Joe Bruno’s Spitzer Peace Plan
Eliot Spitzer’s epic feud with Joe Bruno has been lots of fun for headline writers and politics watchers, if perhaps not so good for Albany’s effective functioning. But here’s a funny thing: As Steve Fishman reports in this week’s cover story, their big fight didn’t even have to happen. In the last days of the legislative session, about a month ago, Bruno approached Spitzer with the idea of a non-aggression pact: He’d support the governor’s cherished campaign-finance proposal if the governor would agree not to campaign against Senate Republicans. The plan to reduce the money flowing into state politics is “Spitzer’s obsession,” Bruno told Fishman, but the Republican leader wouldn’t disarm in the face of a wealthy, powerful governor determined to break the GOP’s hold on the Senate. Under Bruno’s deal, Spitzer would get the campaign-finance reform he wanted, Bruno would get protection, and both would be able to move forward on four or five pieces of legislation caught in the crossfire. But Spitzer would agree merely to congratulate the Republicans if they helped push his agenda. “That’s not good enough,” Bruno told him, according to Fishman’s source. And a few days later they were at war.
The Steamroller in the Swamp [NYM]
in other news
‘Daily News’: America Likes Mike (a Little)
The Daily News traveled beyond the Hudson to ask America about Mike Bloomberg, and they come back with some news: The country doesn’t hate him. The mayor’s aw-shucks joke is to pronounce his unelectability as “a short Jewish billionaire from New York.” But the News poll, the paper says today, shows that a quick recitation of his achievements bumps his numbers from 10 percent who’d vote for him to 13 percent. (Oddly, the initiative that seems to most resonate with the heartland is the school cell-phone ban.)
intel
McCain’s Strategist Blames Himself
You know John McCain’s presidential campaign is imploding. Do you know whose fault it is? John Weaver, the longtime West Villager who was McCain’s chief strategist, blames himself. “We had a spending problem, a message problem, a spending problem,” he told New York’s Geoffrey Gray in his first full interview since resigning from the McCain campaign this week. “That’s nobody’s fault but mine.” Gray’s piece runs in next week’s magazine — and on nymag.com today.
Off the Bus [NYM]
in other news
Firefighters Hate Rudy — and Want You to Know It
The International Association of Firefighters has long hated Rudy Giuliani. He didn’t give New York’s Bravest adequate equipment before 9/11, the union has always said, he was insufficiently concerned with their safety during cleanup after 9/11, and he didn’t let them search ground zero long enough for the remains of their brethren. Worst of all, they argue, he’s built a persona — and a thriving presidential campaign — by appropriating firefighters’ heroism as his own. Yesterday the union put out a campaign-style video, attacking Giuliani for his failings. “He was running on his 9/11 leadership, and it was lacking,” FDNY deputy chief Jim Riches says in it. “He was not the hero of 9/11.” And there’s lots more like that.
in the magazine
Summer of Sam Revisited: ‘New York’ on the Dems’ Lousy Mayoral CampaignThe Summer of Sam was also the summer of a hotly contested Democratic mayoral primary. Ed Koch, Mario Cuomo, and Bella Abzug were just a few of the politicians vying for the city crown amid all the chaos, and in a September 1977 issue of New York, Doug Ireland was disgusted with the whole process. “Surely this is the oddest Democratic primary in recent history. Seldom have the voters in our town had such a hopeless welter of nonissues thrown at them in a mayoral campaign,” he wrote. “[I]n a city still reeling from a swelter summer of blackouts, looting, criminally high unemployment, and Son of Sam, most candidates are as afraid of the voters as the voters are of the muggers in the streets.” Take a look at the whole article for a flashback to city politics, seventies style.
Democratic Dogfight: A Hopeless Welter of Nonissues [NYM (pdf)]
Earlier: Summer of Sam Revisited: ‘New York’ on the Search for Sam
20-person poll
Bush Commutes Libby’s Sentence, New Yorkers Shrug
The Times is indignant, Gawker is indignant — hell, we’re even feeling a little indignant — that President Bush commuted convicted perjurer Scooter Libby’s 30-month prison sentence yesterday afternoon. “I respect the jury’s verdict,” Bush said yesterday. He continued: “But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive,” which is basically the opposite of respecting the verdict. (He also said back in 2003, when the Plame leak first came to light, that “if there is a leak out of my administration and if the person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of.” Just not too harshly.) But we wondered: Are average New Yorkers indignant, too? A quick 20-person poll later — our interns asked twenty passersby in front of the office on Madison Avenue — it seems they’re not, or at least not as much as we’d hoped. Damn. Questions and tallies after the jump.
