Bill Thompson "Tone Deaf" Campaign Deficiencies Exposed in NY Times

...and UFT support shows how tone deaf they are. David Chen in the Times reported the other day - A very revealing article on Bill Thompson's faults and failures -- all of which were not noted by the equally tone deaf UFT.

Mr. Thompson never articulated a clear message. “Muddled” was a word used by many. He developed a centrist platform, better suited to a general election than a Democratic primary, opposing tax increases while Mr. de Blasio hammered away at income inequality.

Well, you know, no matter how much Randi and Mulgrew talk about social justice income inequality, always watch what they do, not what they say. Thompson walking the middle is the way the basically conservative Unity people go. You won't see the UFT calling for protests or raising political issues about the thieving banks. Or the defense budget. Better watch schools being killed than challenge the old status quo.

But you know my feelings.

An undemocratic totalitarian state like the Unity Caucus/Unity Caucus crew running the UFT for over 50 years can't/won't hear voices because they don't have any forums where they can be heard. Just read James Eterno's account of the special DA to endorse De Blasio where they wouldn't allow even one speaker to oppose and Mulgrew trampled all over Robert's Rules of Order in doing so. (Robert is very upset.) [UFT DELEGATES ENTHUSIASTICALLY ENDORSE DE BLASIO FOR MAYOR BUT MULGREW ONCE AGAIN STIFLES ANY DISSENT -]

Here is the article, a good one - other than quoting the ed deform supporting loser Basil Smikle who challenged State Senator Bill Perkins because he dared hold hearings on charters. (And a little birdie once told me about an interesting relationship between Smikle and Al Sharpton - but I won't go there.)

For Thompson, a Disappointing End to a Not-Quite-Compelling Quest

By DAVID W. CHEN

Maybe it was not that surprising that William C. Thompson Jr. would come up just shy. 

It was not just that he pulled in far fewer black and Latino votes than his advisers had confidently predicted for him in the recent Democratic primary for mayor. Nor was it that he fell a few thousand votes short, over all, from forcing Bill de Blasio into a runoff, one in which he would have faced long odds anyway.

Instead, when Mr. Thompson abandoned his quest on Monday, in a disappointing coda to a campaign filled with what ifs over everything from demographics to his message, it presented a microcosm of a dutiful but not-quite-compelling career.

Whether he was the smart-money pick, as he was this year, or the underdog, as he was when he lost to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2009, Mr. Thompson could never quite concoct the right recipe to parlay his two terms as a steady New York City comptroller into something grander. 

A product of Brooklyn machine politics, Mr. Thompson believed strongly in by-the-book tactics, like gathering institutional endorsements. Yet he never led in a single poll. He never surged or collapsed, unlike some of his rivals. And despite campaigning for 24 hours straight, not once, but twice, in the past six weeks, the mild-mannered Mr. Thompson could never convince voters that he had enough political thunder. 

“He is a very smart, very talented public servant who has done everything people would want him to do, but it always seems like it’s not enough,” said Basil A. Smikle Jr., a Democratic consultant who teaches at Columbia University and the City University of New York. 

Even on the eve of the primary, Mr. Thompson struggled to connect with voters who should have been in his column. At a deli on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, he had just uttered a quick hello and reminded people about Election Day when Stephon Zephyr said: “Excuse me, Big Guy, you running for mayor?” 

Mr. Thompson, surprised, said yes. Then, in barely audible tones, he talked to Mr. Zephyr, a 26-year-old plumber, for five minutes, about jobs and gun violence. After Mr. Thompson left, Mr. Zephyr shrugged: “He sounds good, but he didn’t say much. He just brushed me off.” 

On paper, Mr. Thompson entered the campaign with many advantages. He had won the admiration of Democrats for coming closer than expected to unseating Mr. Bloomberg four years ago. And in a city where minorities are now the majority, Mr. Thompson, the son and namesake of a respected judge and former legislator, stood out as the only black candidate, with a long résumé in both the public and private sectors. 

Counting on demographics to give him an edge, Mr. Thompson amassed an impressive list of endorsements: party stalwarts like Fernando Ferrer; fiscal watchdogs (Richard Ravitch); black pastors who had backed Mr. Bloomberg in 2009 (former Representative Floyd H. Flake); and key unions (the United Federation of Teachers). One of his biggest fund-raisers was former Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato, the Republican power broker.

Together, they argued that Mr. Thompson, who at 60 was the oldest major Democratic contender, had the best experience and the temperament to govern. 

