how did we end up with NYC mayoral candidates like this?

who else would you run?

I mean Anthony Weiner

if i lived in NYC, i would probably end up voting for bloomberg.

http://mayorbrodeur.org/

Um, sorry.

now if giuliani were still around, i'd hold my nose and support the winner -- but he's history now, and bloomberg ain't nowhere near as bad as giuliani.

And none of them would be rewarded for bringing Bushstock here.

being democrats didn't stop ed rendell and john street from bringing bushstock '00 to philadelphia.

Saw IOIHKBWLA-WMD-IWVW Weiner yakking to an interviewer on his cel about 20 yards from my subway entrance.

By what Ouija board is Weiner the one 'with a prayer,' aside from this week's media-lemming fashion?

also fuck morgenthau.

Dial 311.

"Fields = who ARE you again?" Come on dude. She's the Manhattan Borough President. Just because you don't pay attention to local politics doesn't mean she isn't qualified. Each of the candidates are qualified and would probably do a better job than Bloomberg. You think he's making the subways run better? You think public schools in New York are okay? You think Bloomberg does anything to improve the "quality of life" for poor people in New York? He's exactly like Giuliani and cares about nothing but making New York a squeaky clean and sterile place for tourists and businessmen. Wake up.

do you really think that freddy "i have no problem w/ what you cops did to amadou diallo" ferrer would be any better in reigning in out-of-control cops?!?

because he opposes the death penalty and his opponent, who has like zero experience, doesn't?

So I'm kind of hard-pressed to vote against him, given the field of contenders. But there are enough negatives to make me unhappy about voting for him, too.

Anyway, it's all academic, because he's going to get re-elected.

I think the race would be academic if the candidate were named Fields (too nice), Ferrer (I'm not the only one who's unconvinced) or Miller (the less accomplished and more uptight of the two rich, white preppies?). But I really think that Weiner has a small chance to turn it into the real thing. And the way he's going to do it is by focusing on crime and homeland security - the very things that Bloomberg looks a bit out of his element in discussing in his new commercials.

yes, even tho i think ferrer's a douchebag too.

also fuck morgenthau
because he opposes the death penalty and his opponent, who has like zero experience, doesn't?

isn't it really kinda pointless to oppose the death penalty in a state that doesn't really have one? i mean, we have one now, but it's not enforced. also, pretty hard for someone to get experience when morgenthau's been in the job for 20FUCKINGMILLIONYEARS. also, "like zero experience" reads to me like "yes, let's not have a woman try out the job." also, even charlie fucking hynes (whom i'm voting against) has a domestic violence unit.

And given the choice, ppl will vote for the older, richer whiny single Jewish guy.

And given the choice, ppl will vote for the older, richer whiny single Jewish guy

repeat that again 3x

apparently, i'm going against the NYT on every slate. is that a good or a bad thing?

yes, I guess he's unconcerned with winning the votes of the 60% of New Yorkers (and 2/3+ of Manhattanites) who are single. or maybe it's that he, like anyone else, has to win the votes of Bloomberg voters to win the thing, and that many of them are, wait for it... married. and most people are with you in imagining that "middle class" means "not poor" rather than "not rich (like guess fucking who)."

virginia fields, i just don't know that much about her -- b/c i DON'T LIVE IN NEW YORK. how many NYers know anything about, say, doug forrester (NJ's republican gubernatorial nominee) or reps. menendez or andrews (both of whom may seek the NJ senatorial nomination next year?) i didn't think so. anyway, maybe she'd be good but as i said, i don't know that much about her.

ferrer and weiner are the 2 that i have serious misgivings about. ferrer, b/c he's a hack and a douchebag. weiner, b/c he seems really oily and phony, not to mention that he kisses too much lubavitcher/likudnik ass (he was pro-censorship in the whole columbia kerfluffle earlier this year) for my comfort. as i said before, if either were running against giuliani i'd hold my nose and vote for them -- but they're running against bloomberg.

anyway, don't get too hopped up about my opinions re this, since i live in NJ and can't vote in the NYC mayor race anyway. NY politics is way too byzantine.

brooklyn machine was out in force for sampson today. ugh. no, homeless dude who just showered for the first time in a month waiting for me on the corner, i already voted.

