Luis Miranda

Here is the negative ad done by Roberto Ramirez and Luis Miranda of the Mirram Group on Eliot Spitzer's health care spending cuts.

Also finally got in touch with a spokesman for Mirram to ask, among other things, whether the commercial signaled a change in attitude towards Spitzer.

Citing company policy, he offered no comment.

Liz has the script here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Some of the television commercials slamming Eliot Spitzer's health care spending plan were made by Roberto Ramirez and Luis Miranda, consultants who helped elect him, according to an informed reader.

The ad, which I haven't seen yet, shows footage of a busy emergency room and suggests there could be long lines there if Spitzer's plan is enacted, according to my source. It's running on Channel 47.

Between November 2004 and November 2005, Ramirez and Miranda, who run Mirram Global LLC, were paid around $13,000 from Spitzer Paterson 2006

A spokesman for 1199 declined to comment and a message left for Ramirez and Miranda at their Manhattan office was not immediately returned.

-- Azi Paybarah

Ferrer aides have argued lately that he's getting unfair treatment from the media. Luis Miranda put it most clearly the other day, telling Newsday:

"We have learned to live with the fact that unfairness has characterized the coverage of this campaign," Miranda said. "The double standard is there."

I talked to Bill Lynch about this the other day, thinking that David Dinkins' old campaign manager would have a long view of the subject. He emphatically seconded Luis:

"I don't think it's been balanced," he said. "You would think Freddy was the frontrunner the way they've gone after Freddy and not gone after Bloomberg."

"In '89 I thought it was a lot more balanced. I think Dinkins even got better coverage in '93 than freddy is now," he continued. "I don't understand it - I really don't. I'm not saying give Freddy a free ride, I'm saying, why hasn't there been scrutiny of Bloomberg."

Lynch was particularly upset that Voice stories on Mike having unsavory friends on Staten Island and in the Bronx hadn't been followed, and that the increase in test scores was generally taken at face value.

He also said he was shocked that this remark from John McCain the other night wasn't a story:

"This is truly a distinguished audience. You have the haves and have mores, and the have mores than that, and finally my good friend Mike Bloomberg. But Mike, I think we're all relieved that the organizers decided not to hold this dinner at the Apollo Theater."  read more »

So are we being unfair to Freddy? More to come.

After splitting with longtime consultant David Axelrod midway through this year's campaign, Freddy is facing yet another round of turmoil over who, exactly, is shaping his message. David Doak, the veteran adman currently making English-language ads for the Democratic frontrunner, will no longer play a central role on the campaign, Democrats tell The Politicker.

It's unclear whether Doak will stick around after the primary; if so, it will apparently be in a face-saving, nominal capacity. But he's not expected to be cutting Freddy's next round of television advertising.

Democrats tell The Politicker that Doak has been sidelined internally as control, and spending, get consolidated with Ferrer's longtime advisors, including Roberto Ramirez and Luis Miranda. Like Axelrod, Doak was never made part of the campaign's inner circle, and the relationship between the consultants and the campaign has been a running source of friction.

All that was forthcoming from Ferrer spokeswoman Jen Bluestein was a carefully-worded statement that doesn't answer the question of who will be making Freddy's English TV-spots in the fall:  read more »

"DCO are a critical part of our team and they will remain a critical part of our team helping us beat Mike Bloomberg in November," she writes. "Mirram Global [Miranda's and Ramirez's firm] makes our Spanish ads, and they will continue to do so."