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Bloomberg Again Says He’s Not Running, and Starts to Convince UsMayor Bloomberg insisted yet again this morning that we shouldn’t read too much into his decision to leave the Republican party. “I don’t disagree with what either national party stands for, because I don’t think either national party stands for anything,” he declared at a breakfast for civic types. (Zing!) He proceeded to dismiss a specific timetable for withdrawal from Iraq as “nonsensical,” express skepticism about national school testing (“There is a tendency in a democracy to dumb down”), and spit out various scolds (“Get real! Get serious!”). And so it occurred to us that maybe we believe him when he says he’s not running for president: We think he just wants to be national critic. —Alec Appelbaum
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Strange Social-Networking Bedfellows
On MySpace yesterday (don’t ask), we came across this. Running for president is totally humiliating.
Mitt Romney [MySpace]
in other news
Run, Bloomie, Run!
Today’s papers struggle to find an angle on Bloomberg’s possible presidential run — or, that is, to limit themselves to just one angle from a sudden cornucopia. Some of our favorite scenarios the papers consider:
1. It’s Rudy vs. Mike! The two nominal friends (Giuliani half-heartedly endorsed Bloomberg in 2001, Bloomberg officiated at the Giuliani-Nathan nuptials) actually can’t stand each other, but they won’t disparage each other in the press. The worst Giuliani mustered yesterday was “I am disappointed that he left the Republican Party.” So imagine how much pent-up bile will come gushing out of both, especially Rudy, if these two ever face off in a debate. Fun!
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Chris Smith: Bloomberg Is Full of It
Yesterday, in a press release, Mike Bloomberg said his switch of party allegiance from Republican to none-of-the-above was about “bring[ing] my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our city.” This afternoon, in a press conference — after torturing reporters with a prolonged exaltation of the 311 system — the mayor claimed the switch was because he’d suddenly become aware of nasty partisanship in Washington, and that becoming a free agent allows him to speak his mind.
Please.
it just happened
Mike Bloomberg’s Declaration of IndependenceThis press release just in, and we no longer have any doubt that the dude is running for president:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2007
No. 205
www.nyc.gov
STATEMENT BY MAYOR BLOOMBERG ON PARTY AFFILIATION
“I have filed papers with the New York City Board of Elections to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party. Although my plans for the future haven’t changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our City.
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Is McCain Set to Label Hillary ‘Senator Earmark’?
Is John McCain set to initiate an attack on Hillary Clinton? Little more than an hour ago, the McCain campaign put out word that the Republican will shortly hold a press conference in California to talk about “Sen. Clinton’s defense earmarks,” the many millions of dollars in federal funding Hillary has secured for New York military contractors. New York has previously noted the senator’s cozy relationship with some defense contractors, but then, isn’t this what senators do, work to bring money home?
Augustine Asiedu, the Last King of New York?
How do you know New York’s still the capital of the world? Our car-service kingpins are actual kingpins. Augustine Asiedu, the president of a Brooklyn limo company called Fone-A-Car, has been charged with looting the business to finance a million-dollar election campaign in his native Ghana. The kicker? Dude won — and now, under the name Nana Amoakoh, he serves in the country’s parliament. Which, needless to say, complicates extradition. We went looking for an official bio of Mr. Asiedu/Amoakoh, but the Ghanaian government’s Website is down (now, that doesn’t bode well for a country). We’re left to imagine his campaign slogan: “Our guy will be there in five minutes. Vote Amoakoh.”
Owner Is Accused of Looting His Car Service to Seek Office in Africa [NYT]
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How the Other Half Thinks: Advise George Bush!The trouble with polls these days? They’re all biased. Those damn liberals don’t ask whether you think George W. Bush is doing a great job in office but whether you’d like to see him kicked to the curb. That, you should understand, is a rigged question. Thankfully, the Heritage Foundation has stepped in to fix the problem; the right-wing D.C. think tank has sent a survey to “Conservatives and Republicans Only,” the results of which they promise will end up on the desks of some very powerful people in Washington. Through what can only be an act of Daniel Ellsberg–like political bravery, a copy of that survey arrived at the home of a neither conservative nor Republican magazine writer in the very blue state of New York. So what can we learn about the conservative mind from this leak? Well, according to the Heritage folks, most media surveys are “inaccurate … because they don’t ask the right questions.” So what are the correct, unbiased questions?
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’Tis the Campaign Season: Play the 2008 Presidential Approval MatrixLooking for something to do until George Bush isn’t president anymore? Our new 2008 Presidential Approval Matrix will help pass the time. Every day, we’ll add fresh items about the candidates on the campaign trail. Did someone make an embarrassing blunder? Did a politician dare to tell the truth? Determine whether the presidential wannabes are likable or loathsome. Decide if their words are spin or substance. It may not be scientific, but it’s more fun than the current administration.
