The
Color Of
The Hidden Losers
It wasn’t just the GOP’s chances
to capture a
New York Senate seat that suffered a big blow when Rudy pulled out of the race last
week.
There were other, less obvious, losers as well.
Many are saying that Public Advocate
Mark Green suffered the most from the Mayor’s announcement. The Mayoral heir
apparent if Rudy had moved to D.C., Green has been stepping up his public appearances in
recent months in anticipation of his presumed coronation next January.
Sorry, Mark!
Now, Green must wait more than a year for
what is shaping up as a brawl for the Democratic nomination in September 2001. Political
pundits and insiders say that Green may very well be a distant second to Comptroller Alan
Hevesi, who leads in fundraising, political base and in preliminary polls.
Green’s best hope, some say, is if
Council Speaker Peter Vallone also goes for the Mayoral nomination and gets into a
Battle of Queens with Hevesi that leaves the two of them too bloodied to beat Green for
the nomination.
Other hidden losers as a result of
Giuliani’s dropping out of the race are some of the City’s leading scribes who
are preparing books on
Giuliani that hoped to capitalize on the
heightened attention of a Senate slugfest.
Wayne Barrett of The Village Voice,
the alternative weekly’s dogged nemesis of all Mayors, has been feverishly working on
a Rudy biography that should suffer as the Mayor fades from the limelight in the coming
months and as New Yorkers suffer Rudy burnout after the circus atmosphere of the past few
weeks dies out.
With revelations of current and former
girlfriends now out in the open, an ex-wife who was actually his cousin, a cancer scare
and a more emotionally honest Rudy pouring his heart out to the press, what more drama
could a book uncover?
And if it does, will anyone care anymore?
Andrew Kirtzman, NY1’s
political analyst, was also preparing a dueling Rudy biography and Michael Tomasky,
New York magazine’s erudite political columnist, had begun work on a book
pitched to the Rudy-Hillary battle.
All three of these writers must be feeling a little blue
this week. But, it seems, it’s better to be blue in NY politics these days, than
Green.
Here Comes The
Chancellor
Who are the most nervous people in town
these days? Probably school principals and janitors now that take-no-prisoners Chancellor Harold
Levy was unanimously voted in for a two-year term.
The Upper West Side former Citigroup lawyer
is looking to make sweeping changes on all levels and does not brook any glitches, no
matter how trivial they may seem.
In a visit to his former junior high last
week, Levy was upset by a broken drinking fountain and at another school was incensed by a
misspelled sign on the wall that welcomed our "New Chancelor." Look out
principals; the new Ed head could be coming to your school next!
The Hit List
Now that Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver
seems to have survived the attempted coup, comes the messy part of exacting revenge
against those Dems who lined up to support upstate Assemblyman Michael J. Bragman.
Silver, a religious Jewish legislator from
the lower East Side who is said to be a fierce competitor on the basketball court and on
the golf course, is known to be an unforgiving brass-knuckle political boss. Look for most
of the Queens delegation that supported Dem leader Thomas Manton’s open
assault on Silver to get stripped of committee chairs and extra pay.
Doesn’t anyone ever learn the old rule of war and
politics: if you want to kill the king, don’t announce an attack on the castle!
Politics Online
Even before his announcement Saturday, Rick
Lazio was ready to run. The GOP US Senator wannabe held a well-orchestrated press
conference Saturday afternoon less than 24 hours after a kindler and gentler Rudy
Giuliani became a non-candidate. The conference came complete with t-shirts, posters
and the polish that indicates hours of work by professional consultants.
If anyone thinks Lazio was taken by
surprise by Rudy’s announcement, think again.
Sure you can orchestrate a press
conference, write a speech, have your people in place, and print t-shirts and posters in
less than 24 hours.
But can you build an extensive website on a
secure server accepting political contributions with credit cards online? Think again.
And Lazio’s Senate website was
up and running before the Long Island Congressman even declared for the Senate.
His opponent has a website too:
The race promises to be a political junkie's virtual dream,
even without Rudy.
Bronx Cheer
While all eyes were on City Hall and the
failed coup in Albany last week, there were some political rumblings from the Bronx, the
City’s second most overlooked borough.
While most talk of late has been about the
impending battle between Ollie Koppell’s wife, Lorraine, and State
Senator Guy Vellela, Mayoral and Gubernatorial politics emerged this week.
Bronx County Dem Chair Roberto Ramirez
emerged as Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver’s lifeline, which means some
backroom deal was struck.
Does that mean that Ramirez’s patron, Freddy Ferrer,
who will make some citywide office bid next year, can count on Shelly’s support for
Mayor?
Cooked!
The Janet Cooke story is headed to
the big screen. Cooke won the Pulitzer in 1981 with the saga of Jimmy, an 8-year-old
heroin addict. Then, the former Washington Post reporter had to return it when it
turned out she had made the whole thing up. The flick will be based on the only interview
she has ever done about the incident, a 1996 session with GQ reporter Mike Sager.
He got $1.6 million for the rights to his story.
Meanwhile, she has disappeared. But if
you’re reading this, Janet, Sager says call him (he now works for Esquire) and
he’ll help you get your cut.
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