[ This was first posted at
The Daily Gotham ]
So the Quinnipiac University | Polling Results are in and the numbers are not looking good for any of the Democrats running for mayor:
July 19, 2005 - Bloomberg, With 60% Approval, Thumps All Dems, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Miller Up, Fields Down In Dem Primary Pack
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a 60 percent approval among New York City voters and now tops all Democratic challengers by 15 percentage points or more, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Even Democrats approve 58 - 32 percent of Mayor Bloomberg, while Republicans approve 72 - 23 percent and independent voters approve 60 - 28 percent. Black voters approve 59 - 27 percent, while white voters approve 66 - 27 percent and Hispanic voters approve 50 - 40 percent.
The Mayor is now over the 50 percent mark when matched against any Democratic contender, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds:
- 52 - 36 percent over Fernando Ferrer
- 55 - 29 percent over Manhattan Borough President
C. Virginia Fields;
* 55 - 30 percent over City Council Speaker
Gifford Miller;
* 54 - 28 percent over U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner.
Bloomberg beats Fields, Miller and Weiner among Democrats and trails Ferrer 47 - 42 percent. Independent voters back Bloomberg over any Democrat by more than 2 -1.
I hate polls because, like in this particular case, they are not looking for specifics. They are looking for soundbytes. Look at the heart of this poll, Question #11. If they wanted to actually qualify Bloomberg's popularity, they would have broken down the poll into questions that engaged people truthfully with their specific opinions about Bloomberg :
11. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York City today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp
Very satisfied 11% 23% 7% 12% 17% 3% 8%
Smwht satisfied 55 56 56 54 57 58 46
Smwht dissatisfied 22 12 23 23 19 25 27
Very dissatisfied 10 5 12 10 6 13 17
DK/NA 2 4 1 2 2 1 2
Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom
Very satisfied 8% 9% 13% 11% 20% 15% 8%
Smwht satisfied 50 55 57 56 54 57 52
Smwht dissatisf. 28 24 18 23 18 19 25
Very dissatisfied 12 11 11 9 7 6 13
DK/NA 3 2 2 1 1 2 1
Somewhat is the qualifying word in this poll. Somewhat satisfied. Somewhat dissatisfied. Why Somewhat? Could someone please ask the questions? What if Somewhat has a lot to do with the political climate in this city, in this country, after September 11? What if that is Somewhat?
This is what is missing in the message of all the Democrat mayoral candidates. NYC Democrats like me do not want to hear platitudes about potholes and the lack of toilet paper in public schools. Yes, those things are important, but everything changed for me after I saw, from my apartment building rooftop, the Twin Tower collapse in front of my very eyes. New York City changed for me after my son, then 3 year-old witnessed this with me and screamed : "Mommy, are we going to be next".
It is amazing to me that after all the ways the Bush administration has used New York City to push an agenda of war through lies, corruption and deceit; there is not one mayoral candidate making the connections between the extremists in Capitol Hill and Michael Bloomberg.
So let me break it down for y'all :
The first Democrat Mayoral Candidate to say in New York City : A vote for Michael Bloomberg is a vote for George Bush and the Extremist Republican corruption machine, will win this election.
So take some of that hard fundraised money and go get a poll going of your own. Ask voter how they would feel if a vote for Michael Bloomberg would mean four more years of Republicans in Capitol Hill? Because this is what progressive, liberals and Democrats in New York City want to hear:
A vote for Michael Bloomberg is a vote for George Bush
But has Fernando Ferrer, Virginia Fields, Gifford Miller or Anthony Wiener said this? No. And this is why there is such dissatisfaction among Democrats in the city, especially the grassroots.
I may be a blogging diva, but I spend more time on the ground than what a lot of people may want to believe. Yeah, I blog in my pajamas but I work at all times of the day. Because I homeschool my kids, we are out in the city a lot. And we talk to everybody. Now, I do not intend to paint myself as a one woman polling machine, but because I have connections with influencers of all walks of life in the city : from artists, to PTA moms (yeah, they're my friends too), to assistant district attorneys to campaign organizers, from investment bankers to union organizers, I can tell you confidently that this is the buzz in NYC among people who are either registered Democrats or have voted traditionally on the blue ticket.
In other words, you're not just boring us to death; you're throwing away the opportunity of a lifetime. Why? Because Koch is right when he says :
New York Daily News - Home - Ed Koch: Dreamin' big
There was a time when the Democratic primary was an arena for the party's icons. In 1977, when I was elected to my first term, my competitors for the mayoral nomination were Bella Abzug, Mario Cuomo, Herman Badillo, Percy Sutton and the incumbent, Abe Beame. But what a generation ago was a clash of titans has become an ordinary race, principally punctuated by campaign blunders.
[...]
In New York, Democrats Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general, and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and Republicans Gov. Pataki and Rep. Peter King (L.I.) deserve everyone's respect.
What is the common thread that puts them at the top? Integrity, along with the fact that they are not perceived as ideologues.
McCain is probably the most ideological of the lot. Some believe he is more conservative than President Bush. Yet McCain's candor, integrity and genuine war hero status have caused voters of both parties to conclude they would support him, even when they disagree with his social positions. They long for someone they believe can rise above the political scene. McCain is so admired that in the last presidential election Democratic candidate John Kerry offered him the vice presidential position on his ticket, knowing McCain's popularity would hugely enhance Kerry's chances for success.
Future candidates for mayor of New York, take heed. Two qualities will get you to City Hall: proven integrity and a sense of being above the fray.
He calls it "having integrity and being above the fray". Those are abstract qualities that have a different meanings for everybody. Look at McCain : A man who may be a straight shooter when he talks but completely lost a lot of Democrats, myself included, when he paraded himself as George Bush's #1 cheerleader during the 2004 Presidential campaign; and not long after Karl Rove had publicly humiliated him and his wife with all sorts of sordid lies, but for the benefit of his Texas Yankee master.
Still, Koch is right to point at how our Democratic candidates are playing little. Where Koch is awfully wrong --but then again, Koch and Lieberman might as well pull a Zell Miller and join the Republican party-- is in supporting Michael Bloomberg.
58% of the state went to Kerry in last year's presidential election. An overwhelming 74% of New York City voters voted against George Bush in last year's elections.
A vote for Michael Bloomberg is a vote for the Republican extremist machine that has taken over Capitol Hill. We don't need to make up stories about them, they've tied their own noose : The Downing Street Memos, PlameGate, WhoreGate, the littany of constitutional amendments to push the United States into a theocracy.
Do we also need to remind our mayoral candidates of how Michael Bloomberg has stalled the reconstruction of the World Trade Center area for the sake of his now failed Olympic Stadium? Do we need to remind them how that stadium and the way it was pushed has left a sour taste in New Yorkers mouths? What else is there for me to say about this man?
A vote for Michael Bloomberg is a vote for the corrupt Republican extremists that have taken over this country.
Period.
End of story.