Play the 2008 Presidential Approval Matrix [NYM]
photo op
Rudy Giuliani, Tickler?
We have no idea what Rudy Giuliani was doing to John McCain at last night’s Republican debate, but we suspect he tried to make it illegal here when he was mayor.
it just happened
Scooter Libby Will Not See the Aspens Turn
Is it gauche that seeing this headline just made us smile a bit? Is it even gaucher that we started wondering (hoping?) which Bushie might next go to jail? Also: Do you think Judy Miller will visit him in prison?
Libby Gets 30 Months in Prison in CIA Leak Case [NYT]
intel
Eric Alterman Is the Aging-Lefty Lindsay LohanIs Eric Alterman spinning out of control? After his arrest last night at the Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire, where the cops cuffed him in a gymnasium “spin room” at Manchester’s St. Anselm College and hauled him down to the police station for allegedly trespassing at a private party, maybe Alterman’s friends and family should be concerned that he’s becoming the aging-pundit answer to Lindsay Lohan. The lefty commentator has a taste for mayhem, if only, until now, of the verbal variety. Over the past two decades, worried Alterman watchers have felt growing alarm as his pugnacity and all-around contrariness have escalated to potentially aneurysm-inducing levels. Indeed, when this reporter once shared a subway ride with him from the Upper West Side, he announced: “I am so fucking angry about the war in Iraq, I think I’m going to explode.” This reporter’s reply: “That’s fine, Eric, but if you’re going to explode, do you mind waiting till I get off the train?”
the morning line
The Kennedy Conspiracy
• There’s more on the weekend’s big story, the foiled plot to blow up JFK. One angle: The fourth suspect, still at large, could be an Al Qaeda lieutenant with direct ties to bin Laden. [NYP]
• Another: The man who led the Feds to the plot was a twice-convicted drug dealer who successfully infiltrated the terror group after being muscled into serving as a government informant. [WNBC]
• Rudy Giuliani, seeking to diversify his stoicism-in-the-face-of-tragedy bona fides, stopped by to speak at Montoursville High School, which lost sixteen students aboard TWA 800. The campaign hilariously insists he just popped in for no reason. [amNY]
• Gun groups nationwide are casting Bloomberg as their No. 1 enemy, despite his concentration on illegal weapon sales. The NRA (whose site has a breaking-news ticker!) calls the mayor a “billionaire, Boston-grown evangelist for the nanny state.” Boston-grown — now that stings. [NYT]
• And OTB wants to put touch-screen terminals into city bars and accept “BlackBerry bets,” convinced it will find a new demographic there. We eagerly await the spectacle of drunken hipsters ironically losing their shirt on their ponies. [NYDN]
cultural capital
Sharon Stone, Fake Candidate
“Page Six” reported this morning that Sharon Stone and Bernard-Henri Lévy star in a set of mock political ads that will debut next week at the Venice Biennale. The two “appear separately in 60-second spots as ‘Patricia Hill and Patrick Hill,’ each seeking the White House,” the “Six”-ers reported. Indeed. We’ve got stills from the spots, and Monday the magazine will feature an interview with Levy, the rakish French philosopher. Enjoy the pics — there are more after the jump — but sorry, guys, Stone’s all buttoned up.
early and often
National Issues Our Mayor, Who Is Not Running for President, Currently Has a Vocal Stance On
If you’re scoring at home:
• Gun control: Vehemently opposed to illegal guns; pioneered an ingenious way of putting the heat on dealers in other states without overstepping mayoral jurisdiction.
• Education: Introduced fine-tunings to No Child Left Behind in Florida with Jeb Bush.
• Environment: Keynote speaker at the C40 Climate Summit; PlaNYC.
• Health Care: Smoking, trans fats, diabetes registry, subway condoms, you name it.
• And now, immigration: At a Memorial Day parade in Queens yesterday, Bloomberg called the guest-worker program being debated in the Senate “a joke.” He approves the bill’s rejection of mass deportations, but “shame on Congress,” he said, for suggesting two-year U.S. work stints for foreign laborers, something “nobody in their right mind would ever try to do.”
