Rudy’s Shoes
Another contest down to the wire.

Mr. George is an editorial writer for the New York Post.
November 6, 2001 8:40 a.m.

ell, if the Diamondbacks defeating Yankee star reliever Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth inning counts as the upset of the year, New Yorkers may be readying themselves for another one this week.

Nearly all polls coming into this weekend indicate neo-Republican mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg bearing down on long-time favorite Democrat City Public Advocate Mark Green. The Marist, Daily News/NY1 and New York Times surveys all show billionaire Bloomberg closing what had been a double-digit Green lead into a virtual dead-heat. The Quinnipiac Poll, released Monday, showed it an actual tie.

Given that Democrats have a 5-1 enrollment edge over Republicans in New York City and GOPers win the mayoralty about once every 25 years, these developments are quite remarkable. But then again, these are very different times.

The major reason that Bloomberg is competitive is money. Refusing to go along with the city public-financing rules, he's spent a reported $50 million of his own money and it could top out over $60 million by the time all the votes are counted Tuesday night. His ads are ubiquitous and the mantra "A Leader. Not A Politician" has been seen or heard by just about every city resident.

But, there have been other millionaire candidates running for office in New York before. Why is this year different? Well, part of it has to do with Mark Green himself. Anyone who has seen him on Crossfire can understand why he would drive people up the wall. He is, as it has been said, "Al Gore without the personality."

Green is basically a liberal Democrat trying to run in a moderate's body. For eight years, he was the primary thorn in Rudy Giuliani's side. The public-advocate position in New York politics is practically a license to make mischief. It's an odd combination of ombudsman/gadfly with the authority to break ties in city-council votes. The holder of the office is charter-approved to be next in line should the mayor die or become incapacitated in office. In the hands of an ambitious individual such as Green, the office has been set up to produce various legal and public-relations assaults on Giuliani policies. For eight years, he was the quintessential anti-Giuliani.

Given that background, it is something of an accident that Green emerged as the somewhat moderate candidate in the Democratic primary. The only development for which Green himself might be said to be responsible was his ability to get the endorsement of Giuliani's first police commissioner, Bill Bratton. Everything else has come about due to odd luck. The City Comptroller Alan Hevesi who had been the early primary favorite imploded in a vain strategy of running to Green's left. The more moderate City Council Speaker Peter Vallone never really caught fire.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg was a registered Democrat until about a year ago. He has made no bones about the fact that he switched parties because a Democratic primary would have been impossible to win. Bizarrely, he candidly admitted that he was a "liberal" at a press conference where Gov. George Pataki endorsed him. But, he's not just liberal. Rudy Giuliani is socially liberal on abortion and gay rights. But he has the instincts of a conservative on crime, taxes, and challenging various liberal dogma. His battles on publicly funded art, for example, have been immense. Bloomberg demonstrates none of this willingness to pick symbolic cultural battles. He's a liberal Democrat in everything but name.

This was a major reason why the New York Post declined to endorse anyone in tomorrow's election — to the astonishment of a few Republicans. The paper has specific conservative criteria for which a candidate has to reach at least the minimum requirement. Bloomberg didn't.

But, again, given the enrollment advantage held by Democrats, this race should still have been Green's to lose. Yet, that's what was said about the primary — and he finished in second place before overtaking Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer in a runoff.

The major irony is that that very runoff is partly responsible for giving Green headaches now. Green used Ferrer's own far-Left/anti-Giuliani campaign against him. Powerful ads ridiculing Ferrer's economic positions ended with the tagline, "Can we afford to take the chance?" Many supporters of Ferrer — shooting to become the city's first Puerto Rican mayor — charged the ads were racist. In addition, several fliers with inflammatory caricatures of Sharpton and Ferrer were distributed in various Jewish neighborhoods to highlight Sharpton's endorsement.

In truth, that endorsement was largely responsible for Ferrer's win in the initial primary. Even though Ferrer eventually endorsed Green, ill-feelings between the campaigns remained. That is something Michael Bloomberg has swooped in to take advantage of. Perhaps only a true liberal Democrat like Michael Bloomberg could pull this off — a real Republican might not be able to stoop to this level. However, last week, fliers were mailed to Ferrer supporters. They included a large picture of Ferrer with the slogan, "He made History." The fliers were from the Bloomberg campaign and included complimentary statements about the Republican candidate from former Ferrer supporters.

Bloomberg, who has benefited from Giuliani's endorsement in battling Mark Green, is now going headlong to pick up the supporters of Freddy Ferrer — who set himself up as the "anti-Giuliani." In other words, his coalition may be a fusion of pro-Giuliani white Catholics and anti-Giuliani Latinos.

Remember Bloomberg's slogan? "A Leader. Not a politician."

As the Post's Cindy Adams would say, "Only in New York, kids, only in New York."©

But, one can't fault Bloomberg for his primary message. He is betting that something truly fundamental has changed after September 11. That is true to a certain extent. Whereas education had been number one in surveys before the attacks, that issue is now number two. Rebuilding the city economy is now the top priority. Bloomberg sees himself as uniquely qualified to be the individual able to respond to that issue. Commercials with Giuliani saying that the city will be in "good hands" with Bloomberg as mayor may push the media magnate over the finish line.

Conservatives have no real reason to be happy regardless of who wins Tuesday. Yet, national Republicans might have a grudging smile if Bloomberg wins — if only to assuage in part the bad feelings from likely losses in gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia.