Charlie Rangel Really Might Lose This Time

Josh Robin

When he's in charge, Charlie Rangel charms. The Harlem Democrat, longtime dean of New York City's congressional delegation, calls order at large meetings with piercing whistles, fingers in his mouth gym teacher style. "Hey gang!" Rangel, 84, pipes in an old-time uptown accent — part Barry White, part Groucho Marx ("certain" is pronounced "SOI-tan&quot . His pompadour glistens.

But when Rangel is threatened, out comes his scowls — and these days you can often see those thick eyebrows narrowing. He could lose the seat he's held since John Lennon and Yoko Ono played the Apollo Theater. And it may hinge on Rangel's own derisive remarks about an opponent's ethnicity.

"Just what the heck has he done besides saying he's a Dominican?" the 22-term congressman asked at the first televised debate June 6. He was referring to his main competitor, Adriano Espaillat, a state senator from the Washington Heights section of Manhattan who would be the first from the Caribbean island in Congress if he wins the four-person race (there's no Republican running).

Referring to what he claimed was Espaillat's fixation on his own heritage, Rangel told reporters after: "It's difficult to talk about ... I mention it because — because it may be true."

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