But his establishment-friendly strategy had blind spots, according to more than a dozen people, both affiliated with and independent of the campaign. 

“Billy Thompson is as decent a man as you will find in New York City politics,” said Neal Kwatra, a Democratic consultant who did not work for any mayoral candidate. “But Billy and his team were captives of a bygone era of coalition and identity politics.” 

Foremost was the assumption that people had cast a pro-Thompson vote in 2009, rather than an anti-Bloomberg one. Nor did Mr. Thompson take seriously the theory that Mr. Bloomberg’s margin might have been diminished because some of his supporters, anticipating a blowout, did not bother to vote. 

Those assumptions may have given Mr. Thompson a false sense of security, even as he faded from public view for three years.

“He showed up thinking, ‘Well, now, it’s my turn, because you guys like me, you really like me,’ ” said Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham. “But a lot of New Yorkers seemed to say, ‘I can’t remember who you are.’ ” 

Another problem was that Mr. Thompson never articulated a clear message. “Muddled” was a word used by many. 

He developed a centrist platform, better suited to a general election than a Democratic primary, opposing tax increases while Mr. de Blasio hammered away at income inequality. His thread-the-needle position on the stop-and-frisk police tactics, in particular, exasperated many minorities and liberals. By contrast, Mr. de Blasio positioned himself as the tactics’ fiercest critic. 

“People were saying, ‘We may have a black candidate in the race who we may like, but we also have a candidate in the race who more closely represents the issues that we care about,’ ” Mr. Smikle said. 

Mr. Thompson was also handicapped by the perception, whether fair or not, that he did not campaign as hard as his rivals. He never stood out in a very large field, as attention shifted from Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, who was seeking to become the first female and openly gay mayor; to former Representative Anthony D. Weiner, whose effort to come back from scandal won him media attention; and then to the 6-foot-5 Mr. de Blasio, with his mixed-race family and compelling television advertisements.

From the start, Mr. Thompson’s political operation appeared to be plagued by some of the same problems as his campaign four years ago. His commercials had a generic feel: one relied on a spare, white digital background; another, featuring the candidate’s daughter, struck many as a late and lesser version of the popular ad Mr. de Blasio ran featuring his son. 

At times, Mr. Thompson acted as if he were already in office. At virtually every campaign stop, he was introduced warmly by a local official, like Assemblyman N. Nick Perry of Brooklyn; Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president; or State Senator José Peralta of Queens. When he earnestly toured a restaurant wholesaler in the Bronx, flanked by prominent supporters, he did not actively solicit the support of employees.

By the campaign’s homestretch, Mr. Thompson, though his public poll numbers were still static, seemed to continue attending to basics. In contrast to most other campaigns, in which daily conference calls are a staple from the outset, the Thompson team did not begin the routine until two months ago, according to advisers and supporters. Only in the last few weeks did Mr. Thompson, whose grandparents immigrated from St. Kitts a century ago, start a formal effort to win over Caribbean-Americans.

As the campaign began to fall apart, senior advisers openly puzzled over his approach on the stop-and-frisk tactic. It won the candidate endorsements from police unions, but it confused his message where it mattered most: with black voters, a majority of whom voted for Mr. de Blasio, whose opposition was crisper and had a harder edge.

Mr. Thompson never once hinted that he was worried about failing to make the runoff; as late as the day before the primary, he spoke confidently of eclipsing 40 percent and facing a Republican in November.

“New Yorkers know what they’re getting with me,” he said during a rally in East Harlem. 

But on Monday, as he withdrew his candidacy after a disappointing primary performance, he was wistful. Asked why he fell short this time, he demurred, saying, “I’m not one of the political pundits.”

“That’s the one thing about elections,” he added. “There are no guarantees.”

Betting on Thompson Surge as I Pulled the Lever for .....

Don't count your di Blasio chickens yet.

On my short 2 minute walk to the polling booth I was listening to Brian Lehrer and a woman said she changed her mind about di Blasio because of the Wayne Barrett and Slate articles -- they bothered me too.

She was going to Thompson. I detect a late Thompson surge and some wearing away of diBlasio support and will make a rough guess that di Blasio numbers will drop to the mid thirties - say 35-6% and Thompson's will head toward the late 20's. A very competitive run-off I will bet at the power forces push Thompson. Where will Quinn's votes go for instance? Thompson, mostly.

