The Mayoral Race That Wasn't

Bill Thompson held up fairly well in Tuesday night's mayoral debate. Unfortunately, his staggering campaign needed more than a victory by a nose.

He needed the kind of moment in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg fell to the floor weeping, or suddenly admitted that he was an alien from outer space, disguised as a human in order to carry out a sinister intergalactic plot to strip the earth of all its valuable sea salts.

Didn't happen.

Thompson really went after Bloomberg for violating the two-term limit. That is exactly what all the experts said he should do. The vast majority of New Yorkers aren't really comfortable with the idea of the rich guy doing an end run around the rules.

But it made no difference whatsoever. The real thing the debate proved is that the fact that Bloomberg wants to sneak an extra slice of the mayoral-tenure pie isn't enough to keep him from getting re-elected.

Just a few weeks from the finish line, Thompson's campaign is so desperate that when a Democratic elected official endorses the Democratic candidate for mayor, it's news.

The most spectacular example of Thompson's desperation came when White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked who President Obama supports in the race. "The president is the leader of the Democratic Party and as that would support the Democratic nominee," Gibbs responded.

He added that Obama "obviously has a tremendous amount of respect" for Bloomberg, who is not the Democratic nominee. And then, without ever mentioning who the Democratic nominee actually is, Gibbs moved on to another topic.

Thompson was so thrilled by this backhanded endorsement that you'd have thought he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He immediately called a press conference to announce "how proud and honored I am."

What's going on here? Thompson is a perfectly respectable candidate, a two-term city Comptroller and former Board of Education head. He's personable; he's never been involved in a major scandal. And he's running in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 5-1.

But nobody seems to think he can win. Including Barack Obama.

Obviously, a billionaire incumbent has an advantage. On TV, Bloomberg's ads are everywhere -- he ran nearly 900 in September, compared to -- my God, this is depressing -- 14 for Thompson.

But the general lack of enthusiasm for Thompson has roots in something more serious than a super-rich opponent. The people of New York City believe in the values of the Democratic Party, but they don't trust it to produce strong leaders on the local level.

New York, that bluest of blue cities, hasn't had a Democratic mayor since David Dinkins was defeated by Rudy Giuliani in 1993. Dinkins was not a bad mayor, although he admittedly didn't set the world on fire. Giuliani, after a couple of years of refreshing toughness on crime and city spending, was not a very good one -- by the end he was downright awful. But the city was still left with an image of a weak Democratic clubhouse politician being tossed into the dustbin of history by a stern, no-nonsense successor.

We haven't gotten over that image, in part because the city Democrats haven't given us much of an alternative. Christine Quinn, the City Council President, got entangled in a series of dumb scandals about the budget process. Our Congressional delegation has always been depressingly mediocre. Except Charles Rangel, who was the city's pride, its superstar -- until he became our tax-evading, rent-stabilized-apartment-hogging embarrassment.

When New York Democrats think of the party they identify with, they think of Obama or Ted Kennedy or Hillary Clinton. When they think of the party they're stuck with on the local level, they envision -- nobody. Faceless hacks. Inept state legislators. A pol on a perp walk.

When an average candidate like Bill Thompson is forced to bear the burden of that image, he starts the race with a hopeless disadvantage, especially when his opponent is a cool, haughty but competent pseudo-Republican like Bloomberg.

Somebody needs to fix the New York Democratic Party. But the people who have the standing and the power, like Sen. Chuck Schumer, don't want to have anything more to do with it than absolutely necessary.

Although at least Schumer did endorse Thompson.

Comments

[longnow]

NYC people seem to be oblivious to the economic problems that have hit
& will hit our city & country. The Dow is at 10,000, right? IMO, we will
experience a double dip recession. Banks are broke but they cheat the system
(not always a bad thing) to make the bottom line look good... for now.

