Too Early To Write Off De Blasio

There was a lot of consternation that Mayor Bill de Blasio was being destroyed by the outright hostility many NYPD officers and the police unions were showing toward him in the past few weeks, but a new Quinnipiac poll suggests protesting cops may have overplayed their hands:

By overwhelming margins, New York City voters objected to the back-turning protests and work slowdown that have roiled the Police Department, an auspicious turn for Mayor Bill de Blasio as he seeks to end weeks of open tensions between officers and City Hall.

A poll released on Thursday revealed deep dismay — across racial, gender and geographic lines — over the tactics and incendiary statements of protesting officers, and a desire to discipline those who deliberately made fewer arrests.

For Mr. de Blasio, who had initially appeared beleaguered as he confronted a rebellion within law enforcement, the poll offers vindication of his strategy of waiting out police protests and refusing to apologize for his efforts at reform.

In their zeal to show the mayor he had neglected them, leaders of police unions appear to have overplayed their hand, giving Mr. de Blasio a key advantage by alienating a public accustomed to years without such explosive tensions in the ranks.

The poll, conducted by Quinnipiac University, comes as Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, faces growing challenges from members who believe he has gone too far in his attacks on City Hall.

The Times article goes on to say that de Blasio purposely didn't engage publicly with the police unions or critics, telling his aides that he trusted the "public’s judgment on how people conduct themselves.”

There's no overall approval/disapproval in the poll on de Blasio - just on Commissioner Bratton (who is up 12 percentage points to 56% approval.)

And you can bet there's some lasting damage from this battle that de Blasio will probably never be able to undo.

But any politician or former politician looking to exploit the battle between the NYPD and de Blasio - including one Eva Moskowitz and one Harold Ford - must understand that de Blasio is a lot wilier and skilled at politics than he appears on the surface.

Many pols facing what de Blasio faced in the last month might have panicked in response to the crisis.

De Blasio didn't, he let Bratton handle a lot of the public relations and he looks like he may have weathered the crisis - at least for now.

We Won't Have Helicopter Harold To Kick Around Anymore

Aww, too bad:

Under intense pressure from Democratic Party officials, Harold E. Ford Jr., the former Tennessee congressman, has decided not to challenge Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand in the primary this fall.

He has told friends that, while he is convinced he could prevail against Ms. Gillibrand, he feared the winner of the primary would have little money and remain highly vulnerable to a well-financed Republican challenger at a time when the Democratic party controls the Senate by a slim majority.

Oh, please.

Ford decided not to run because a) he's got a tax problem b) his roll-out campaign was one of the most inept I've ever seen c) Gillibrand outpolls him by 27 points and d) he gets this kind of reception when he goes to talk to Democrats on the stump:

This did not go well for Harold. If he had supporters, it was not evident. Many people held picket signs, with words like "Anti-gay liar," "Liar," and "Snakeoil Harold." If not for the efforts of organizers, it would have devolved into a real scene.

The loudest applause came when Lt. Dan Choi expressed support for incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. He told Ford he seemed to be asking our community to "fire her" to reward her for her fierce advocacy.

Ford didn't do himself any favors by asking a questioner to clarify what "Lawrence v. Texas" was. Ladies will be glad to hear the room was equally activated when Ford tried to distance himself from his pro-life past.

The session was brief, lasting just 20 minutes. It appeared to be cut short when the room burst out in chants of:
"Anti-choice, anti-gay
Snakeoil Harold, go away."

Anyway, it's good to see the candidacy of this charter school advocate and corporate whore/ sell-out implode under the weight of his own hypocrisy and ineptitude.

Buh-bye, Harold.

Snakeoil Harold, Go Away

Helicopter Harold Ford had a difficult time in the Village last night speaking to gay rights activists:

This did not go well for Harold. If he had supporters, it was not evident. Many people held picket signs, with words like "Anti-gay liar," "Liar," and "Snakeoil Harold." If not for the efforts of organizers, it would have devolved into a real scene.