My gut instincts that both Thompson and di Blasio will screw us but if I look at self interest alone -- a) A runoff between them would be lots of fun and b) Better Thompson, the UFT choice, screws us.

But I also feel that diBlasio's electoral constituency would hold him more accountable than Thompson's, so better to have Big Bill rather than little Bill.

However, in the booth I just had to give Sal Albanese a pop, especially since Kevin Boyle my editor at The Wave is so passionate about showing that there is a constituency for guys like him. Since Big Bill will be in the runoff we can go there next time. Or maybe not given how much fun it would be to watch Little Bill tilt to Tisch rather than to Mulgrew.

At any rate, yesterday I raised my problem in who to vote for for Queens Borough President and lo and behold there was dropout Tony Avella, my fave politician, still on the ballot. And so I wasted yet another vote.

But did vote for Scott Stringer who is clearly a hack but Patrick Sullivan influenced me there. Spitzer doesn't seem to be able to win but it would be fun to watch if he did.

Oh, and of course Leticia James who I feel has great potential as a populist politician.

Breaking: NYPD String Safety Nets Around 52 Broadway in Case Thompson Doesn't Make Runoff

With so much at stake for the gang running the UFT and AFT (Randi) -- but not so much for NY city teachers -- who one would think are their main constituency -- there is fear that bodies will come crashing down from the roof of the UFT headquarters if Bill Thompson doesn't make it into the runoff, though I agree with Reality Based Educator that he probably will (2013 Election: Predictions And Endorsements).

[I interrupt this report to report that Ednotes online just passed 2 million page views since July 2009 when I started using the Google counter].

Just think of it. Can Bill di Blasio really be worse for UFT members than Thompson? Though I also agree with RBE not to trust di Blasio, Thompson is worse (Bill Thompson Hit The Brooklyn Streets Yesterday With Al D'amato Trolling For Votes).
Actually, much worse.

But this past weekend we saw the desperation with Leo Casey whining on twitter about how irresponsible MORE has been in not endorsing a candidate given that this is the most important election in poor Leo's life. We also saw New Action's Halabi tag teaming with his pal Leo in also making a point about MORE's non-endorsement. Yes, if Thompson loses it is all MORE's fault - as if the endorsement by a small caucus in the UFT would actually make a difference. We are not as pretentious as New Action was 4 years ago in endorsing Thompson and making that a big issue in their campaign in the UFT elections. Yawn.

I'm not going to get into the details of why on paper di Blasio seems better for educators and education than Thompson but this is all about power at the top, not about what is good for the rank and file. And for students and parents. So what else is new?

I saw that Thompson's big move is to allow parents to chose a member of the PEP. Gee wiz. Hey Bill, how about allowing parents to choose the entire PEP (other than the 5 borough president choices)?

You can't tell me that a guy supported by D'Amato and Tisch is good for us.

If di Blasio actually cuts into the charter lobby and makes charters pay the damn rent - which I am ready to bet he won't - then that is worth seeing him in office. As RBE points out (Bloomberg Furious He Can't Stop Attacks On His "Legacy), just having a guy win who trashes Bloomberg's legacy brings a smile to my face. But I really think he will turn into another Obama.

And there was that Wayne Barrett piece - What you don't know about Big Bill- Digging deeper into de Blasio's associations.

Scary stuff.

Imagine this scenario: di Blasio wins and screws us and the UFT leadership says "we told you so." As an organizer in the union trying to get people to join MORE, I would much rather have Thompson screw us so we can say "told you so."

By the way, I'm sure you noticed RBE's amazing election coverage and analysis at Perdido Street School blog.

He is holding his nose and voting for diB. I was thinking of going for Sal Albanese but am also thinking that if my vote puts Bill D over the 40% I'd hate to lose that opportunity. Sal was endorsed by The Wave out here (It’s Sal) and they made a good case for that not being a wasted vote. (If the link above doesn't work, you can read the endorsement editorial below the break. -- but here's a sample:

If you’re not crazy about any of the candidates—and admit it, you’re not -- hold on. Say the polls are fairly accurate and Sal will finish far behind. Your vote for Sal still holds value. Your vote will actually signal something to those left standing. Your “Sal” vote will be considered an “undecided” vote and will be sought after in a runoff or the general election.

I actually have mixed feelings about the idea of a runoff with Thompson. I'm thinking of the advantage of keeping that race alive and giving less time for the Lhota dogs to come out in force against dB.

I agree with RBE about Tish James for Public Advocate. She has steadily been moving in the direction of the forces battling ed deform.

