Zimmerman to lead America to ‘do great things’

Robert Zimmerman, an unpaid political commentator for more than a decade for Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, is hoping to become the congressman who will replace Congressman Tom Suozzi, who ran unsuccessfully for governor, in the U.S. House of Representatives. 
Zimmerman, 67, a lifelong Democrat, is co-president and co-founder of ZE Creative Communications, a public relations firm in Great Neck, where he lives. People have told him, he said, that it’s his time to make another run for elective office. 
It will be the fourth attempt for the Democratic National Committee member of 22 years. Zimmerman ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1982, when he was just 27. He was a candidate for the State Assembly in 1986 and 1988, and lost both times. Then he took a break from being a candidate to building a successful business. 
So why is he running now? 
“We are facing the biggest threat to democracy since the Civil War,” Zimmerman said. “Everything I believe in is on the line. So many people today feel isolated. And so many families are trying to rebuild after Covid. We need for people to feel safe again.” 

Zimmerman has advocated for women’s reproductive rights, gun safety and LGBTQ rights for decades. Some of that advocacy, which he described as his “mission in life,” has been personal.
“When I grew up in the ’70s in Great Neck, it was a very isolating time to be a gay kid,” he said. “I even had a former educator suggest conversion therapy to me. I found that political activism gave me a voice after high school and college. It gave me a connection with people.”
Although Zimmerman has never held office, his interest in politics dates back to when he was 16, and volunteered to work for the campaign of U.S. Rep. Lester Wolff, who was running for re-election.
Zimmerman learned from Wolff, who impressed him with his ability to connect with people. Wolff had a gift for speaking in front of tough audiences, which Zimmerman said he can do too. 
After Zimmerman graduated from Brandeis University, he interrupted his MBA studies at Fordham University to go to Washington, where he worked as a senior aide for Wolff, and then for Rep. James Scheuer. 
His experience there will help him to be an effective congressman. Like Wolff, he is committed to building coalitions in Washington. 
“It’s about listening to people, understanding their concerns and being persistent and aggressive to get the work done,” he said. 
Zimmerman said he has learned that in order for his advocacy to be successful, people need to see the urgency and the relevance of an issue.
“What I’ve found is a loss of confidence that America can do great things,” Zimmerman said. “This is a country that saved the world from fascism and put a man on the moon, but people are cynical of the federal government. We have to remember our great legacy as a country.”
It’s government’s responsibility to show its citizens that the country is as great as they are, he continued, and that we can move forward after the coronavirus pandemic. 
He is committed to combating gun violence, and would like to replicate state legislation on the federal level, to ban ghost guns and assault weapons and require universal background checks. And gun manufacturers should be held responsible, since they are “marketing weapons of war.”
He would also like to expand voting rights, he said, and would stand up for police, though he would like to see important reforms. Bail laws are in need of reform, too, he said, and judges need more authority. 
Zimmerman is for Medicare for all, citing the 23 million Americans who lost their jobs, and with them their health care, during the pandemic. 
And he promised to ensure the 3rd District would get its share of the federal infrastructure money.