Brodeur got 40% as a many votes as Miller! He wasn't on my ballot -- were those write-ins?

The New York Times
September 7, 2005 Wednesday

Our Choice for Public Advocate

The office of the public advocate is an enigma in New York City government. Created in the City Charter revision of 1990, it lacks real power and a mandate, beyond a vague description of the public advocate as an ''ombudsman'' who monitors city services. The advocate is nonetheless the second-highest-ranking city official and the first in line to succeed the mayor, albeit temporarily, in an emergency. There is no template for doing the job, but New Yorkers should expect their public advocate to be experienced, independent and resourceful.

The incumbent, Betsy Gotbaum, faces two tough challengers as she seeks re-election. Andrew Rasiej, a nightclub-owner-turned-technology-entrepreneur, has built a campaign on a good idea: getting low-cost wireless Internet service to everyone. But he has been light on the specifics of how to achieve it. His candidacy has seemed to be more of a novelty than a serious venture. Norman Siegel lost to Ms. Gotbaum in a runoff four years ago. A former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, he has been an earnest and often effective advocate in the courts for a wide range of groups. But his combative approach is better suited to litigating than to holding public office.

As for Ms. Gotbaum, she has been both diligent and disappointing. A former parks commissioner who also rescued the New-York Historical Society, Ms. Gotbaum has a long history of accomplishments in civic life. Yet she has seemed as shy of the spotlight as her predecessor, Mark Green, was eager to embrace it. Some of that is due to Ms. Gotbaum's more low-key style, but it also reflects the battles she has waged behind closed doors with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who cut her budget and staff. Ms. Gotbaum has chosen to use her limited resources to serve as the voice -- and, yes, as the advocate -- for the city's most vulnerable, underserved and invisible residents: poor families, battered women and schoolchildren. In doing so, she has ably filled a void in the city's leadership.

She fought budget cuts to get hot meals delivered to the elderly and to get school meals for low-income students. She marshaled federal, local and private resources to help get food stamps for needy New Yorkers, cutting through the red tape and bureaucracies to help thousands. In that same spirit, she took on failures in the foster care network, the shortage of affordable housing and severe crowding in city schools. And she railed against spending hundreds of millions of taxpayers' dollars for a stadium on the West Side of Manhattan.

Ms. Gotbaum does need to push herself to be more public as she advocates. That said, she is the best candidate for the job. We endorse Betsy Gotbaum.

She helped some little kid who got beat up in school! Don't you get the mailings?

which you were defending!

I totally disagree.

And I wasn't "defending" Morgenthau, just saying that it appeared that Snyder's campaign message appeared quite distinct from her actual agenda, which I did not prefer.

How so?

I think her campaign had a lot more to do with making justice more retributive and the Law & Order/Court TV sideline than changing the racial and gender composition of the top ranks of the DA's office, but NY primary voters are super-liberal so you go with what works.

no, just right. and morgenthau isn't fdr, duh. and 30 years < 15 years. learn one math.

I think her campaign had a lot more to do with making justice more retributive and the Law & Order/Court TV sideline than changing the racial and gender composition of the top ranks of the DA's office, but NY primary voters are super-liberal so you go with what works.

where's your evidence?

also, NYC DA < President

right. he did the right thing by dropping out, but i still don't like him very much (for reasons already mentioned). and had weiner won (and if i could vote in NYC), i would've voted for bloomberg over him.

i could be convinced to support ferrer, FWIW. so it's 2001 all over again (i.e., flip-a-coin-before-voting time).

uh, because they both involve multiple terms?

BRODEUR!