Mayor Bloomberg's Mini-Victory

For a normal mortal, Michael Bloomberg's 5-point mayoral win would be a healthy victory. For him, it looks like a desperate scraping of the barrel.

That's the burden that comes with being a multi-billionaire who can afford to clog the airwaves with more TV ads than the pharmaceutical industry.

Bill Thompson, his underfunded, not-terribly-well-known, less-than-charismatic opponent certainly deserves a tip of the hat. All things considered, he came close. Well done, Bill. This is what passes for a victory for Democratic mayoral candidates in New York City these days.

Bloomberg paid $100 million to get elected -- a new national standard. If he had known that the race was this tight -- not 18 points but 5 -- would he have upped the ante? It's hard to imagine how, short of purchasing every television station that beams into New York and instituting an All-Mike-All-The-Time programming schedule.

No, I think we can assume that Bloomberg did everything he could do. The mayor even provided the voters with a few B-movie horror chills by dredging up the Freddy Krueger of New York politics, Rudy Giuliani. Never a strong student of irony, Giuliani reminded us of the way things used to be. New Yorkers remembered all too well how things used to be with Giuliani and shuddered.

And Thompson, both underfunded and underenergized, went to the end of his capacities. In order to defeat Bloomberg, the comptroller would have had to run to the mayor's right by sharply criticizing Bloomberg's sweetheart deals with municipal unions. But that strategy just wasn't in the cards for a traditional New York Democrat.

So what about the voters? Apparently, they weren't as desperate for stable leadership as everyone anticipated.

New York continually falls in love with a quasi-Republican -- a Lindsey or a Giuliani. That's probably because our extreme attachment to the national Democratic Party is coupled by a deep hatred for the New York Democrats who run the state capitol.

We secretly suspect that a real Democrat will give away the store to someone -- the unions or the special interests or political insiders. Bloomberg fulfilled all our needs, at least for a while. He was a good administrator, and a Republican in name only. He did not belong to either of the brain-dead state parties, and he appeared to be both eager and good at the critical job of stitching up the city's gorgeous mosaic.

But he did very little to keep the city's union contracts under control. He could rightfully note that the schools got better, but they also got much more expensive.

And his double cross on term limits was all the more distressing to voters when measured against his oft-repeated promise to devote his life to philanthropy after finishing his two terms in office. Voters who expected to see a smiling St. Francis of Assisi emerge from City Hall just got another four years of Mike in a good suit, holding testy press conferences.

And Bloomberg's expensive, ubiquitous ad campaign grew increasingly ineffective as the campaign wore on. No one believed that he was actually fixing the economy or taking on the MTA. At the end of the campaign, a one-minute TV spot called "one-room office" attempted to turn the tiny billionaire into Abe Lincoln.

Lacking a log cabin, the mayor's media handlers rolled out black-and-white photos of his first ("one-room") office. That was followed by shots of the people's mayor with ordinary New Yorkers. Then the mayor materialized at a kitchen table seated in front of a mug of coffee. Now, this wasn't the mayor's kitchen. He was sitting in a spacious, well-equipped suburban room that was supposed to remind you of your own house. There was no way of telling why the mayor was sitting alone in your kitchen or why your kitchen was apparently located in Katonah.

And this all seemed worse because the kitchen was (as Jon Stewart kept pointing out) much better than most New York City kitchens while it was much worse than the place the mayor's own staff of servants prepare his meals.

He looked out of place and a little lonely. Viewers probably wound up feeling a little sorry for him. But not necessarily sorry enough to vote for him.

 

Comments

[epistemologist]

Bloomberg's opponent, Thompson, was so unknown by most New Yorkers, that it's fair to say that Bloomberg ran unopposed. Yet, Bloomberg gained only 50.6% of the votes cast, and in an election with one of the lowest turnouts in memory his gained only 13% of the possible voters. This is an immense rejection by New York of Bloomberg. All of this after his massive financial fortune overrode the voters mandate that no mayor serve more than two terms. The only honorable course would be for Mike to resign, although honor and Bloomberg have not been terms that have co-existed.

[MosheDayanHero]

On related news. A New York man recently won a huge lottery.
But only by smallest of margins, it has been reported.

[langej]

And how many presidents have been elected by a 5-point majority?
Ah well, the media pundits have decided that this huge victory is a near-loss and anyone who does not toe this line will be castigated.

[leftionthenews]

Frances Villar, candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, did even better in the votes/$ measure, and that was without getting a SINGLE WORD of coverage in the New York Times, New York Post, or Huffington Post for that matter. 3517 votes for REAL change.

http://elections.nytimes.com/2009/results/index.html

http://www.pslweb.org/site/PageServer?pagename=votepsl_home

[tonyspdx]

Its ok, King Michael can always buychange election laws to get a fourth term. New Yorkers are so blind.

[holeybuybull]

Congratulations NYC. Why don't you just make Bloomberg your mayor for life, then he could buy the "Magic Kingdom" slogan from Disney and everything will be just swell.

[MosheDayanHero]

Better than Dinkins any day of the millennium.

[Nelle]

Bill Thompson is my new political hero! After being outspent 16 to 1, I think Thompson did very well. I am glad that Mr. Bloomberg's micro-victory was won by just 5 percentage points and not the high double digits that his campaign was indicating. I am also glad that billionaire Bloomberg had to spend nearly $100 million of his own money to desperately hold on to his seat. Perhaps when his majesty decides that he wants to step down, Bill Thompson will show New York City what an excellent mayor a non-billionaire can be! You rock Thompson! Stay strong and don't give up on public office!

[MosheDayanHero]

"After being outspent 16 to 1"... Thompson lost.
Now there's a laudable political model to follow.
LOL.

[gjdagis]

We can all make suppositions about why the election turned out the way it did but even a perfunctory glance at the election returns, broken down by district, illustrate the most accurate assesment. I noted that Thompson was supported extremely strongly in black neighborhoods, and Bloomberg in Jewish ones. The election appears to clearly suggest that there was more than a hint of racism as evidence by this fact.In summation: There doesn't seem to be any political inferences that can be made from this election.

[pc13]

Meant to say nyc public school parent above.

[daveny]

I've taken to quoting from "A Man for All Seasons" whenever I run into some Bloomberg supporter who gives me the "yes, but I like what he does..." excuse for his overturn of term limits, or his stifiling of free speech that he doesn't like (ie. banning gatherings on the great lawn, the 2004 RNC, critical mass, etc):

"When the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you -- where then would you hide, all the laws being flat?"

We have laws to restrict the use of power or wealth because those same forces can always be turned against us. I will have no sympathy for those who support Bloomie now, only to decry his heavy-handed tactics when it's THEIR homes or jobs on the line!

[pc13]

I'm so tired of hearing Bloomberg's great on education. Look at the NYTimes exit polls. 25% voters were parents. They voted 55% Thompson 43% Bloomberg. It has been all smoke and mirrors -- manipulated data and LOTS of cheating by administrators. And I don't know any middle class New Yorker feeling sorry for Bloomberg.

[tomsemioli]

No formidable candidate was going to challenge the mighty Bloomberg machine in 2009 lest their political career wind up in tatters (just ask Fernando Ferrer). Also note the surprisingly tepid 25% voter turn-out, which oddly enough, hurt hizzoner more than Bill "Timid" Thompson . Business as usual in the Big Apple…long live the King of Gotham!

[bluevase]

When I got a 5 p.m. phone call from Bloomberg saying "Go out and vote," I did -- for Thompson. Bloomberg doesn't even know where the Bronx is.