Mayor's Race and Public Money
September 15th, 2005
The New York Post admonished Anthony Weiner, calling his withdrawal from the mayoral primary disrespectful and contemptuous. “Weiner took $1.7 million in public tax dollars for the primary campaign. The idea behind matching funds is to level the playing field and ensure that the serious candidates have a viable chance to win the office — not to have the taxpayers finance a political expedition meant to soften the ground for a different campaign four years hence.”
Village Voice blogger Jarrett Murphy writes in Newsday that “the mayor is on pace to spend $100 million to get another term, and this after he spent more than a record $70 million-plus to be elected in the first place.” All public funds, he argues, “will be rendered almost meaningless by the virtually unlimited personal arsenal Mayor Michael Bloomberg brings to his re-election fight.”
By Gabriela on September 15, 2005, 6:07 pmIn category: Electoral Politics | 1 Comment »


September 16th, 2005 at 4:02 pm
The New York Post ought to have a better grasp on the concept of “sunk cost” (the $1.7 million to Weiner). Perhaps they’ll recall that Ferrer ran for office more than once too. As Clinton once said about how voters and supporters should consider the democratic candidates for the 2004 presidential race–folks should fall in love (with a candidates) but (after primary day) fall in line. Surely Weiner is considering his own interests and opportunities, but those may actually be intertwined with those of the democratic party, better elections and the public.