Dear Commons Community,
Although it is still early in the New York mayoral election season, movement, money and commercials are beginning in what promises to be a brutal battle. The Democratic primary with the likes of Christine Quinn, Bill deBlasio, William Thompson and John Liu competing for the coveted nomination, will be especially volatile. The New York Times has an article today describing a coalition, NYC Is Not for Sale 2013, made up of labor unions, animal rights, and anti-Michael Bloomberg groups. A TV commercial is scheduled to begin airing today and will continue for three weeks. As described in the article:
“The imagery conjures up “The Wizard of Oz”: as smoke fills the screen, the head of a frowning Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, materializes.
“She wants you to think that she’s a progressive, but on the issues New Yorkers care most about, she is always on the wrong side,” a male narrator intones. “All that’s clear when the smoke lifts is her political ambition.”
As a succession of blurbs from newspaper articles suggest that she has waffled on key issues, the narrator concludes, “When Christine Quinn doesn’t support our values, how can you support her for mayor?”
… The 30-second commercial, the first of the mayoral race, comes quite early in the primary season, underscoring the competitive nature of the contest to succeed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
The commercial is not the work of one of Ms. Quinn’s opponents for the Democratic nomination, but of a coalition of left-leaning labor unions and Democratic activists who say they are not backing anyone in particular.
The organizers have pledged more than $1 million to the campaign and are spending $250,000 for the initial television advertising, said Scott Levenson, president of the Advance Group, which produced the spot. Another commercial is to be released this week, followed by several mailers and radio ads.
Ms. Quinn, who has been a key ally of Mr. Bloomberg, is generally viewed as the front-runner, thanks to a high-profile position and a high-octane style that has brought her admiration as well as enmity.”
New York may be in for a quite a mayoral election ride this year.
Tony
