Thompson team may not have much money to campaign, but it's no excuse for two days with no public events. He can walk the streets for free.
— Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) September 13, 2013
A good point.
Just as in 2009 when Thompson ran a terrible campaign - some days not even holding campaign events - Thompson is back to making questionable decisions regarding the 2013 campaign that might have you scratching your head.
He won't drop out of the race, won't concede by midnight tonight in order to call off a possible runoff, but he also isn't campaigning in public, isn't holding any public events, isn't trying to keep some momentum going for the campaign.
What's the point of trying to stay in the race if he lets all of the momentum and press coverage go to de Blasio?
A confident Bill de Blasio brushed off suggestions that the Democratic nomination is in limbo, telling reporters this afternoon that he’s moving full steam ahead, regardless of the final outcome of the mayoral race’s count.
“I don’t feel like I’m in limbo,” declared Mr. de Blasio, speaking to reporters at a lively rally in Brooklyn celebrating a judge’s ruling to keep Long Island College Hospital open indefinitely, to supporters’ enthusiastic applause.
“Can I ask the audience, ‘Do I look like a guy in limbo?’” he asked them.
“No!” they shouted back.
“We are moving forward to another election. You can fill in the blank … because something has to still play out here. But to us it’s equal. We are moving forward to the next round of this election, one way or another. And we’re very comfortable with that reality,” Mr. de Blasio continued.
Yesterday de Blasio held a "unity rally" in which former Christine Quinn supporters announced they were now supporting Bill de Blasio.
Meanwhile Thompson slunk in the back door at UFT headquarters to meet with supporters about his plans going forward, then came outside to make a statement that he was still in the race.
Then he left, without taking any questions, disappearing into the night.
If Thompson really thinks he can win a race against de Blasio, that de Blasio will fall below 40% and Thompson can re-energize his own supporters and bring on board new ones in a runoff race against de Blasio, shouldn't he be having some public events or something?
Makes no sense to me.
Does it make any sense to you?
Maybe I'm missing something here.
UPDATE: Azi Paybarah may have an explanation for what Thompson is doing:
Bill Thompson has until midnight tonight to officially concede the Democratic nomination for mayor, after which the Board of Elections begins the formal process that will place his name on the ballots for a run-off election on October 1.
The deadline comes as Bill de Blasio hovers just above the 40 percent threshold needed to win the nomination outright, with thousands of votes still to be counted.
Thompson has repeatedly expressed his desire for the board to count every vote, including in a statement sent to reporters this afternoon, indicating his intention to keep his campaign alive, even as some supporters begin to defect to de Blasio's campaign.
So, barring a sudden turn, it looks likely Thompson's name will appear on the run-off ballot. Whether he actively campaigns is another matter. Even after tonight's deadline, Thompson could decide at any time to end his campaign and throw his support to de Blasio.
It's not at all uncommon for candidates whose names are on the ballot to end their candidacies before an election.
Perhaps most notably, it happened in 2002, when Andrew Cuomo was running for governor against Carl McCall.
Days before the primary, Cuomo declared an end to his campaign, backing McCall in the name of unity, and avoiding (sort of) what would have been a crushing defeat. Cuomo then refused to campaign in the general election on the line of the Liberal Party, which effectively died as a result, when it failed to pick up the 50,000 votes needed to maintain its automatic ballot status.
Thompson and his remaining supporters are saying, for now, that they'll keep running until every vote is counted.
The stakes would be higher for Thompson if he was solely responsible for initiating another citywide election, an expensive and involved process that costs the city tens of millions of dollars. But with none of the Democratic public advocate candidates reaching 40 percent, the Board of Elections is obliged to hold a run-off anyway.
By letting the midnight deadline pass, Thompson keeps all his options open.
That explanation puts some things in perspective.
They're holding on until the count is done, but they've essentially suspended the campaig.
It's the formality of the thing - get all the votes counted.
If de Blasio's below 40% at that point, we might start campaigning again.
If not (and he probably won't be), then we won't.
That's the best rationale I can come up with for what they're doing.
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