Mayor Assails Bill in Congress on Immigration [NYT]
Mike Bloomberg on the Issues [Bloomberg]
Related: Bloomberg Across America [NYM]
party lines
Are the Navajo the Next Soccer Moms?So much for soccer moms and Nascar dads — Navajo leaders might be a key demographic presidential candidates should target. “A lot of us leave it up to the Navajo nation to make the decision for us,” Native American actor Adam Beach told us last week at the premiere party for HBO’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, in which he stars. He’s a Canadian, but he told us Native Americans in the United States tend to vote as a bloc, and they all look to the Navajo for guidance. “The Navajo nation is a very powerful nation when it comes to tradition, when it comes to language, when it comes to maintaining their identity,” he said during the party at the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side. “And as a people they’re very well connected with each other. So when they elect, it’s as a whole nation. No other nation is as collectively put together, so we’re very much with their decision.” But Hillary, Obama, and Rudy shouldn’t get worried they’ve missed their chance. In fact, they’ve got plenty of time to lock up this vote, Beach said. “It comes around to the actual week, you know?” —Bennett Marcus
intel
Al Gore’s Assault on the Upper East Side
Al Gore spoke at the 92nd Street Y last night, and crowds thronged the Upper East Side institution’s Lexington Avenue entrance in advance of the talk. There were a handful of Gore 2008 campaigners, a group of enthusiastic — if basically nonsensical — Lyndon LaRouche supporters, (none of whom came from New York and most of whom were dressed in fat suits and leaves), and a great number of enamored New Yorkers. They stood around, confused and bemused by the LaRouchies, waiting for friends to arrive — mostly, alas, in cars — for the lecture. We asked them about their thoughts on Gore, the election, and their carbon footprints.
20-person poll
Just How Bad Are Things in Iraq?
There’s a new Times/CBS poll out today on the Iraq war, and it’s bad news for Mr. Bush. “Americans now view the war in Iraq more negatively than at any time since the war began,” as the Times bluntly put it. Six in ten say the country should have stayed out of Iraq in the first place, the paper reported. Three of four say things are going badly there. And a whopping 63 percent disapprove of Bush’s overall performance as president, with only 30 percent approving. The one bit of good news is that a majority support continuing to finance the war, assuming the Iraqi government meets benchmarks. But it’s a poll of all Americans. What do New Yorkers think? We asked the first twenty people we found on Madison Avenue in front of the office. Oddly, only 45 percent said the country should have stayed out of Iraq (we think maybe we phrased that one wrong). Otherwise, the locals are even more pessimistic than the rest of the country. By a lot. The questions and tallies are after the jump.
intel
Marty’s Purge: It’s About Gowanus, Not Yards, Says a Survivor
Five longtime members of Brooklyn’s Community Board 6 were replaced by Borough President Marty Markowitz, as today’s Times reported, and there was a pattern: All were active opponents of Atlantic Yards. It was a purge, it seemed, and even stranger one conducted by a man usually viewed by the press — us included — as a kind of lovable, pizza-eating panda in a captain’s hat. The five members’ terms were up, and Markowitz certainly has the power to replace them, but it’s typically not done, and the move seems surprisingly Machiavellian for a man best known for his boosterish enthusiasm for cheesecake. So we called CB6 member Jeff Strabone, another Yards critic whose own term isn’t up until next year — and here the plot thickened. Per Strabone, Atlantic Yards was not the real cause of Marty’s house-cleaning. Nope, Markowitz is looking a step ahead.
it just happened
Greening the Yellow Cab: Thumbs-Up
Who says the press doesn’t like good news? Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement today that he’ll force the city’s 13,000 yellow cabs to go hybrid by 2012 is, we’d say, splendid, sterling, superb. Some will argue he should have acted sooner; those people are small-minded. Some will say that this is all part of the grand scheme to raise Bloomberg’s national profile in service of his 2008 presidential run; those people are thinking too hard. This is simply a rare case of a good idea whose time has come. Not that there aren’t some politics at work: City councilman David Yassky, who was frustrated when the administration diluted his green cab proposal back in 2002, kept the issue alive. And by doing ecofriendly things that are under the city’s control, Bloomberg adds some momentum to the push for his 2030 sustainability package, whose biggest transformations require the action of state and federal officials. Next up: Look for a Bloomberg biofuel initiative. The mayor inherited a city where public schools still burned coal. He may leave one that smells like soy. —Chris Smith
Bloomberg Proposes Energy Efficient Taxi Fleet [NYT]
Related: Uncool New York [NYM]
in other news
City Politician’s Epiphany: Poor People Don’t Eat Well
It’s day two of Queens city councilman Eric Gioia’s “I will live a week on $28 in groceries” stunt, and, frankly, we’re beginning to lose the plot a little. Is the purpose of the exercise to highlight the plight of the underclass $28 is the average nationwide food-stamp allotment a Morgan Spurlock–esque endurance contest, or for the out-of-touch politician to Learn a Valuable Lesson? The Daily News followed Gioia on his grocery run to Food Dynasty in Queens; their priceless lead photo depicts the councilman regarding a pack of franks with a mix of puzzlement and mild disgust. “I usually shop at Whole Food or online at FreshDirect,” Gioia blurted out to the paper. “I don’t even look at the cost, I look for the brand I like, and I buy it.”
