lot of health issues for people growing up here,
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growing up around garbage and having and breathing in these fumes from the dump all
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the time. It was terrible. Well, under the leadership of Rudy Giuliani
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and Governor George Pataki and Borough President Guy Mullinery, they were able to close
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that dump twenty five three years ago, and as of last week the Fresh
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Kills Landfill, a portion of it is now open as a park. So
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they're in the process of turning the entire Fresh Kills Landfill into Fresh Kills Park
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and when it's all done, when it's completely opened, it will be the
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largest, excuse me, the second largest park in all of New York City
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after only Central Park. So that's exciting. That's what's happening here. The
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thing that a lot of Staten Island residents are worried about now is this migrant
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issue. Migrants being housed here. We got a major victory in court with
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the site of the former Saint John's Villa being closed to migrants, and now
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there's still a lot of concern about what other locations might be used to house
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migrants that are unvetted and that are being put in residential community. So that's
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kind of the one of the biggest issues that Stanton Islanders are dealing with these
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days. All Right, I gotta ask you one of my favorite, of
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course, everybody's favorite feature is commendation versus denunciation. You brought that to the
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national platform. What's that feel like to that? That's your baby there,
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Frank. Then now it's national. Well it's going great. And if people
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haven't heard the show, they can check it out at FMWABC dot com.
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You can catch up on the podcast, so you don't have to stay up
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from one am to five am. But yeah, thanks for mentioning that.
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On Mondays we give commendations. I give a little pat on the back to
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someone that's done something meritorious. Let's say somebody's done a great charitable effort,
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or set a new record for a sporting event, or help some people.
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That will give them a commendation. If somebody's done something bad, say they've
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committed a horrible crime, or they've stiffed me for a restaurant check, they
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would get a denunciation. And yeah, I think the national audience seems to
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be taking to it pretty well. All Right, you are a radio Savanta,
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mean you love the radio world. You've kind of grown up in it.
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So what's it mean that AM Radio stays in the car, we haven't
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have a chance to get to So that's a great time to do it.
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What about the AM radio issue that all summer we were dealing with, right,
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Yeah, Well, it looks like and I have to give credit to
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a lot of the folks in Congress on a bipartisan basis, folks on the
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right like Ted Cruz, folks on the left like Senator Ed Markey, And
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looks like they're going to pass this AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. It's
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already passed a Senate committee almost overwhelmingly again by parties, and looks like it's
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going to pass the whole Senate. I hope it'll pass the House soon,
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and I would hope the President Biden will sign it. And AM radio is
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so important. I mean, if you remember what was going on in Hurricane
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Sandy, alex AM radio was a lifeline to the people of New York.
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People that didn't have power, couldn't access their internet, didn't have television.
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AM radio was essential in getting people the information that they needed about where they
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could find gasoline, which gas stations were open, what estimates there were in
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terms of getting power restored, you know, including press conferences from key public
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officials, and a lot of people may say, Okay, well that was
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ten or eleven years ago. The world's changed. The world has changed,
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but I don't think the role at importance of AM radio has changed. If
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you look at what went on in Hawaii with these wildfires in Lahina just recently,
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AM radio played that same pivotal role in getting information to people. So
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in an era where Democrats and Republicans can't even seem to agree on what day
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it is, I'm really pleased to see that this effort in Washington seems to
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be coming to fruition. And I have to give credit to our friend and
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colleague John Katzimatitis, because he's really the one that led the movement to keep
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AM radio in every vehicle. And I hope it's going to be successful.
