Reaction to Kelly for Mayor

Here's Republican strategist Bill O'Reilly's take on the Kelly for Mayor mayor boomlet that found expression in the Times and on the opinion page of the Daily News over the weekend:

“All the buzz about Ray Kelly shows how eager New Yorkers are to keep the city moving in the same direction. There is definite fear out there about handing the keys to City Hall back to a career politician. The past 16 years have been a wildly successful experiment for New Yorkers; they have shown that extraordinary individuals from outside the normal political process can do the job better."

Which I imagine is also a neat preview of the argument John Catsimatidis or whoever the main non-Democrat is going to be if Kelly doesn't run.

Meanwhile, Doug Muzzio, a professor of public policy at Baruch College (who may rival Mickey Carroll as most quotable political commentator locally) threw water on the entire notion.

“Would Kelly make a formidable candidate?" he said. "Yes. Do I think he runs? No. I think he's said that it's not in his DNA to run for elective office and it may not be. A better bet is a federal appointive office after the 2008 election -- homeland security, FBI."