I do not agree with his points about not endorsing Stringer though the idea of Spitzer winning (which I think he won't) in office putting burs in everyone's butt. I am voting Stringer out of loyalty to Patrick Sullivan who he appointed to the PEP even if I agree with RBE that he could get away with it given that Patrick was often a lone voice. Still .... Patrick is a Stringer guy and I am going with that.

I have a problem with the Queens borough president race since my guy Tony Avella dropped out. I don't like Valone or Katz, who is  the partner of Curtis Sliwa who makes me gag. And the BP picks a PEP person so it is important but if I had to hold my nose I would go for Katz --- no, I can't do it.

My local Assemblyman, Phil Goldfeder, is a great guy and has made himself a Rockaway fave, so that's a no brainer.

Well, gotta go exercise my voting arm -- those old voting machines are rusty.

Bill de Blasio Makes His Move - Will UFT Members Move With Him?

Mr. de Blasio argues that Ms. Quinn and Mr. Thompson have been either unwilling or unable to sufficiently challenge the legacy of the mayor and the city’s corporations over the past decade. .....Mr. de Blasio’s message, despite the excitement it has drawn from liberal luminaries like Alec Baldwin and Howard Dean, has alarmed many business leaders and Bloomberg aides.

Describing what he calls a “tale of two cities,” rife with inequalities in housing, early childhood education and police tactics, he promised those gathered at the Brooklyn bar that this year’s mayoral race was “going to be a reset moment. A major reset.”

Mr. de Blasio can barely contain his fury over what he sees as the central contradiction of the Bloomberg years: a mayor who routinely unleashed the power of government to change New Yorkers’ personal behavior repeatedly balked at harnessing it to change their economic circumstances. “You can see it; there is a bright line,” Mr. de Blasio said. “On health and the environment, he is Franklin Roosevelt. On economic justice, he’s Adam Smith. He turns into a free marketeer.”

.... NY Times

Today's NY Times had an intriguing pro de Blasio article with a nice photo of him, his wife and State Senator from Harlem/Upper West Side, Bill Perkins (our hero years ago for challenging the charter school lobby with a full day of hearings).

Now that Anthony D. Weiner’s campaign has imploded, Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, is drawing new energy and voter interest to a candidacy that presents the most sweeping rejection of what New York City has become in the past 12 years — a city, he says, that is defined by its yawning inequities. “We are not, by our nature, an elitist city.... “We are not a city for the chosen few.”  It is the campaign season’s riskiest calculation: that New Yorkers, who have become comfortably accustomed to the smooth-running, highly efficient apparatus of government under Michael R. Bloomberg, are prepared to embrace a much different agenda for City Hall — taxing the rich, elevating the poor and rethinking a Manhattan-centric approach to city services.  

And there has been favorable coverage of de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray. Interesting development, especially for educators with the UFT making a desperate push for Bill Thompson, an historically flawed candidate being run by people like Merryl Tisch and Al D'Amato.

Add the recent Wayne Barrett revealed stuff about Thompson connections to the guy who destroyed Bed-Stuy Interfaith Hospital. Plus Thompson's jumping on the "stop and frisk" bandwagon when he saw that Weiner was way more popular amongst black votes than he was. [I don't have time to find all these links on ed notes but the always reliable RBE at Perdido Street School has most of them:

• Bill De Blasio Hits Bill Thompson Over Stop And Frisk..
• Bill Thompson - Political Hack And Walking Conflict...

Plus some of his great commentary on the race in general.
Mulgrew Stumping With Thompson, Attacks Weiner/Spitzer

RBE at one point said that Thompson was as bad as Quinn.

I imagine the business community, Bloomberg hacks and much of the press will engage in an all out assault to make sure Thompson and not de Blasio gets into the runoff with Quinn. But they can't be seen openly to be on the same side of the UFT - which readers of Ed Notes full well know has been my claim all along - so they will obfuscate and attack Thompson in mild ways.

I know there are aspects of de Blasio's history as president of the District 15 School board pre-mayoral control that may come up.  His  interesting marriage where his wife is black and a former lesbian seems to be playing well at this point --- will she get the black and gay vote for Bill?

de Blasio talks about the free-market concept pushed by Bloomberg and just about all the candidates that if an institution can't stand on its own feet it should close. He seems to be for doing what it takes to keep health care institutions open.