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Looks like it will be all right, while I have you the ballot Access
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News. I mean, look, it sounds to me like what this court
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saying is is it's going to be tougher to run, meaning maybe we won't
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have that next Speaker of the House, even in it means it's shutting down
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potential, right, so the potential for running for Congress is shut down as
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well, right, So what I'm trying to get at, Frank, is
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that while we're seeing the House in shambles, this ballot access could be helpful
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in that the next Speaker of the House could run for Congress right now and
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they won't be able to for forty thousand positions. Well, the law in
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New York it does apply only to statewide candidates like governor or president. It
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doesn't necessarily change the rules for Congress. But indirectly, I think you're right
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because you're keeping new parties from coming to fruition, and by keeping parties from
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getting ballid access, those parties aren't in a position to give congressional candidates a
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spot on the ballot. So yeah, I think you may see somebody having
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a difficult time even get on the ballot. But your thoughts on what's going
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on in the House just real quick, while, well, I think it.
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I think it's a real shame. I mean, I think if you
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look at what's going on on the international scene, and also what's going on
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in terms of the government about to run out of money and they facing the
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very real prospect of a government shutdown, they can't even agree on a Speaker
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of the House. I mean, in some ways, this was entirely predictable,
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having a majority that was so narrow, But it's just it's still a
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shame. I wish when it came time to Not that I'm any great fan
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of Kevin McCarthy, but I wish that when it came time to oust Kevin
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McCarthy, the Democrats would have given him a pass and instead just allowed him
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to stay on board at least long enough to negotiate something after the continuing Resolution
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to keep the government open. But I think a lot of these wounds are
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self inflicted. It seems like Kevin McCarthy made a lot of promises to people
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that he didn't keep, both Democrats and Republicans like Nancy Mace and so I
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don't know where this ends up. I would love to see it end up
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with some sort of a bipartisan speakership, but who knows. It's going to
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be very interesting, all right. So, Ballot Access News, what you
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forwarded me is that a site for everybody to write to sign on to.
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Is that an important resource for us who want to see change in our political
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system? Well? I read Ballot Access News every day. It's the first
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website that I look at. Honestly, it's very niche, though I don't
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know if the I mean, I don't know if most of the general public
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is going to find most of the material they cover interesting. Basically, they're
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covering news related to independent candidates, third parties and the difficulties of getting on
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the ballot and what's happening legislatively on ballot access issues. So if you're interested
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in ballot access issues, I am, like I am, it's a great
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resource. But if if that's a little in the weeds for some people,
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then you know, maybe it's not the best website. But I think it's
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great. If people want to check it out, they can do it.
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Just type in ballot Access News on Google. It comes right up. But
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then they also got to listen to the other side of Midnight because you break
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it down very well on that show in a four hour span. All right,
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one last question, a little Carmine, is it becoming a politico at
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a very young age? Are you raising him to be a politico? Frank?
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Right now, his priorities are making sure he can get a cookie before
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before lunch and running around and being able to push push his toy car around
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outside. He also has an obsession with ceiling fans. So if there was
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a president, a political candidate, or a presidential candidate that ran on a
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platform of putting a ceiling fan in every room, he would have Carmine support.
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And I know you guys enjoyed the Savannah Bananas. That must have been
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experience this year. That was a lot of fun. If I'd never seen
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the Savannah Bananas, but it's great. It's sort of like the Harlem Globetrotters
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of baseball. My first time seeing them, I got a big kick out
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of them, and certainly Carmine seemed too as well. But if people ever
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get the chance to see the Savannah Bananas come to their area, I would
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encourage them to do so. All right, I'll drop your info in the
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description. But where can people find you? Where can they? Where can
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they follow you? What? What's what's your links? Frank? Thank you?
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They can they can check out the podcast at FMW ABC dot com.
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You'd find me on x formerly known as Twitter at Frank Morano that's Frank m
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O R A n L. Or they can find me on Facebook at Facebook
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dot com slash Moranofan. That's Facebook dot com slash m O R a n
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O fan. I appreciate the opportunity, Alex. It's great to talk with
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you. I hope we can hang out again soon. We consider your friend,
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mentor colleague all in one, so thanks as always Frank for joining me.
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Thank you, Alex, and keep keep up the great work. And
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it's always great to be on on your podcast and get a leg up on
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the competition.