“They Have A Lot Of Time On Their Hands”

Campaigning For A Third Term On Just $100 Million 101 teaches us that if you can either lock up or neutralize every possible interest group or constituency with massive amounts of time or money you will probably win:

Even as Bloomberg campaign aides worked to shore up GOP support, they have been quietly meeting with leaders of the [Working Families Party] and key union officials whose votes will be crucial to landing the party’s endorsement.

Or, at the very least, they aim to block a Democrat from getting it.

One labor leader said Bloomberg’s campaign has been “diligently working” the WFP’s executive committee and “relentless” in its pursuit of union support. They’ve dispatched multiple emissaries to woo labor leaders.

“They come from the school of ‘leave no stone unturned,'” said Bob Master, political director for the Communications Workers of America and a WFP co-chairman.

“These guys are relentless. [Bloomberg’s] got a high-caliber team. They have a lot of time on their hands, and they have ample staff resources.

Although My Plans For The Future Haven’t Changed, I Believe This Brings My Affiliation Into Alignment With How I Have Led And Will Continue To Lead Our City

What, being unaffiliated wasn’t good enough for you? Spineless wuss:

Mayor Bloomberg will run for reelection as a Republican this fall, the Daily News has learned, after successfully courting the party to let him back on its ballot line two years after he left it.

Beware When You Hear That Someone Is “Literally” Anything, Especially “Batman”

And then it just brings up silly thoughts like, “OK, then who is ‘literally’ Robin?” But setting aside the irony of a front-page story about a “purposefully inconspicuous” aide, it is good to see squeegee men get beat up on again. That always makes you feel good:

Driving through the South Bronx last summer, Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler spotted a man illegally washing car windshields at a stoplight.

Enraged, he called the police desk at City Hall from his cellphone (it’s on speed dial), ordered that the man be arrested on the spot and requested a copy of his rap sheet, which, as it happened, was voluminous. It listed 50 prior arrests.

Thus began a classic Skyler crusade: Over the next few months, he had two more squeegee men arrested by speed dial. He instructed aides to study their lengthy journeys through the legal system. And he helped draft a law cracking down on repeat offenders, which Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled in his State of the City address this year.

“Ed is literally Batman,” said Kevin Sheekey, a fellow deputy mayor. “But most of Gotham doesn’t know how much he does as Bruce Wayne because he’s so purposefully inconspicuous.”

No Spurious Claim Of Success Left Behind

It might very well be a good idea on its own so don’t fib, stretch the truth, unleash a barrage of subway ads produced by a quasi-public agency that can be easily mistaken for campaigning or cook the books:

The graduation rate is another area in which progress has been overstated. The city says the rate climbed to 62 percent from 53 percent between 2003 and 2007; the state’s Department of Education, which uses a different formula, says the city’s rose to 52 percent, from 44 percent. Either way, the city’s graduation rate is no better than that of Mississippi, which spends about a third of what New York City spends per pupil.

. . .

To further raise the graduation rate, the city does not include as dropouts any of the students who were “discharged” during their high-school years. Some discharges are legitimate, like students who moved to another school district. But many others are so-called push-outs, students who were ejected from school even though they had a legal right to be there, often because their grades and test scores were bringing down their schools’ averages. The Department of Education refuses to disclose how many students are in each of these categories. We do know, however, that more than one-fifth of the members of the class of 2007, or 18,524 students, were discharged and not counted as dropouts.

Chekhov’s Gun Applied To Budget Threats

As the playwright said, “One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it.” Otherwise, you’ll look like a manipulative third-tier politician destined for nothing better than chief executive of some sclerotic town somewhere between Boston and D.C.