In a mayor’s race crammed with celebrity razzle-dazzle, historic candidacies and tabloid turns, a gangly liberal from Brooklyn is quietly surging into the top tier of the field by talking about decidedly unglamorous topics: neglected hospitals, a swelling poverty rate and a broken prekindergarten system.

One very interesting point is that the page one article continues on a page with this article about a Bronx park and compares it to the funds going to the HiLine (For Decades, Fighting to Rescue a Bronx Park From Disrepair). 

“This is a disgrace,” Mr. Diaz said. “We still haven’t seen what we were promised. The time has come and gone. And that’s only talking about capital improvements. When you look at park rangers, comfort stations and other amenities, we seem to be shortchanged.”

The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation portrays Playground 52 as an example of good policy and volunteerism. When asked about the poor conditions, Zachary Feder, a department spokesman, said designers were working on plans to build a skate park and renovate a basketball court. The scope of further renovations would be determined after a public hearing. Mr. Feder said the playground was cleaned daily by department crews, who also swept water off the courts. But numerous visits over the last several months showed the opposite.

“If this was downtown, this would be fixed A.S.A.P.,” said Dayshawn Holmes, 14. “That’s where the money is in New York. They don’t care about us playing basketball here. Downtown, they’d have glass backboards.”

 You mean a city official lied to the reporter about cleaning the park? Shocking.

The de Blasio article makes much the same point:

Zoning changes have encouraged sky-piercing condominiums with multimillion-dollar price tags, but Mr. Bloomberg vetoed a bill requiring paid sick leave for working-class New Yorkers. By the city’s own measure, 46 percent of residents are poor or near poor, but the mayor scoffed at plans to compel companies that receive city subsidies to pay higher wages.

While a social justice oriented group like MORE at this point is not focused on the mayoral election (given its tiny size and outreach MORE's opinion or actions are irrelevant) my sense has been both inside MORE and amongst outraged teachers generally, was that John Liu followed by de Blasio were the best choices for UFT members. With Liu gaining no traction, many pro-Liu educators are moving to de Blasio.

Now I know that even internal critics say that the UFT is also social justice. But its choice of Thompson given de Blasio's social justice oriented positions shows which side the union leadership is on. Our point has been that only of the union strongly allies itself with community forces does it have a chance to resist the ed deform attacks. The Chicago TU is under assault, as it has been for 15 years, but they only have a chance to survive through their organizing efforts both internally and externally. Right now even with lots of flaws, de Blasio might be the candidate to bridge those gaps though I don't trust him either in the long run if he gets into office.

In a city that is endlessly congratulating itself for its modern renaissance — record-low crime, unmatched crowds of tourists, streets refashioned in European style — a day on the campaign trail with Mr. de Blasio is a reminder of unaddressed grievances and glaring disparities.

And this is not just about the poor, but the working middle class.

A young husband and wife, both employees of the city, told of their shock at being unable to afford a home in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, an evaporating refuge for middle-income buyers. “Now even the gentrifiers are getting priced out by gentrifiers,"....

Do inequalities that affect most of the kids teachers have to deal with interest teachers in terms of getting into a battle to improve the lives of our kids? Their living conditions affect our teaching conditions is clear to everyone. But what can we do about it?  We know that E4E and TFA say we can overcome poverty with good teaching and ignore outside factors. Where MORE differs is that we say YES to good teaching -- not by the way the test-driven teaching E4E and TFA support, but engage in both a fight to give us the rights as teachers to make judgements and teach the whole child, while also engaging in the broader struggles.

An open attack on the Bloomberg negatives will gain and lost people. A perusal of the NY Times metro article today has some interesting stuff about the state of Bloomberg's city in the outer boroughs where de Blasio is aiming his arrows.

• City Room: An Infernal Train Ride: Next Stop, Hell

  section A - page 14

  By PAM BELLUCK

• Side Street: For Decades, Fighting to Rescue a Bronx Park From Disrepair

• Results of New Testing Standard Could Complicate Bloomberg’s Final Months

  section A - page 13

  By JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ

• Falling Tree Kills Woman in Queens

  Teenager Is Shot and Killed by Officer on Foot Patrol in the Bronx

At the heart of Mr. de Blasio’s appeal, according to interviews with his supporters and political team, is a willingness to deliver an unvarnished and unstinting critique of the Bloomberg era in spite of polls that show a majority of New Yorkers believe the city is heading in the right direction under the mayor’s leadership.

It is a strategy, he said, that hinges on a pervasive sense that, for all of New York City’s bike-path charms and pedestrian plaza allures, its denizens are deeply uneasy about inequalities that remain unchecked by City Hall. 

