Bad To Worse

For mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer yesterday, things went from bad (“Even Among Democratic Voters, Poll Finds Ferrer Is Well Behind”) to worse:

Here’s the picture that’s going to send Fernando Ferrer reaching for the Tums.

One week after endorsing the Democratic mayoral candidate, former President Bill Clinton encountered Mayor Bloomberg at a Waldorf-Astoria luncheon yesterday and — from the looks of it — both had a mighty swell time chewing the fat for five minutes. The politically powerful picture was snapped by the mayor’s photographer and quickly released by City Hall.

“The mayor was happy to see President Clinton,” said mayoral spokesman Ed Skyler, without providing details of the chat. “They’ve known each other for a long time and he enjoyed their conversation.”

One Clinton aide wasn’t too happy, though.

When four City Hall reporters rushed to a foyer off the Waldorf’s Grand Ballroom, where Clinton and Bloomberg were spotted in conversation, the Clinton aide angrily demanded they leave.

“No! No!” the aide shouted.

When he started getting physical with the reporters, Skyler intervened. “Don’t push around my press corps,” he told the Clinton staffer, who then backed off.

Clinton left moments later for the United Nations, with the mayor heard saying, “All the best.”

The political damage to Ferrer had been done.

The photo of a smiling Republican mayor joined by one of the most recognizable Democratic leaders in the world is a boost for Bloomberg in a city where Clinton is enormously popular.

Of course this was all a chance encounter — an accident — just like last time.