As per the Village Voice Thompson helped deplete NY pensions by getting huge commissions
for his unqualified friends as "finders fees" for exotic pension "investments".
Where do you stick career politicians who look good & can talk
a blue streak? Board of Ed (until Bloomberg came along, thank God) & Controller
& hold your breathe. Until recently you couldn't get into much trouble as
controller but then along came the market crash. In my opinion we haven't
heard the worst about NYC & NYS pensions.

The only career politician I would even think of voting for mayor is Rep. Anthony Weiner.
There has to be at least one or two more out there in the crooked mess, right?

Why would I vote for Bloomberg? Not a career pol, graduated as an engineer,
cannot be bribed. Like Spitzer, he knows how Wall St thieves think
(something for nothing & more of it) & he might be able to prevent them
from taking the system & the country down again in a double dip
recession/ deflation while keeping the monetary system & credit healthy.
Third term? We're lucky to have a non-pol like Bloomberg.

BTW, see

[MorpheusXNYC]

We need an outspoken, inspiring and charismatic leader type to run for mayor - a Gavin Newsome-esque character - male or female.

New Yorkers are jaded by nature. You've got to really shake things up and inspire us in order to get our vote, or else the people will just keep voting in whoever they think will do the least harm to the city and keep it running just a little bit longer without major catastrophe as opposed to someone who will truly reform the system.

[langej]

"The people of New York City believe in the values of the Democratic Party, but they don't trust it to produce strong leaders on the local level."

Not so stupid, these New Yorkers, are they?

[satyriasis]

Nobody wants a return to the dreadful 70's and 80's.

Democrats often suck at the local level. Not surprising. Republicans are okay so long as they don't run Washington as far as I'm concerned.

[devadasi]

The dreadful 70's and 80's were a helleva lot better than the dreadful 90' s and present. Guliani and Bloomberg destroyed the soul of New York and buried the middle class with it.

The 70's and 80's were a great time in New York, if you were a real New Yorker. It was a bit seedy and real, and affordable.

[Nelson Montana - Huffpost Blogger]

I was never behind term limits. If someone is doing a good job, why shouldn't he be allowed to continue? If he or she isn;t, vote 'em out! Simple. I wonder how many Dems would have squawked if they reversed term limits during Clinton's Precedency. I also think it's idiotic to get on Bloomberg for having money. It isn't YOUR money he's spending. That's more than I can say for 99.9% of all the other politicians. Thompson is there because he's got nothing to lose. Besides the race.

[Noland]

Ditto. I have not heard Mr. Thompson say one thing that hasn't been said by the majority of politicians on both sides for the last 30 years. It makes me ill to hear him spew the same BS we've all heard time and again. At least Mike has the balls to say screw you I think this works best. I don't always agree with his decisions but hell no one has him in their pocket for paybacks.

[Lee Spinner]

Why bother to pretend there is any law that applies to Bloomberg or any other politician in NY state? Every one of them seems to do whatever they please and never mind what the voters or the law say. I think the best question is why the hell is Bloomberg spending this much money on a mayoral race? To me this is either colossal stupidity or megalomania, if he wants to do something truly good for the city maybe he could have tried donating that to some of the different charities across the city and throughout the state even that have said how they have been hurt by the recession. Wait...I am sorry, that would mean an end to him and his antics in the press, and what a shame that would be.

[ezet22]

The things is Mr. B is supposedly one of the smatest and most capable guys in the world.
He had his shot fair and square. Then he changed the rules like his predecessor tried.
The fact is he did not set the world on fire, in NYC.
Now he is on a 3rd term ego trip, which has always been unlucky for the city. Koch's 3rd term was miserable and actually hurt the country.
This is dissapointing from him and goes to the heart of the challenges America faces in a new and open world. If we are bad 'they' will be worse. He knows better.
Mr. B has the integrity, class and will be a tremendous asset to a Mayor Bill Thompson, who is a solid likable and accountable guy.
Why undermine moral authority and good reputation built up over the years, by being tone deaf on political fairness.
His basic problem? He tried to make NYC a playground for the rich and famous. Who have always had a good secure and limited place in the city. New York is a basically working and middle class
cit y, most of whom don't want to be anybody's playthings

[devadasi]

Fanned EZET22; your comment: 'He tried to make NYC a playground for the rich and famous. Who have always had a good secure and limited place in the city. New York is a basically working and middle class cit y, most of whom don't want to be anybody's playthings'. This is one of the most insightful comments I have heard about the soul murder of New York and it's demise of the middle class thanks to Guliani and Bloomberg. As a native New Yorker I find it heartbreaking what has happened to New York Cityin the last 20 years.