.... wherever Mr. de Blasio travels these days, resentments toward Mr. Bloomberg’s New York tend to tumble out of voters’ mouths. A woman stopped to rail against wealthy foreigners who are buying luxury apartments, but rarely inhabiting them. “We don’t want to be like those European cities where rich people fly in once a year and nobody really lives there,” she told him. 

A man who is H.I.V. positive complained to Mr. de Blasio about the absence of a rent cap on housing for AIDS patients, which he said left him homeless. 

A student lamented the city’s class stratification, saying that the city “needs a mayor for the 99 percent, not the 1 percent.” 

Inside Mr. de Blasio’s campaign, aides talk about the need to simultaneously recognize Mr. Bloomberg’s triumphs, on issues like the smoking ban, and tap into a widespread desire for a change. “The remedy verses replica theory,” as one adviser put it, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the adviser was not authorized to disclose strategy. 

Mr. de Blasio’s campaign platform is unabashedly interventionist and progressive. His most eye-catching plan would raise the income tax rate to 4.3 percent from 3.87 percent on earnings of over $500,000, to pay for universal access to prekindergarten.

Now, an overcrowded system leaves tens of thousands of lower-income residents without access to full-day programs, setting back the early education of a generation, Mr. de Blasio argues. The campaign says the 11 percent increase in the marginal tax rate would amount to about $2,120 for a family earning $1 million.

In conversations with voters, Mr. de Blasio argues that Ms. Quinn and Mr. Thompson have been either unwilling or unable to sufficiently challenge the legacy of the mayor and the city’s corporations over the past decade. 

But his determination to emerge as the unrivaled liberal in the race has entailed a moral showmanship that may repel as many voters as it endears. He was arrested a few weeks ago during a sit-in to protest the latest closing of a city hospital.

“That,” Mr. de Blasio said of his arrest, “is certainly not in the Michael Bloomberg playbook.”

Perdido Street on Thompson: Political Hack And Walking Conflict Of Interest

After a closer look at Thompson's political record and associations, he is no less a crook and a hack than Quinn herself. And to be honest, I'm not so sure he isn't worse than Quinn. .... RBE

Councilman Jumaane Williams explained mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson‘s race relations speech by musing about his poll numbers among black voters. “I think he originally felt that certain segments of the population were going to go with him automatically. He started looking at polls and seeing that wasn’t happening,” he said. “Thompson’s trying to have it both ways without putting any skin in the game.”

Reality-Based Educator nails it. Remember how the UFT first endorsement in 2001 was one Alan Hevesi?

This is so good I am printing it and adding it to my sandwich for lunch.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Bill Thompson - Political Hack And Walking Conflict Of Interest

With the Anthony Weiner poll plummet made official by yesterday's Quinnipiac poll release (Weiner dropped to fourth in the race; 53% of New Yorkers say he should drop out), I am starting to turn my attention back to the candidate whose policies I can live with who will be most effective at taking on Christine Quinn in a runoff.
The Marist poll from last week and yesterday's Quinnipiac poll release show us that the two candidates with a good chance to make the runoff against Quinn are Bill Thompson, the former NYC comptroller, and Bill de Blasio, the current Public Advocate.

Read it all:  http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2013/07/bill-thompson-political-hack-and.html

Though many teachers I know favor Liu or even Sal Albanese, the default position will be Thompson or de Blasio, who I don't particularly love either. But if I were voting today that is where my vote would go. Just don't ask me what I think tomorrow.
 

Video - Mayoral Debate on Education: The Winner is ..... Moderator Zakiyah Ansari

Republished with full video coverage:
No one was more impressive than Zakiyah who dominated the debate with her no-nonsense take charge approach. I guess many of the candidates did not know much about her but every single one of them took notice.

Zakiayah for mayor.

The press corps was massive due to Weiner -- a major victory for NY-GPS in getting him to show -- did they have to guarantee him the seat next to Zakiyah which got the most camera work?
The biggest loser? Quinn by far, who was ridiculed. She is slipping into oblivion. Will we see a Weiner/Thompson run-off?

Video of entire debate plus my one on one post debate questions to Thompson and de Blasio.
https://vimeo.com/67227031



Friday I will publish my Wave column on how I got tossed from a Weiner appearance in Rockaway last Friday.

