NYC Dems blaming Obama & Fellow Dems for Bloomberg win. (Hysterical)

[Soul Crusher]

In wake of 5% loss to Mayor Bloomberg, Dems left asking, 'What if we'd done more for Bill Thompson?'
BY David Saltonstall and Celeste Katz
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
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The most nagging question among Bill Thompson's supporters on Wednesday is this: What if fellow Democrats had actually backed - rather than abandoned - him?

In the end, despite polls showing him trailing by 18 points in the final days of the campaign, Thompson lost to Mayor Bloomberg and his $100 million campaign by a mere 5 points.

So what if?

What if President Obama - instead of delivering a squishy, nonendorsement-endorsement of Thompson, after his press secretary couldn't even come up with Thompson's name - had stumped for the man?

"There are a number of people around Bill who felt that he was let down and that, yes, it could have helped if President Obama had campaigned with him," one senior Thompson adviser said last night. "But that's not who Bill Thompson is. He has not been bitter."

Bitter or not, the question remains.

What if Vice President Biden, in town Monday to raise money for other Democrats, had taken 10 minutes to say something nice about the controller?

What if City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, instead of sitting on her hands for months, used the power of her purse strings to rustle up some support for Thompson?

What if the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was happy to stand onstage last night at Thompson's concession speech, had stood a little closer during the campaign?

What if the more powerful city unions like the United Federation of Teachers and SEIU Local 1199, Democratic check writers or for-hire strategists had stayed true?

"A lot of Democratic donors who sat on their wallets are kicking themselves tonight," said Rep. Anthony Weiner, who bowed out of the race for mayor early on, but did what he could for Thompson down the stretch.

One senior campaign official conceded no one thought "we could come that close."

"Could we have gotten more support, from people who endorsed and the party itself? Yes," said the official. "We won't know what would [have] put us over the top, but it would have helped - extremely."

Others were not sure anything could have saved Thompson, who never exuded the passion voters want in a mayor.

"It wouldn't have done a thing, just like Bloomberg's money didn't make a difference," said Hunter College's political Prof. Ken Sherrill. "People who have lived in New York know what their lives are like and whether they are satisfied with Bloomberg."

dsaltonstall@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election_2009/2009/11/04/2009-11-04_in_wake_of_5_loss_to_mayor_bloomberg_dems_left_asking_what_if_wed_done_more_for_.html#ixzz0VtvQXvI6

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Wiener also came out and blamed Obama for this saying that had Obama spent less time in NJ he could have helped Thompson.

Hysterical. 

[Hugo Chavez]

don't bury my JFK thread ok  I'm going to bed now, don't put me on page 2 with a thread flood before Ozmo gets to see it   If you do, cool, just bump my thread for me, thanks bro.

[Soul Crusher]

N.Y.C. Mayor Michael Bloomberg survives scare
Tags:New York, Michael Bloomberg, Mayors, Thomas Menino, William Thompson Jr. Back to top  Listen Print Comment Email Recommend  Subscribe By BEN SMITH | 11/3/09 10:23 PM EST
Updated: 11/4/09 1:19 AM ESTText Size- + reset
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Michael Bloomberg walks out of the voting booth in New York City.
Photo: AP

POLITICO 44

Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s stunningly narrow re-election in New York was a moral defeat for the billionaire incumbent, and a profound embarrassment for a Democratic establishment – from the White House on down — that abandoned his rival, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, as a hopeless loser.

Bloomberg’s meager five-point win left Democrats pondering what might have been if New York’s Democratic donors hadn’t turned their back on Thompson, if its politicians had worked for him, and most of all if President Barack Obama had offered anything more than the lamest words of praise.

“Maybe one of those Corzine trips could have been better spent in New York. Who knows?" remarked New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, who weighed his own run for mayor, referring to the White House’s devout attention to the New Jersey contest.

“Maybe Anthony Weiner should have manned-up and run against Michael Bloomberg,” shot back a White House official, who attributed the night’s results across the board to anti-incumbent fervor.

The New York race deepened the impression that a White House that prides itself on resisting conventional political analysis had badly misjudged the key contests Tuesday — committing itself most heavily to a New Jersey election that Republican Chris Christie won handily, studiously avoiding a referendum to preserve same-sex marriage that was defeated in Maine and giving up too early in New York City.

But Obama wasn’t alone in abandoning Thompson. The city’s Democratic donors – source of millions for the likes of Obama and Senator Chuck Schumer – closed their wallets to the Brooklyn-born Thompson, who spent less than 10 percent of the $90 million spent by Bloomberg.

The city’s top politicians also kept their distance, with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Bloomberg ally, endorsing Thompson so late that he, out of pique, refused to appear with her to accept her backing.

But the president’s tepid endorsement appeared particularly calculated, and held particular sting.

Obama’s spokesman at first refused even to say Thompson’s name. And Obama’s late, weak backing did little to soothe irritation among New York’s black leaders that the first black president – who had already tried to torpedo the state’s floundering African-American governor – kept the African-American mayoral candidate at such a distance.

For Obama, the political reward was in associating himself with the independent Bloomberg and his non-partisan national image, not a fellow urban politician – and especially one who had appeared headed for a crushing defeat. That might have been the smart, unsentimental political choice, but locally, it made Obama seem just a bit too infatuated with the billionaire mayor.

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[240 is Back]

corzine tried to buy NJ and it didnt work.

Bloomberg tried o buy NY and it barely worked.

interesting.

[Soul Crusher]

corzine tried to buy NJ and it didnt work.

Bloomberg tried o buy NY and it barely worked.

interesting.

240 I live here and people in general are totally pissed off.  you keep downplaying things, but people are seriously ready to revolt over property taxes here.  I have a friend who lives in a tiny cape cod house in Eastchester, N.Y. who pays 14,000 a year in property taxes.     

One of my good friends who is as hardcore lib as they get, even more than you, voted GOP for the first time in her life the county exec race in Westchester where I live. 

The issues - taxes, spending, and out of control govt.  I also am getting her in shooting, but that is another story.   

[shootfighter1]

Seems like many in new york are unhappy with taxation but how would electing the democrat over the independent help?

Surprised Bloomberg won by that small a margin.

[Soul Crusher]

Seems like many in new york are unhappy with taxation but how would electing the democrat over the independent help?

Surprised Bloomberg won by that small a margin.

NYC is a wired place and Bloomberg does not generate motivation to go out an vote.  He probably won by the white ethnics in the bouroughs, the Italians, Jews, and others who did not want to see Dinkins #2. 

[shootfighter1]

How can the businesses operate there if someone was to increase taxation further?  (Assuming that's what the democrat would do).  I suppose the people that pay little or no taxes don't care.