[yogidad]

Thompson is not an acceptable candidate. Like all democrats near the top of the NY City elected ladder he is the choice of a party boss. He is a party hack from the exact same system that produced Boss Twead and its related corruption. That system has never produced a democrat with the skills and ability to launch a national or even statewide career. Gov. Paterson is part of the system but he got his position by default.
New Yorkers know on some level they have to vote for someone outside that system whenever possible. The last time they voted for the party hack was Dinkins. He was so tied to the system that produced him that he couldn't do anything, demand anything, or fix anything.
Getting back to the corruption. Cuomo is investigating the State Comptroller's Office over improprieties in placing investments in the retirement fund. Thompson did the same thing (he admits it) and worse, and lost a lot of money - more than NYS or NJ. But there is no investigation against Thompson's office because Cuomo doesn't want to buck the party boss's choice before he runs for gov. And the world goes round.

[live by the golden rule]

I plan to vote for Bill Thompson and all Huff post readers should consider doing the same.

When one candidate spends, literally, over a $100 million [that is, yes, over $100 million] to present himself as a talented hero and his opponent as a terrible person, well,what do you think is going to happen?

In fact, I voted against term limits, but I will make an exception for Bloomberg since he is in a position to buy election after election.

Bloomberg means well, but he has been a disaster for the middle class in NYC.

But he schmoozes the editorial boards, the campaign receives minimal coverage in the press, and when it is covered, it's mostly like the article here, instead of anything about Bloomberg's record, or about Thompson. SO, the vast majority of the election "coverage" that voters hear is what Bloomberg wants them to hear, paid for by his ads, mailers, repeated phonecalls­.....

Please note that the only way Thompson could win is through grassroots support--- door to door, day-to-day campaigning. Several organizations that supported Bloomberg in the past have gone over to Thompson.

If you are thinking of voting for Bloomberg, ask yourself: is it something he actually did, or have I been brainwashed by all of those ads telling me how wonderful he is?

[anfractuous]

During the debate, Bloomberg explained his decision for a third term by saying his "friends" asked him to run again. Please Mr. Bloomberg, name a single one of these "friends" who is worth less than $100 million dollars.

[capitalismisntamoral]

EX-ACTLY

the sheer number of mailings, phone calls, and TV commercials (all attacking Thompson for being just a politician) is mind-numbing and making me DESPISE Mayor-for-Life Mike.

If you claim to be ABOVE politics, talk about the stuff you've actually DONE in your 8 years, don't attack your opponent - like any other politician would.

Oh, right people don't want to be reminded of how little affordable housing is left in NYC, and how much taxpayers shelled out for 2 Huge new stadiums for 2 hugely profitable teams, and how the Atlantic Yards will still need to be rammed through, and, and .....

Mayor-for-Life Mike is really great at one aspect of the job - public relations.

[devadasi]

Fanned Livebytheg­oldenrule.­....as a three generation native New Yorker I am disgusted and heartbroken by the actions of Guliani and Bloomberg. They have destroyed NYC and turned into a lavish playground for the rich and famous.

[deeblk07]

I will be voting for Bill Thompson!!!!

[Paramendra Bhagat]

Bloom seems to have a wide lead.

[leehpsl]

Thompson is a terrible candidate. He has no charisma and he's never accomplished anything of note. Although I'm voting for him. A lot of us wld've voted for Christine Quinn until she got caught in that slush fund scandal. Oh and after that she strong-armed the city council into okaying Bloomberg's 3d term. The courts actually approved that so there's no recourse. I'll never vote for her for anything after that.

then there's Anthony Wiener. he's doing a great job in congress on health care but i was hoping he'd run for Mayor as he's been implying he wanted to do. Nope. He was too intimidated by Bloomberg's billions.