Read Leonie's report.
Read press accounts:
NY Times, Daily News, WSJ, NY Post,  Huffington Post, NY Mag, City and State. GothamSchools

UFT Tilts to Thompson: Tisch, D'Amato, New Action Overjoyed, de Blasio branded as"Left" While SEIU Endorses him

 3-card monte scam

This [1199/SEIU de Blasio] endorsement is a direct slap to Thompson. The African American candidate getting all those rich white people to support him politically and financially doesn't get 1199's endorsement because those members know who Thompson will represent if he is elected mayor.   ... Reality Based Educator

Better dead than red .... UFT policy since inception, c. 1960

Until the past week I was betting on the UFT backing de Blasio given some reports from the inside. But recent days have seen a decided shift to Thompson so I'm willing to bet the farm based on certain smoke signals. Unless the SEIU endorsement makes the UFT hierarchy take a pause.

But if a UFT Thompson comes about look for an interesting battle between UFT and SEIU. (And where will DC37 come down?)

Peter Goodman's Ed in the Apple blog is a good bell-weather of where the UFT is heading, though you have to read between the lines.

De Blasio, also a public school parent, continued to attack Quinn, over her support for a third term, and called her the “Bloomberg Lite” candidate....

Yes. we all hate Quinn. And I know the UFT people like de Blasio. But here's the clincher.

Is DiBlasio too far to the left? Will he “turn off” the middle of the road voters? Will he mobilize the business community to make an all-out effort for Lhota? (Lhota is about at the same level as Bloomberg was at this time in 2001)

Left? The usual Unity hack scare tactic. ("Progressive" would not do, I guess.)

Is Goodman trying to frighten the members who might support de Blasio (remember the lack of support for Mark Green in 2001 that gave us 12 years of Bloomberg). As if the business community is not already supporting Lhota.

Don't forget that de Blasio is the only candidate to take on Moskowitz and the charter network head to head. The UFT is often too scaredy cat to go there. (They argue that criticizing charters will hurt their attempts to organize charter teachers -- interesting in that Karen Lewis slams charters and still organizes teachers with success and 80% of the teachers in an election where retirees don't vote chose Karen yesterday.)

Reality-Based Educator reporting at Perdido Street School:

De Blasio Gets 1199 SEIU Endorsement

Local 1199 SEIU, which represents 200,000 healthcare workers, will make the announcement official on Monday.

The decision -- which could provide de Blasio a surge of grassroots support -- is the most significant union endorsement yet in the race.

Officials at the union said that its 150-member executive board voted unanimously to support de Blasio -- the first time that has happened in any citywide race in more than 20 years. They also said they made their choice a month earlier than expected, with hopes it would prompt other unions to follow suit. This endorsement is a direct slap to Thompson. The African American candidate getting all those rich white people to support him politically and financially doesn't get 1199's endorsement because those members know who Thompson will represent if he is elected mayor. 

Back to Goodman, who has an entire paragraph with a brief bio of Thompson, including this attempt to sugarcoat a guy who ran one of the worst campaigns in history against Bloomberg in 2009.

 Time and time again he rapped the Bloomberg administration and in the strongest terms said he would hire an experienced educator as chancellor. The audience applauded as he criticized Tweed, policies made by a staff without much school experience, and, “not a lot of diversity.”

You mean rapping Bloomberg's policies is what got Bloomberg's next door neighbor and ed deformer supreme, Merryl Tisch, to be Thompson's campaign chairperson and D'Amato and his pals to support him with big money while Merryl's husband is backing Lhota?

Oh, give us a break. They're playing 3-card monte with us.

What about Thompson's time as President of the Board of Education before the fall? He was backed by Giuliani for President and during his tenure we saw the first case of a non educator getting a waiver to be Chancellor (Harold Levy), thus setting a precedent for the past 4 chancellors. NOW he wants an educator for Chancellor?

With many UFT members supporting de Blasio for what they see as a more progressive program (progressive = left in the old war hawk UFT), Goodman's comments opens up the whispering campaign UFT staffers and Unity hacks will be using to try to tame the members who support de Blasio, most of whom will ignore them anyway. Teachers who are clued in despise Tisch and her flunky John King. So go sell Thompson to them.

Only a big backlash internally -- watch the UFT Delegate Assembly this Wednesday for clear signs -- which Unity hacks get up to speak and whether they make the very same comments Goodman is making. Unity Caucus DA Speakers Bureau will be meeting a day or two before the DA to plot strategy. Message to Stuart Kaplan --- we'll be watching you.

