dagblog - Comments for "De Blasio (and not Weiner) takes NYC Dem mayoral primary, may face runoff"

Blacks bring it home for Bill

EmmaZahn — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 22:19:49 +0000

In reply to De Blasio (and not Weiner) takes NYC Dem mayoral primary, may face runoff

Blacks bring it home for Bill de Blasio by Jonathan Capehart

[...] When I asked whether it was possible for his candidate to snatch the black vote from the only African American in the race, the answer was succinct. “Yup. I do. Particularly amongst black women,” he replied. He was right on both counts.

[...] Former city comptroller Bill Thompson was the only African American in the race. He and de Blasio tied for the black vote with 42 percent each. Now, let’s take a deeper dive. Thompson beat de Blasio among black men, 49 percent to 36 percent. As predicted, De Blasio won black women, 47 percent to 37 percent. But here’s the kicker: While black men were 12 percent of voters, black women made up 17 percent.

[...] “Thompson lacks vision or energy,” my Big Apple source said. “He doesn’t connect.” Count that as a shame because Thompson is a smart, capable guy. Unfortunately, he has as much fire as a match under running water, and he completely blew the opportunity handed to him four years ago. Thompson came within four points of denying Mayor Bloomberg a third term. That near-victory gave Thompson a natural platform to build a constituency as the city’s alternative voice. He did nothing with it.

But when it comes to Thompson and the black vote, I believe there was something else at work. As we all know, de Blasio’s wife Chirlane is African American. But my unscientific and generalized analysis after more than four decades of observation says that a white male public person with a black wife or girlfriend gets major approval from African Americans in general and black women in particular. It’s the most tangible sign that “they” all don’t hate us and that some of “them” not only understand us but also know us.

Take that feeling, add the affirming Afro-wearing Dante, mix in that wonderfully joyous picture of the biracial de Blasio family working it out during the West Indian Day parade and overlay it with de Blasio’s full-throated opposition to stop and frisk, and you’ll see why the black vote split between one of their own and, well, one of their own.

The ad works too well not to

MrSmith1 — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 18:51:13 +0000

In reply to It's not unreasonable to

The ad works too well not to assume there was some racial calculation in their strategy, but racist? No, that just made Bloomberg look silly and petty.

It's not unreasonable to

Verified Atheist — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 15:06:28 +0000

In reply to The power of one brilliant TV

It's not unreasonable to suspect there was a racial strategy to that ad, but to call it racist is obviously ridiculous. Of course, this isn't the first time an ad has used a politician's child in this manner, but it's the first time I'm aware of that doing so has been called racist. Geez.

The power of one brilliant TV

MrSmith1 — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 12:02:23 +0000

In reply to De Blasio (and not Weiner) takes NYC Dem mayoral primary, may face runoff

The power of one brilliant TV ad helped De Blasio enormously. In it, a young black kid with a 70's looking afro starts talking about DeBlasio and saying what a great guy he is. The kid's not a professional actor, obviously, and his reading is a bit unsteady ... until he gets to the payoff line ... "And I'm not saying all this just because he's my FATHER." BOOM! Holy Luke Skywalker! Suddenly the bells and whistles in viewer's heads go off ... this white guy has a black kid and a black wife! A post-racial mayor! Woo-Hooo!

It is the most effective political ad I've seen in years. Mayor Bloomberg was so unsettled by it, he claimed it was racist. But it was just a clever way to introduce a candidate and show who he is and explain in a few words how he is different from the rest of the candidates. It was a stroke of genius, in my opinion, and, I believe, one of the things that gave DeBlasio the victory.

I'm not surprised that Weiner

Verified Atheist — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:51:13 +0000

In reply to De Blasio (and not Weiner) takes NYC Dem mayoral primary, may face runoff

I'm not surprised that Weiner lost, but I am surprised that he only got 5 percent.