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Gothamist loves how "secret meetings" become unsecret. For example, the NY Times reveals that former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, both eyeing a run against Mayor Bloomberg this fall, secretly met last week and allegedly agreed not to attack each other. Part of the reasoning is probably because each candidate has support from attractive blocs of voters (Latinos for Ferrer; blacks and women for Fields), they want to make sure that they don't alienate anyone in the process. Ferrer is the leading Democratic candidate, and Fields apparently is second in many polls; however, Fields' campaign coffers are not as impressive as other candidates'. The NY Times also noted that Ferrer to trying to mobilize more national Democratic support by saying that the NYC Mayoralty should be a national goal, which is pretty foolproof thinking, because it is the biggest city in the country. And even though it's a blue city, NYC has still seen 12 years of Republican rule. Gothamist's money for the Democratic candidate is split between Ferrer and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller. The debates should be very exciting; there might even be a runoff.
In other news, Miller is the first Democrat to hit the $7 million maximum he can raise to spend in the mayoral primary; he's also gained the support of the grocery workers' and traffic agents' unions. And the NY Observer's Ben Smith has good look at Mayor Bloomberg's reluctance as a politician and how that could hurt him come Election Day.
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A much better goal for the national (emphasis *national*) Democratic party would be to capture control of the governor's mansion. Governorships are increasingly the road to the White House, and I like the thought of grooming Eliot Spitzer for 2012 in Albany. Waht's more, we as New Yorkers tend to overestimate the national visibility and political clout of City Hall (which, of course, is natural -- most everyone everywhere overestimates the visibility of their local politicians). Giuliani became a national figure because of his willingness to use 9/11 to burnish his image, not because he was an outstanding mayor.
The importance of mayors to national politics has been steadily declining in recent years, and that's for the best. I want City Hall to fix potholes, fund the schools and keep cops on the street, not worry about laying political groundwork for primary candidates in national and state elections.
C'mon people. Do we really want political schiesters like Ferrer or Fields in City Hall? After Bloomy that would be taking a serious step backwards.
It's "shysters," and it's a slur.
I didn't mean shyster (does anyone even use that word outside Nazi Germany circa 1939?). I meant Scheister which is more along the lines of sh**ter which also means a liar or a thief.