I see the entire Thompson campaign with support from Merryl Tisch whose husband is supporting Lhota as a bogus campaign to put forth the weakest candidate so Lhota has a shot. Come on, D'Amato, even with his anti-Lhota comments?

Even anti-political people like me who believe every politician will sell us out may just vote de Blasio for spite. 

What a trio of support: the UFT, Tisch and D'Amato. Hello Mayor Lohta.

Here are some more signs of UFT for Thompson:

• RBE reports: Merryl Tisch Hosts "Women For Thompson" Fundraiser On June 12 - Weingarten To Attend

Tells you everything you need to know about what kind of mayor Bill Thompson will be.

• Thompson is the only one written about in the update the UFT sends out:

http://www.uft.org/press-releases/mayoral-candidate-bill-thompson-outlin...

Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson gave a speech today outlining his vision for the city’s public schools and slamming Mayor Bloomberg’s education policies. Among the goals cited by Thompson, a former head of the Board of Education, were expanding the city’s prekindergarten programs and the number of Community Learning Schools, an initiative that was launched by the UFT.

See the movie opening next fall: Mark Green, Part 2.

And one more thing from Goodman's alternate reality:

I think the final endorsement will be driven by the “straw votes” at the borough meetings and the attitude of the delegates at the May 22nd meeting.

Sure, Peter, the vote of the people who attended the borough meetings, which probably look like a Unity Caucus Delegate Assembly, will decide.

Oh, and watch the walking dead in New Action, which actually crowed about how they endorsed Bill Thompson last time and attacked MORE for not doing so despite the fact that MORE didn't even exist, brag that it is their influence over Mulgrew due to their support that got the endorsement for Thompson.

New Action campaigning for Thompson

NY Times Attack on Quinn Part of Plan to Make Lhota Mayor by Making Thompson Dem Choice?

So I am a suspicious sort. I agree that Quinn is awful and believe everything in the NY Times article and would never vote for her. But something is fishy. Note this quote from a 2010 Wayne Barrett piece:

Friends of Thompson expect him to try, like loser Rudy Giuliani did in 1989, to stay in play on the sidelines and run for mayor again in four years, when a departing Bloomberg might throw him an endorsement or some checks.... Thompson often looked like a befuddled shadow-boxer, tied to Bloomberg at the hip while serving up obligatory campaign lip.

See Perdido St. comments:

NY Times: Christine Quinn Is A Petulant, Tantrum-Prone Child

and Backlash Against Quinn Grows.  RBE at Perdido has often branded Thompson as the worst candidate in history. 

  

I do think there is a plan operating here. And that is to make Joe Lhota mayor and the only way to do that is to have the weakest possible Democrat as a campaigner run against him.

And that is one Bill Thompson the worst candidate to run for mayor and the supposed behind the scenes choice of Bloomberg both in 2009 and most probably this time too as a stalking horse for Lhota.  The Times has run some puff pieces on Lhota and a look at Thompson's backers leads one to some suspicion -- sorry I can't find the link. Ignore the talk about rifts between Bloomberg and Lhota. They are both part of the undemocratic oligarchy that has a choke hold on the city, especially when it comes to the education and real estate gravy trains.

I wrote about the Wayne Barrett piece in the Voice Jan 10, 2010

The next time you read a New Action leaflet bragging about how they were the only caucus to endorse Bill Thompson, suggest people read this revealing Wayne Barrett piece in the Voice about Thompson's girlfriend/wife and how Bloomberg has helped her.

Bloomberg and Thompson: The (Really) Odd Couple

Weingarten and Thompson Embarrassed

From the Daily News:

Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten suffered an embarrassing moment when she revealed that an affordable housing project for educators in the Bronx was being built with nonunion labor.

Even more embarrassing?

The man who stood beside her in October to announce the project, city Controller William Thompson, could have warned her about the problem.

His office was aware during negotiations that the developer refused to promise to hire only union workers, sources said.

The snafu was a big headache for Weingarten, now the head of the city's largest municipal union, who had to tell the union's pension fund to sell off $28 million in bonds being used to finance the low-cost apartments.

Unions for the building trades even threatened to put the famous inflatable rat outside the United Federation of Teachers headquarters, sources said.

Spokesmen for Thompson - a probable contender for mayor - and Weingarten, his longtime friend and ally, declined comment.

No matter what the level of embarrassment, the UFT will support Thompson for mayor, something that has been in the works for 8 years. And along with that comes continued support for mayoral control of the schools.