in other news
The Media Primary: Bloomberg ‘08It might still be up in the air between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Republicans might all be holding their breath for the inevitable explosion of the Rudy bubble and the subsequent inflation of — who? McCain? Romney? — a successor. But one primary has solidified in the last few days: Media moguls are backing Mike Bloomberg for president.
party lines
Bob Kerrey Likes Hillary and Bloomberg, Won’t Talk About ModelsFormer Nebraska senator and ‘92 presidential candidate Bob Kerrey’s perch at the New School seems to have made him a New York partisan: He says he “probably won’t” make any ‘08 endorsements, but he did tout two locals as his candidates of choice. “I like Hillary a lot,” he said at the annual Parsons benefit last week. “I think she’s been a great senator for New York and has a tremendous amount of experience. And I got to say I think Bloomberg’s done a phenomenal job. I’d be very comfortable with Hillary or Bloomberg.” But Bloomberg insists he won’t run. And neither will Kerrey, for that matter. “I have no elective political aspirations for ‘08,” Kerrey said. “But everything I do is political. Aren’t you going to ask me about Parsons? About fashion?” Okay — who’s your favorite designer? “I don’t have one.” Any thoughts on the skinny-model controversy? “Yes, but I’m not going to give you them. Most of my thoughts about the models are not publishable.” Glad we asked. —Amy Odell
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Strategist Split to Roil City PoliticsOne of New York’s top political-consulting partnerships — they’ve repped Mike Bloomberg, Christine Quinn, and Joe Lieberman, plus unions, other Dems, and developers including Forest City Ratner — is splitting up. Knickerbocker SKD — the highly influential pairing of wunderkind strategists Josh Isay, who made his name managing Chuck Schumer’s 1998 defeat of Al D’Amato, and Micah Lasher, who’s been a strategist for dozens of campaigns, including Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s 2005 victory over eight other Democratic contenders for the beep job — now faces an uncertain future as Lasher plans to leave the firm, according to sources. Lasher feels it’s the right time to depart, the sources say, and he also has his eye on Gale Brewer’s Upper West Side City Council seat. (Brewer will have to leave her post in 2009 because of term limits.) Isay will continue running the firm with other strategists; it’s unclear how the split will affect top clients like Council Speaker Quinn, who is likely running for mayor, and Stringer, said to be eying the comptroller position. —Geoffrey Gray
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Chris Smith on the Debate: Rudy Giuliani, Positively MayoralOne of the sillier conventions of post-debate analysis the Republican presidential candidates met last night at the Reagan President Library in California is the discussion of whether a candidate “looked presidential.” The intent is to determine which politician appeared to have the gravity and intelligence to occupy the Oval Office — and it’s a futile exercise, as standing up to Chris Matthews is hardly an indicator of the ability to handle, say, a nuclear standoff. That said, in the first debate among the GOP contenders, Rudy Giuliani came off looking distinctly mayoral.
intel
On the Sudden Seeming Ubiquity of Bill Clinton
Is it our imagination, or has Bill Clinton been a busy little bee lately — or, at least, a busy little potential First Husband? In eight recent days, he schmoozed, posed for pictures, and occasionally gave speeches at four different high-visibility charity events. The last time he’d attended a gossip-column-worthy event in town was in January, for his good friend Terry McAuliffe’s book party. This latest burst started a week ago Monday, when he came to the Food Bank for New York City’s “Can-Do Awards” at Pier 60, wandering in late from a Hillary fund-raiser at Pier 94 with Chelsea, who wore a Hillary campaign button. He introduced U2’s the Edge, who was being honored, and then he fake-admonished Jimmy Fallon, who had just sung a ditty called “Car Wash for Peace,” for withholding a plan that could have broken the Israeli-Palestinian impasse. The room exploded, and the Food Bank’s coffers hit a record high.
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We Do Not Understand What the Hell Mike Gravel Is Talking AboutThe star of last week’s Democratic presidential debate was a fringe contender Mike Gravel, 77, a former Alaska senator, who became a blogosphere sensation for saying that it should be a felony for Dubya & Co. to stay in Iraq. (He also drew laughs when he said the leading candidates scare him because they won’t rule out bombing Iran. “Who are we planning to nuke?” he asked Barack Obama. “I’m not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike,” responded the Illinois senator.) Gravel — it’s pronounced gra-VELL — is a Columbia alum who drove a New York City cab while a student, and he’s back in town for appearances on The Colbert Report tonight and the Today show tomorrow morning. We spoke to him before he left his Virginia apartment, which doubles as his campaign headquarters — and we hope Colbert’s interview goes better than ours did.
