Comic Relief . . . Emphasis On Relief

He may not have the kind of experience you would expect from someone who would be representing several hundred thousand constituents in the U.S. Congress, but Chris Owens has a nice sense of humor:

Democratic candidates In today’s four-way congressional primary race stuffed the mailboxes in the final push to succeed retiring Brooklyn Rep. Major Owens.

. . .

Chris Owens, the incumbent’s son, whose campaign hasn’t sparked as much enthusiasm as his rivals’, also sent out some mail over the weekend.

One even said, “No, this is not another mailing from David Yassky. It is your only piece of mail from Chris Owens.”

I declare the campaign is over: Close Race; Score One For Opportunism; The Post Oppo Research Machine Chugs Along; See, The Thing Is Was, Senior Year Was Just Such A Blur For Me . . .; Excitement!; Well, That’s A Relief!; Pay To Campaign!; Recipe For Hitting The Front Page Of The Sunday Times: Just Add Sharpton; You Know You’ve Jumped The Shark When . . .; Unite To Stop White Individuals!; The Sad Thing Is That It Was Probably A Carefully Crafted Statement; How Do We Put This? Let’s Just Say Identity Politics Still Exists . . .; Barack Obama: Some Guy They Stuck In There; Nothing Against Your Policies, It’s Just The Color Of Your Skin.

Tough Sells

Eager not to appear self-serving, the City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is backing off of changing term limit rules for now:

In an interview this week, the speaker said that while she has commissioned a poll on term limits, she is not committed to tackling the hot-button issue. She plans to brief council members later this month on the results of the poll. (“They were mixed,” is all Ms. Quinn would allow.)

Then there’s the other popular issue of pay raises:

The speaker has asked for a 25% raise for council members, but whether the commission or the mayor will support her is far from clear. Mr. Bloomberg last month offered no endorsement of a pay raise, suggesting that it should be determined by a formula factoring in skill level, education, and experience.

By most any standard, Ms. Quinn is asking for a lot. In addition to the 25% hike for council members — which would bring their base salary to $112,500 from $90,000 — Ms. Quinn is also asking the commission to allow the lawmakers to keep their stipends for committee chairmanships and leadership positions. The stipends range between $4,000 and $18,000, but because the council has so many standing committees — more than the House of Representatives — all but five city lawmakers get the extra money.

Close Race

The primary in New York’s 11th Congressional District is a dead heat just days before the election:

The results of the poll, first reported by Daily News political columnist Ben Smith on his blog yesterday, show City Council members Yvette Clarke (D-Flatbush) and David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights) with 20% of the vote each.

State Sen. Carl Andrews (D-Crown Heights) and Chris Owens, son of retiring incumbent Major Owens, both got 19% of the vote in the survey conducted by pollster Tom Kiley and paid for by a private company.

That leaves 22% of voters undecided in the splintered race for the 11th Congressional District, which includes Crown Heights, Flatbush and parts of Park Slope.

Mastering the obvious:

“It means that nobody has yet cracked through, and they only have a few days to do it,” said political observer Hank Sheinkopf, adding, “The undecideds will decide this race.

Backstory: Score One For Opportunism; The Post Oppo Research Machine Chugs Along; See, The Thing Is Was, Senior Year Was Just Such A Blur For Me . . .; Excitement!; Well, That’s A Relief!; Pay To Campaign!; Recipe For Hitting The Front Page Of The Sunday Times: Just Add Sharpton; You Know You’ve Jumped The Shark When . . .; Unite To Stop White Individuals!; The Sad Thing Is That It Was Probably A Carefully Crafted Statement; How Do We Put This? Let’s Just Say Identity Politics Still Exists . . .; Barack Obama: Some Guy They Stuck In There; Nothing Against Your Policies, It’s Just The Color Of Your Skin.

At Least They Held Back From Flinging The Tea Sandwiches*

This is what you get when you appear at an event with a candidate a week before the primary:

Mayor Bloomberg threw some kind words yesterday toward congressional hopeful David Yassky — but they were easily the nicest things hurled about.

The news conference at Wyckoff Gardens in Brooklyn was interrupted by heckling, some cursing and a flying, circular object that landed near Bloomberg.

It was a doughnut.

Chocolate glazed.

Harmless as it was, it did cause Bloomberg’s gal pal, state Banking Superintendent Diana Taylor, to run for cover.

“Just another reason why we need cameras,” Bloomberg quipped. “All right, let’s focus back here.”

The purpose of the news conference was to announce that the city Housing Authority property was going to get security cameras, thanks in large part to Yassky, the Brooklyn councilman who is running in a nasty four-way primary for the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring Rep. Major Owens.

Although Bloomberg isn’t officially endorsing any of the candidates, he did take the time yesterday to praise Yassky as someone who “worked very hard for the city” and tries to “make life better in this city.”

But the unruly crowd, which included supporters of other candidates, did their best to ruin the visit.

I Can’t Believe I Ate The Whole Thing: Score One For Opportunism; The Post Oppo Research Machine Chugs Along; See, The Thing Is Was, Senior Year Was Just Such A Blur For Me . . .; Excitement!; Well, That’s A Relief!; Pay To Campaign!; Recipe For Hitting The Front Page Of The Sunday Times: Just Add Sharpton; You Know You’ve Jumped The Shark When . . .; Unite To Stop White Individuals!; The Sad Thing Is That It Was Probably A Carefully Crafted Statement; How Do We Put This? Let’s Just Say Identity Politics Still Exists . . .; Barack Obama: Some Guy They Stuck In There; Nothing Against Your Policies, It’s Just The Color Of Your Skin.

*Believe me, I tried.

Score One For Opportunism

Meanwhile, The New York Times Editorial Board endorses David Yassky in no uncertain terms:

Mr. Yassky is undoubtedly an opportunist, as are most politicians and certainly all those in this race. But far more important is his stellar record on the Council, leading groundbreaking work on gun control, affordable housing, the environment and jobs creation — all important to the 11th District.

Backstory: The Post Oppo Research Machine Chugs Along; See, The Thing Is Was, Senior Year Was Just Such A Blur For Me . . .; Excitement!; Well, That’s A Relief!; Pay To Campaign!; Recipe For Hitting The Front Page Of The Sunday Times: Just Add Sharpton; You Know You’ve Jumped The Shark When . . .; Unite To Stop White Individuals!; The Sad Thing Is That It Was Probably A Carefully Crafted Statement; How Do We Put This? Let’s Just Say Identity Politics Still Exists . . .; Barack Obama: Some Guy They Stuck In There; Nothing Against Your Policies, It’s Just The Color Of Your Skin.