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October 29, 2009
The Gamble
Weighing the risks and rewards of a Bloomberg third term
City Hall News
by Edward-Isaac Dovere
"Our view is that if we do everything conceivable to get our message out and turn our voters out, we’ll win—and the better a job we do, the more votes we get,” explained Bloomberg campaign manager Bradley Tusk. “I’m paraphrasing it, but LBJ said something along the lines of ‘If you do everything you possibly, humanly can and then a little more, you should win.’ That’s how I see it too.”
Um, doesn't he mean "if we spend everything conceivable" and "if you spend everything you possibly, humanly can?"
Many people have called for Bloomberg to seek and get control of development at Ground Zero, but to date, he has given no indication that he wants that particular albatross. Still, his frustrations at past failures simmering just below the surface, he does not seem content to have his biggest contributions to the skyline be whatever has grown out of his administration’s comprehensive rezonings over the last two terms and the new Bloomberg LP headquarters on the Upper East Side.
“We have to do the big projects,” he said at a recent press conference, his face scrunched in a grimace as he addressed the current condition of Atlantic Yards.
...“Once you make a decision that you’re not facing any future elections, does it give you a greater sense of independence? It does,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who this year endorsed the mayor for the second time.
NoLandGrab: OK, one, how does Marty Markowitz, who refuses to go gracefully into the night, know what it feels like to decide one is not going to face any future elections? And two, what's preventing Emperor Mike from overriding term limits again in the future, should NYC voters be so foolish as to give him the third term he covets?
Posted by eric at October 29, 2009 12:31 PM