Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Taking a page out of W.C. Fields, the best solution may be voting against mayoral primary candidates

2013 NYC Elections

In the mayoral primary, voting against a candidate may be the better course of action instead of voting for one.

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Updated: Tuesday, September 10, 2013, 1:26 AM

























NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi

Todd Maisel, New York Daily News/New York Daily News

Many will follow W.C. Fields’ lead and, hell; just vote against . . . Mike Bloomberg.

‘Hell, I never vote for anybody. I only vote against,” said W.C. Fields.
Hell, I could vote against any of the Democratic hopefuls in this mayoral primary.
But like most New Yorkers, I’ll vote against four of them.
The last time I voted for a candidate enthusiastically was when Barack Obama was running for President. Obama promised to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, close Gitmo, curtail government snooping and stop intervening in the internal conflicts of foreign nations.
I voted for “change.”
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It took four years for Obama to leave Iraq. We’re still in Afghanistan. Gitmo festers, an Al Qaeda recruitment symbol. The federal government snoops on us more than ever. And now Obama asks the Congress to support him in firing missiles at Syria.
I thought I voted for change. Instead, I voted for George W. Obama.
No more voting for. I’m back to voting against.
Republican mayoral hopeful Joe Lhota did a good job getting the subways running after Hurricane Sandy. But his campaign ads featuring the odious Rudy Giuliani, the ghoul who cashed in on 9/11, will encourage many votes against.
In this space, I encouraged Anthony Weiner to run for mayor because the race was boring. From a journalist’s selfish perspective, I figured Weiner would make great copy and punny headlines and add some adrenaline to an anemic contest.
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Weiner didn’t disappoint.
He electrified the race. He zoomed to the front of a slow pack. This brash, loud Brooklyn boy also brought concrete ideas to the stage. Then the second high heel dropped. One of his sextmates, Sydney Leathers, rose to the top of the bimbometer for 15 skanky minutes, and Weiner’s poll numbers plummeted for good.
Weiner again became easy for many to vote against.
Christine Quinn, who should have had this election in her handbag, never managed to shake the image of being Mike Bloomberg’s water gal. Her opponents dumped so many buckets of Bloomberg water on Quinn that she wound up drowning in it.
Soon, she became as easy to vote against as Bloomberg's 16-ounce soda ban.
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Bill Thompson came within 5 points of beating Bloomberg four years ago even though he was outspent $85.2 million to $6.6 million. That made many pundits think he had a great shot this time against people with modest campaign war chests. Except for one thing: Thompson carried the scent of a loser. New Yorkers rarely bet on a losing horse twice. And if you’re the only black candidate in the Democratic race, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who endorsed you four years ago, sits this one out, you’re in trouble.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election/forget-voting-vote-article-1.1450559#ixzz2eW9FzfPj

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