Mayoral Campaign

Thirty million to repair the Brooklyn Bridge? The mayor spent more than that on television ads. Ten million for fixing Head Start centers? The mayor topped that on campaign consultants.

Given Thompson's financial disadvantage, losing by a respectable margin to Bloomberg can be spun as a moral victory, so in a sense Thompson can't lose. But his people think they can win.

He says he will deliver us a city "safer, stronger, greener and healthier -- and better than ever." Who can argue with that? As for the details, polls indicate he'll have four years to nail those down.

Maybe you want what Bloomberg's got: the NYPD guards, the keys to Gracie Mansion, the $1-a-year salary. Are you cut out for it? Take this quiz and find out.

Outer borough whites, who were key to electing Ed Koch three times and Giuliani twice, were crucial to Bloomberg, too, even if this mayor has also attracted significant support from blacks and Latinos.