The loudest applause came when Lt. Dan Choi expressed support for incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. He told Ford he seemed to be asking our community to "fire her" to reward her for her fierce advocacy.

Ford didn't do himself any favors by asking a questioner to clarify what "Lawrence v. Texas" was. Ladies will be glad to hear the room was equally activated when Ford tried to distance himself from his pro-life past.

The session was brief, lasting just 20 minutes. It appeared to be cut short when the room burst out in chants of:
"Anti-choice, anti-gay
Snakeoil Harold, go away."

Not a photo-op for his campaign website. Local news channel NY1 was there.

It's been a bad 24 hours for the news cycle if you're a teacher or a union member, but I have to say, this story makes me smile.

They had to cut the session short because the crowd broke out into chants of "Anti-choice, anti-gay Snakeoil Harold, go away."

Now that's great.

Helicopter Harold

Harold Ford Jr., DLC Chairman, charter school proponent, union buster, and a former congressman from the right-to-work state of Tennessee, would like to run for Senate here in New York.

Just as he inherited his House seat from his daddy, Harold Ford Sr., Harold Jr. is hoping to work as little as possible at this and have prominent supporters (i.e., people with lots money) buy the Senate seat for him.

Don't laugh - connections have worked for him more than once.

Not only did he owe his Congressional seat to his family connections, he now works at a Wall Street bank even though he knows nothing about finance. Can't imagine he would have gotten that job without some connections.

And he's married to a fashionista wife with a wealthy family and lives in the Gramercy Park neighborhood with a winter home in Miami, though he's still registered to vote in Tennessee.

Guess it doesn't matter much when you live in that kind of rarefied air.

What a charmed life Harold Jr. lives - even more charmed when you consider the one job he tried on his own - law - he failed at because he couldn't pass the Tennessee bar.

That's all right, though - when you're as connected as Harold Jr. is, you don't actually have to succeed at anything.

Stuff just comes to you.

But I wonder if he's not shooting his sights a little high with Kirsten Gillibrand's Senate seat.

True, fellow charter school proponent Mayor Moneybags is a huge supporter of Ford and just might bankroll him in the race.

But Harold Jr. seems a little tin-eared to me to be a success in NY.

For instance, Harold Jr. says he's never actually seen much of New York outside of Manhattan except by helicopter when he's flown over the city on the way from the heliport to the airport.

Not kidding - that's what he told the NY Times in an interview.

He also says he loves to breakfast at the Regency Hotel and picks his favorite football teams by which football team owner he spends the most time with.

How's that for charmed living?

But he's never even seen the BQE, the LIE or the subway.

That should work great in campaign commercials.

Vote for me, I only know your state when I fly over it!

Anyway, it remains to be seen if Harold Jr. actually gets in this race (I suspect he won't now that most people are laughing at him) but I would say watch out for him to pop up and do damage elsewhere.

Anybody as clueless as Helicopter Harold Jr. doesn't know just how much he doesn't know and will no doubt show up in some prominent position to screw something important up.

I just hope it's not in education.

UPDATE: Taegan Goddard surmises Ford may not only be using Mayor Moneybags' dough to run for Senate, he might be using his political playbook as well:

Former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) may be planning an independent bid in New York for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

Two key factors:

* Ford is primarily being advised by close advisers to independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
* Ford's recent rhetoric of being "independent" from Democratic leaders makes little sense in a Democratic primary.

However, it was a conversation with someone in Ford's inner circle that convinced me this might be his ultimate strategy. If New York Republicans run a weak candidate, he could essentially follow the Joe Lieberman path to the Senate.

An interesting side note: Both Lieberman and Ford were heads of the Democratic Leadership Council.

That may make more sense than running as a Dem against a well-funded Gillibrand.

Still, I think he can be dispatched pretty easily.

Just run ads with all the stupid stuff he says that make him sound like the spoiled blue blood brat he actually is.

SECOND UPDATE: Was it Shakespeare who once said, "First thing we do is kill all the DLC chairmen?"