New York Just Has A Way Of Making Elections Irrelevant

The first election in years that actually meant something actually ends up not meaning much:

Supporters expect Barak Obama to pick up one or two delegates when primary results from New York City are recounted.

The unofficial results were strikingly under-recorded in several districts around the city — in some cases leaving him with zero votes when, in fact, he had pulled in hundreds, Board of Elections officials have said.

Those results gave Obama no votes in nearly 80 districts, including Harlem’s 94th and other historically black areas — but many of those initial tallies proved to be wildly off base.

“Every election has problems, but in this case, all the problems seem to have been his,” said state Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem). “He got all the zeroes and undercounting.

“Some gross mistakes have been made. Very often, there are clerical errors. In this case, it was strictly with regards to Obama.” Perkins told The Post the issue is more than the “one or two delegates” that could be added to Obama’s tally, noting that if the results were accurately represented, there would not have been a “false momentum” for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It’s Not Giuliani’s Time . . .

A sampling of what Rudy now avoids next week:

Jessica Matos, 25, a single mother from the South Bronx, sounded almost giddy as she talked about the results from Florida and the possibility that Mr. Giuliani would abandon his campaign.

“I was waiting for this moment — he stinks,” declared Ms. Matos as she finished off the last of her French fries at the Crown Donuts Diner on East 161st Street, not far from Yankee Stadium. “Giuliani was always for himself, never for the people. Where I live, a lot of people need help, and he made everything hard for people who needed help. Everything was always for the middle class or the high class. He just forgot about everyone else.”

Across the table, her friend Ivonne Rivera, 38, nodded enthusiastically. “He’s a hypocrite,” she said.

The diner’s owner, Peter Katsihtis, took a more analytical approach. A Republican who plans to vote for a Democrat in November because he wants the United States out of Iraq, Mr. Katsihtis said Mr. Giuliani had not managed to get his message and positions across. “When people decide to vote,” he said, “they want to know what a candidate stands for. He wasn’t effective in getting that across.”

Louis Duran, an elevator mechanic’s assistant seated at a booth by the window, spoke up for Mr. Giuliani.

“I used to be a criminal — I’ve spent time upstate — and I don’t hate Giuliani,” he said. “I thought he did a great job as mayor. I want my parents and family to be safe, and I would have voted for him.”

And Here You Doubted Captain Hizzoner’s Good-Government Superpowers

Your cynicism and disrespect is foiled again by the mayor’s superior public relations prowess:

Defying expectations that the city would increase property taxes to help close a projected $3.1 billion budget gap, Mayor Bloomberg will argue today that the budget can be balanced without the pain of a tax hike.

In his annual State of the City address, Mr. Bloomberg will propose extending the 7% property tax cut he instituted last year, initially presented as a one-time bonus, an aide familiar with the speech said.

Mr. Bloomberg also will call for an extension of a $400 property tax rebate for homeowners, the aide said.

Backing away from a property tax increase as the city heads into an uncertain fiscal period may be seen as a sign Mr. Bloomberg is attempting to differentiate himself from the Democratic presidential candidates in advance of a possible White House run, and to avoid being characterized as a politician who would rather raise taxes than find savings in the city’s budget.

(Dagnamit! He got us again! How could this finely honed BS detector miss this?!)

Bloomberg Returns; “Lamppost In New York” Axiom Questioned

For a would-be Presidential candidate, coming home can be a drag:

Fresh from a trip to China and Indonesia, Mayor Bloomberg is turning his attention away from issues of international importance and toward one that is decidedly local: potholes.

At his first public event since returning to New York from his week-long travels abroad, Mr. Bloomberg kicked off the start of pothole season by urging New Yorkers to call the city’s help hotline, 311, to report any craters in the road.

The city fills the equivalent of 22 potholes every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In the past five months, more than 70,000 potholes have been filled. Mr. Bloomberg said that since 2002, the city has filled 1.25 million potholes.

Although potholes may not be the most glamorous item on Mr. Bloomberg’s to-do list, he tried to draw a connection yesterday between filling holes in the ground and the essence of government. He said the city’s efforts to keep streets in good repair is making a vital difference when it comes to traffic fatalities, which are down more than 20% since 2001.

Besides, “First Girlfriend” Just Sounds Lame

In our haste, we neglected one of the more obvious obstacles:

For all of his billions, Mayor Michael Bloomberg lacks one thing all the current presidential candidates proudly display: a spouse.

The country has not elected a bachelor president since 1884, when Grover Cleveland won the White House despite newspapers huffing that “a man who will not marry a woman and take care of her has no right to be a president.”

Singles haven’t had much luck getting nominated either. The last unwed candidate chosen by a major party was Adlai Stevenson, the divorced Democrat who lost to Republican Dwight Eisenhower twice in the 1950s.

Bloomberg, 65, has a companion of seven years, Diana Taylor, and essentially lives with her. Their arrangement and his star-studded past love life would present him with new political territory to navigate if he runs.