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Obama Set to Score First New York Endorsement
New York is Hillary Clinton’s home turf, but tomorrow Barack Obama will receive his first formal endorsement from a New York elected official, State Senator Bill Perkins, according to a knowledgeable source. Obama has been able to poach several big-money backers from his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination — he’s got several more fund-raisers scheduled in the city this weekend — but Perkins, a longtime Harlem politician, will be the first elected to formally support the Illinois senator. The endorsement is likely to ruffle the feathers of Harlem boss Charlie Rangel, a Hillary supporter, who recently declared, “I don’t know Obama supporters in New York.” It’s not the first time Perkins has gone against the Harlem establishment: He supported Howard Dean in the 2004 primary, when Rangel was supporting General Wesley Clark. “It’s all posturing, all game playing,” said one Harlem political strategist. “He’s trying to make the eye in the sky look at him.” Perkins hasn’t returned a call for comment. —Geoffrey Gray
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Chris Smith on the Debate: A Win for Hillary
The crowded stage at the first Democratic presidential debate, held last night in South Carolina, made for an unwieldy and largely uninformative discussion. But the big field was a good thing for Hillary Clinton. One of the major hurdles for Hillary in this race, an element that’s at the core of her stubbornly high negative ratings in polls, is that many voters believe her to be remote and overly ambitious, a policy scold lacking in empathy. Clinton looked endearingly human last night simply by standing amid the seven men in dark suits; even with the diminutive Dennis Kucinich (literally and figuratively) to her left, the tableau emphasized how small Clinton is, physically, which helps shrink her larger-than-life political image. And being the only gal in a gang of middle-aged guys plays straight to a constituency Clinton needs to support her in big numbers: women.
in other news
Dem Debate: Love or Hate? You Decide!
With this morning’s papers come two distinct takes on last night’s Democratic presidential debate. See if you can spot the difference.
Newspaper A: “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was professorial and emphatic”; Senator Barack Obama “reserved and cautious.” Overall, it was “a surprisingly sedate and meandering affair” during which candidates “did not tangle at all.”
Newspaper B: Clinton and Obama “locked horns last night,” “differing broadly on how they would respond to a new terror strike.” Obama “took a pointed jab at her and the other candidates,” but “Clinton came down the strongest.”
Ah, the marketplace of ideas.
In Debate, Democrats Show More Unity Than Strife [NYT]
Friendly Fire: Dem In Debate Clash Over Iraq, Terror [NYP]
party lines
Partying Liberally With Living Liberally
Living Liberally threw itself a launch party Saturday night in a wonderfully eccentric West Village event space, complete with a gilded “Porn Palace” room and a spacious deck. A hundred people or so showed up to celebrate — and raise money for — an organization dedicated to getting right-thinking people out and about, having a good time, and maybe discussing liberal politics. Living Liberally is the newly organized umbrella for several more activity-specific groups: Drinking Liberally, Laughing Liberally, Blogging Liberally. There’s even Eating Liberally, tied to the progressive food movement, which set up a grill on the deck and also served, according to a pamphlet, “ABC Chocolate Cake: ‘A’ for applesauce, ‘B’ for beets, and ‘C’ for carrots.” (G for gross!) In other words, though this party was a fund-raiser for the organization’s work, usually Living Liberally’s parties are its work.
early and often
Hillary and Obama Fight for New York’s Rich Kids
The next behind-the-scenes battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is shaping up between their young and potentially rich campaign pawns: The HillBlazers vs. Generation O. Gen-O is a different kind of concept to match a different kind of politics, the Obama camp says, more about “friendraising” than the charmless money grabs that usually come with cutthroat, celebrity politics. But the Hillary camp insists the Obama kids are just HillBlazers with a different kind of branding.
in other news
Three Days Before Bloomberg, Spitzer Announces an Environmental Plan
In the run-up to Earth Day — and, gosh, it’s beginning to feel like an actual holiday — the political talk in New York has turned an emerald shade of green. Mayor Bloomberg will unleash his vision of the city’s next 25 years on Sunday, so Governor Spitzer scooped him a bit yesterday. Spitzer outlined the centerpiece of his plan, lowering the state’s energy demand instead of spending money to meet it, to “1,100 business executives” at a Crain’s breakfast forum. (How much carbon was released by 1,100 limos idling outside?) Spitzer’s plan, “15 by 15” (as in a 15 percent cut in emissions by 2015) has the distinction of being the nation’s most aggressive, besting even California. What’s interesting is that the state’s energy use is projected to increase by the same 15 percent between now and then, which means the task is basically keeping it level while continuing to build. Early reactions indicate that the plan managed to please environmentalists without repulsing capitalists, a neat feat in itself; it also dovetails rather beautifully with Mayor Bloomberg’s central wish-list item — a 30 percent reduction by the year 2030. Emission-free by 2100, anyone?
