That he is supporting Bill Thompson for mayor and raising substantial cash for the Thompson campaign are two very good reasons not to vote for Bill Thompson for mayor:
Alfonse M. D’Amato, it turns out, is the biggest financial backer for one Democrat in the New York City mayoral race, raising money enthusiastically for William C. Thompson Jr., whose best-known boosters, including David N. Dinkins and Betsy Gotbaum, lean decidedly to the left.
As the man long known as Senator Pothole might put it: What gives?The unlikely alliance has given Mr. Thompson, an even-tempered former city comptroller, a sorely needed jolt of high-powered fund-raising as he seeks to project energy and momentum in the wide-open race for the Democratic nomination.It also underscores the diversity of supporters in the political establishment that he has tried to demonstrate with endorsements from Merryl H. Tisch, chancellor of the State Board of Regents, and Richard Ravitch, a former lieutenant governor and Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman.Mr. D’Amato and his partner Melvin H. Miller, a onetime speaker of the State Assembly, bundled some $65,000 in donations to Mr. Thompson through March 11. And Mr. D’Amato’s close associates, former aides and major clients have pitched in, too. All told, his network has accounted for as much as $125,000 in gifts to the Thompson campaign....Mr. D’Amato called Mr. Thompson a decent, steady hand who understands education, economics, budgets and Wall Street, and said he found Mr. Thompson to be the least offensive Democrat, particularly from the perspective of his clients.“Some of them are antigrowth, antidevelopment, just plain wrong,” Mr. D’Amato said of the other mayoral contenders. He said that Mr. Thompson, by contrast, was someone “who doesn’t frighten business.”“They don’t have fear of Bill Thompson, that he’s going to do some radical proposal that’s going to hurt their business,” Mr. D’Amato said. “He’s not as give-away-everything-there-is.”
When oligarchs like Merryl Tisch and their functionaries like Al D'amato like Bill Thompson for mayor, there is a problem with Bill Thompson for mayor.
It's all about disrupting the Dems and putting the unlikely Lhota in a position to win. Do people really think Tisch and D'Amato prefer Thompson to Lhota, one of theirs? But if they do then that makes him no better than Quinn.
ReplyDeleteNorm, I think they do prefer Thompson to Quinn or Lhota.
DeleteHere's why:
a) Thompson's for sale - always has been, always will be
b) Quinn is slowly but surely imploding - they need an alternative to her
c) Lhota cannot win - seriously, the guy is fucking nuts. He challenged a 77 year old man, a Holocaust survivor, to a fistfight last year during an MTA board meeting. He pushed a reporter back during the Rudy days while they were both on camera. And he has a big mouth - he insulted his natural base, the cops, by calling Port Authority police "mall cops."
There is NO WAY Lhota can run the two month general campaign without having half a dozen ferret moments.
That;s why they need an alternative to both Quinn and Lhota. And I think Thompson is that alternative. He is corporate-friendly (as D'amato notes in the Times article) and has no core values other than his own career - perfect for some rich people to pull his strings.
Oh, and more and more, I think the UFT will endorse him too. Take a look at Mulgrew's comments on Thompson's speech yesterday.
D'Amato is as dirty as they come-a real hood. Thompson isn't much better-a complete dupe and shill...a complete hack, for a price.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on both points - a dupe and a shill, a complete hack, for a price...
DeleteThat describes Thompson perfectly.
Makes more and more sense every day that DiBlasio has to win the primary. He is the one that seems the least connected to all of the folks that ae looking to make serfs of the people of NY.
ReplyDeleteI think I will be supporting de Blasio for the reasons you give, although Liu was my real preference. He has been destroyed by the campaign finance fraud trial against his associates, however, and cannot win. De Blasio is the next best choice, I think.
DeleteI'm not sure he can even make it into a runoff, however. With Thompson, Weiner and Quinn running, there is little air left for anybody else.
We'll see. De Blasio does have some Brooklyn cachet, some celebrity backers, a political club backing - and his fund raising has been almost as good as Quinn's.