A lot of the NY Democrats went along with Bloomberg's end run around the voter's will on term limits. People like Schumer & Koch endorsed the candidates who voted to give Bloomberg a 3d term. I may never vote for Schumer again myself.

[devadasi]

Anthony Weiner should have run.....he­'s got brains and charisma and he's tough. You're right about Bill Thompson; while I support his policies and views he lacks charisma. I could never vote for Bloomberg.

[3fingerbrown]

Weiner, of course, would've been the superior candidate and could've had it if he wanted it. And I bet that someday he will be mayor. But he knew this was not his year, not against Boss Bloomberg.

He was smart to walk away from city politics this season and dive headlong into the health-care debate, playing the role of Obama's progressive pain-in-the-neck on reform. Weiner as the abrassive, persistent liberal voice on the issue enables Obama to look more moderate, more centrist. As Weiner told New York magazine recently, if the Obama administration did not have an Anthony Weiner, they'd have to invent him.

In the meantime, Weiner builds his resume as a player in national politics and bolsters his credentials among NY's true progressives. A smart, shrewd guy. Someday before long, he and Andy Cuomo will be running this state.

[meeneecat]

Your right on the money. Our dysfunctional, feckless do nothing state legislature, ensures that no meaningful reform ever gets done...New Yorkers have long felt they simply can't AFFORD to have a governor without "balls", whether it's horrible, "Mr. 9/11", or one of the "billionaires own"...New Yorkers at least feel that these people can get SOMETHING done (no matter if we agree or not with that something), at least it is SOMETHING.

Many people resent NYC because they wrongly perceive, due to our large size/minority population, we siphon off more tax money than we pay out. Actually, the opposite is true, NYC is a cash cow for both state & federal gov'ts, but we get shafted BIG time. In 2008 we paid $10.9 billion more in taxes than we got back from state gov't, & $11.1 billion more to the feds than we got back in funding. Many are not aware of this, however, most of us are painfully aware at how much more expensive it's getting to stay in our own neighborhoods. With so many important issues, NYers simply feel that they can't take a chance on a governor who just sits on the sidelines & whom no one will take seriously. It's sad, but true: the local democratic party is synonymous with incompetent and on the off chance that there's a democrat who can get stuff done, they either leave local governance & go off to Washington, or they are ruined by a sex scandal.

[greenferret]

"The lack of enthusiasm for Bill Thompson has roots in more than a super-rich opponent. New York City believes in the values of the Democrats, but doesn't trust them to produce strong leaders on the local level."

What values? New York City Democrats are sellouts and hacks, and if they aren't, the machine gets rid of them. The only candidates in this race with any integrity weren't invited to that "debate" - and that's no accident. Christine Quinn and the Democrats enabled Bloomberg's third term by repealing term limits that New Yorkers voted for twice. Casting the Democrats as the opposition would be laughable if it weren't so disingenuous.

The only worthwhile moment from tuesday's otherwise-scripted debate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh5RZZL6DIQ

[anfractuous]

Lets see how many of Bloomberg's supporters actually schlep to the polls. Unless your net worth is over ten figures, the prospect of a Thompson victory is not so terrifying as to compel anyone to vote for his opponent, and however sympathetic many people are to Bllomberg's policies, they also harbor a secret resentment about a third term .
An unscientific study, with myself as sole subject, suggests that Thompson supporters are much more likely to pull the lever and stick it to Bloomberg, than vise versa. Of course , who knows what king of "get out the vote" efforts Mayor Mike's checkbook will underwrite?

[MorpheusXNYC]

I don't have massive qualms about the way Bloomberg has run the city, but as a Progressive Democrat, his end run around term limits in contravention to the will of the people as well as seeing his stance on police brutality/profiling and his support for Rudy Giuliani for Governor, I'm pulling the lever for Thompson, even if it's a wasted vote.