Spitzer Outlines Aggressive Energy Plan [Crain’s]
intel
Voodoo PoliticsMass public whining doesn’t seem to have deterred either George W. Bush or Hillary Clinton’s political trajectories. So, with all else failed, there’s always voodoo. No, really. Writer Turk Regan — the author of such literary classics as Sports Fan Voodoo and Pimp My Cubicle — has heard the masses who “loath,” “despise,” and “fear” Hillary, he explains. And he feels you, if you want George W. “to pay for the sins of his administration,” he says. So he’s teamed up with Running Press to create George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton voodoo kits, complete with rudimentary doll, pins, and 56-page books of “spells” designed to help you, er, “stick it to them.” The spells are less abracadabra, more snarky explanations of each politico’s wrongdoings. Use the “Problem Child Spell” for Bush “to compel W. to turn in his adult suit-and-tie outfits for a naughty schoolboy uniform like the one worn by the guitarist guy in AC/DC.” And since “Hillary’s hairstyles have been almost as instrumental in her rise to power as her clothing,” the “Bad Hair Decade Spell” — involving pinning while humming music by Poison, Flock of Seagulls, or Bananarama — sends Hill into “an extended coiffure crisis.” Of course, regardless of whether the dolls work, Regan doesn’t have much reason to care. He lives “as far from the political fray as possible” in Montana. —Rebecca Milzoff
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Dodging the Imus BulletAs public figures continue to run their mouths off, the slur-apology cycle now boasts all the spontaneity of the tea ceremony. (Is that offensive? We apologize.) At this point, all one has to do is plug in the names and the insulted ethnicities and handicap the fallout. Today’s culprit: Republican presidential candidate Tommy “Not Fred Dalton” Thompson. The offended party: Jews. The “joke”: “I’m in the private sector, and for the first time in my life, I’m earning money. You know that’s sort of part of the Jewish tradition, and I do not find anything wrong with that.” The apology (relayed via spokesperson): “Governor Thompson recognizes he misspoke … in complimenting the success that Jewish people have had in the United States.”
Seeing how Thompson hasn’t even bothered to damage-control the flap himself, the fallout from this one is not likely to reach Imus levels. It probably won’t even ruin the man’s campaign, mainly as there’s not much to ruin; at this point, Thompson’s fund-raising operation is outpaced by Dennis Kucinich’s. Clearly, the man could use some Jews on his staff.
GOPer Apologizes to Jews [NYDN]
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At Last, Another Good Thing in New York Rudy Hasn’t ClaimedFrom Ben Smith’s blog on the Politico today:
A reader points out that the New York State Comptroller’s unclaimed funds registry includes four entries since 2004 for Rudy Giuliani, with money due from a couple of health-care providers. He also appears not to have deposited a 2004 state tax refund check.
He also has money due from a Los Angeles payroll company that does work for the entertainment industry, SCIE LLC, for which his listed address is the same as the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
It’s good to be rich.
Not That He Needs the Money [The Politico]
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At Last Minute, Bill Clinton Hits the ACORN Gala
The 25th anniversary gala for ACORN, the national nonprofit that advocates on behalf of low- and moderate-income families, was held at Citigroup Center last night, and the group had a major headliner as their guest: Bill Clinton. It’s no surprise that Clinton would support a social-justice organization like ACORN — indeed, the Clinton Foundation and ACORN work together on several projects — but, as it happens, ACORN officials were pretty surprised that Clinton was actually on hand last night. According to one insider, both Bill and Hillary were invited to the event about a month ago, and both declined to attend. But just a few days ago, the insider says — and, we should note, after a week of great week of publicity in New York for Barack Obama, Hillary’s rival from the Democratic presidential nomination — Bill’s people called ACORN to re-invite him. He was set to join mayoral contenders Adolfo Carrion, Christine Quinn, Anthony Weiner, and Bill Thompson, former Mets slugger Mo Vaughan, and actress Cynthia Nixon (who ultimately didn’t show) at the gala. Hillary, according to her schedule, stayed in Washington. —Geoffrey Gray
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Bloomberg Attacks Guns, Annoys Conservatives, Amuses Us
When it comes to guns, Mike Bloomberg behaves less like a mayor and more like the 101st senator. His national anti-gun drive (okay, an anti-illegal-gun drive) began with a lawsuit against firearm dealers in neighboring states and grew from there to encompass efforts in such far-flung places as Ohio and Kentucky. Normally, and ingeniously, Bloomberg works by recruiting other city mayors to his cause, cobbling together a coalition of counterparts, now about 180 strong. Now, though, he’s also lobbying Washington directly: At issue is a Republican measure that bans the ATF from sharing gun-trace data with the police, except in special cases. As a result, says Bloomberg, local authorities never get to see the full scope of firearm traffic in their own communities. A Bloomie-financed TV ad campaign is careful to draw the line between “crime” guns and “legal” ones, but the National Rifle Association is decrying it nonetheless. It’s hard to tell if crafty Bloomberg is actually all-out anti-gun or not, much like it’s hard to tell how, if at all, Republican he really is. In the meantime, we’re just enjoying the sight of our mayor pissing off conservatives from shore to shore. As any good New Yorker should.
