Message: I Care

Why make like you care when you can just have your diverse, storied, veteran kitchen cabinet make like you make like you care? Shape your image without lifting a finger! Ridiculous ledes like this ensue:

A group of power brokers privately warned Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s re-election campaign this week that he must erase his image as an elitist billionaire and show that he cares about the concerns of average New Yorkers. [emphasis added]

The top secret meeting was top secret:

Campaign officials declined to comment on the meeting, saying it was a private strategy session, but several of the participants said they were led to believe that their ideas would be followed in some way. The mayor’s communications director, William T. Cunningham, who also attended the meeting, said yesterday that candidates always retold their life stories in a re-election fight, and that Mr. Bloomberg would do so during his campaign. [emphasis added]

Details of the secret meeting were scant, and few of those attended revealed much:

The meeting, described by seven participants [I could be reading it wrong, but the Times only mentions seven people being at the meeting!], provides a window into the challenges Mr. Bloomberg faces at an early but important stage of the mayoral race, when he has a chance to define his own image while his Democratic opponents are preoccupied with fighting for their party’s nomination. [emphasis added]

In fact, details were so scant, the Times only was able to uncover the most mundane, ultra-detailed details:

For some people sitting around the fold-out, cafeteria-style tables at the meeting, the mix of personalities alone was worth the invitation. As they enjoyed plain and chocolate croissants, cantaloupe and kiwi, some participants said they were amused to see Mr. Minarik, for instance, listening to Mr. Koch – who in spite of supporting some Republican politicians is still a quintessential Democrat for many upstate conservatives.