Bloomberg Bolsters Gun Drive in Ohio and Kentucky [NYT]
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Who Loves Ya, Joe Bruno?
What a great week to be Joe Bruno, majority leader of the State Senate and Albany’s top Republican. First was a birthday — his 78th, on Sunday — and then came the “Thank You, Joe Bruno” campaign. Some evidently moneyed well-wishers, reports the Daily News, are praising the senator via newspaper ads and car stickers. And, last but not least, the same fans have disseminated a memo to state Republicans with instructions on how to thank Bruno properly and what to thank him for. (“Tens of thousands of new jobs for our children” is one example, because apparently the state GOP favors child labor.) With the FBI investigating his consulting business, his very tight relationships with campaign donors, and allegations of massively unethical quid pro quos, this has got to be the best week Bruno’s had since last December. So who’s the secret Santa? Not Bruno or anyone on his staff, the senator swears. “We’re trying to figure it out ourselves,” notes Jay Jochnowicz, the state editor at Albany’s Times Union, which printed one of the ads and is now tracking down the entity that placed it. “It’s pretty mysterious.” We’ll assume it’s the Democrats: After all, they’ve got to be thanking someone that the face of the Republican party in New York is Joe Bruno.
Bruno Has Some Secret Admirers [NYDN]
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Albany Adventures: Fun With Pork!Spitzer may have promised that everything in Albany would change on day one, but not even his most idealistic boosters expected his first budget to be magically pork-free — and it’s not! But there’s one significant shift from the Pataki years: That porcine barrel’s contents — $170 million worth — are itemized right there in the budget. This porky glasnost may be good for the public interest, but the real winners here have got to be Albany reporters, like the Times Empire Zone kids, who had all sorts of fun picking it apart. After the jump, some highlights they found.
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Cash-Poor Dems Go High-Class to Raise Cash
Last fall’s Democratic takeover of Albany has the party feeling a bit strapped: Records show the state Democratic Party was down to its last $40,000 in December. Now it’s hoping to bolster that balance — while striving for chicness. The New York State Democratic Committee’s new (and younger) leadership will hold its ambitiously priced first gala on Thursday at Boylan Daylight Studios in Chelsea: $500 gets you in the door; $10,000 gets you “chair” status; $25,000 gets you into a private reception with Eliot Spitzer.
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How to Win Friends and Influence Starrett City
Let’s say you’re a faceless capitalist entity that’s put in a bid for an enormous, subsidized apartment complex. The bid is kind of accepted, then it’s rejected. The press rakes you over the coals, the locals are wary, politicians literally race each other to the site to dispense “not on my watch” sound bites, and you mull over suing your own broker. You’re done, right? Not if you’re David Bistricer of Clipper Equity. If you’re Bistricer, you then:
1. Promise the residents “ironclad proof” that their apartments will stay subsidized. (Instead of redeveloping the towers, Clipper now simply wants to build more.)
2. Hire two lobbyists: one at home, with Spitzer connections, and one in D.C., whose brother used to be Bush’s chief of staff. Have the latter set up a meeting between you and the federal Housing secretary who had rejected your application.
3. Personally meet with the federal Housing secretary.
4. Do so while flanked by two influential black ministers.
5. Make sure one of the two influential black ministers is a fraternity brother of the secretary.
If nothing else, watching Bistricer 2.0 at work is a master class in PR. To be continued, we’re sure.
Aspiring Buyer of Starrett City Is Back Onstage [NYT]
Earlier: Daily Intel’s coverage of the Starrett City sale.
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Spitzer Spends Money Unhealthily
Governor Spitzer must have felt very strongly about cutting $1 billion out of the state’s Medicaid program. How strongly? When hospitals and unions started lambasting the plan in TV ads, he put up half a million of his own money to launch a counterstrike, as the Daily News reported today. Mind you, Spitzer began by spending close to $3 million of his leftover campaign funds; it’s only when that money ran out that he dipped into his own wallet. “I needed to make sure our perspective stayed on the air,” the governor explained to the paper. According to Spitzer’s camp, the plan’s foes spent a whopping $10 million propping up their perspective in TV ads and direct mail. All of which makes you wonder: If everyone involved in the mess, including the unions, had so much dough to flush down the media toilet, couldn’t some of it just have been spent on health care?
Gov’s Own Dough Put Him on a Medicaid Roll [NYDN]