Jef Pollock

At the Crain's business breakfast breakfast this morning Representative Anthony Weiner spoke about "saving" New York's middle class, a theme that is likely to be at the center of his mayoral campaign.

The crux of Weiner’s speech, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, focused on job development. He did not rule out raising taxes, but did say that high taxes stymie job development. He defended the policy that prevents Wal-Mart (but not other big box stores), from coming into the city because it does not pay adequate wages. And he said that the city has to do a better job of offering incentives to keep business in New York City, since New Jersey has lower business taxes and can still access the city's workforce.  read more »

Councilman Domenic Recchia has kept a low profile since the congressman he is trying to unseat, Vito Fossella, got arrested for driving drunk.

But when political consultant Jefrey Pollock prefaced remarks about Fossella on NY1 last night by saying he’s working for Recchia’s campaign, that was news.  read more »

This morning, Mark Green pulled out the triple endorsement of David Dinkins, Judith Hope and Marty Markowitz. [In an earlier version, I tied these endorsements to the McCall/Cuomo race in 2002. Many of you were kind enough to let me know that I was wrong to do so. Firstly, Dinkins endorsed Mark for mayor over Freddy and Mark had worked for the Dinkins administration, so they go way back. Secondly, Hope wasn't the state chairman during that primary, as I first wrote. It was, and still is, Herman Denny Farrell. Lastly, it was 4 years ago and some people have moved on.]

Not to be outdone, Andrew not only unveiled his website, but announced veteran media men David Axelrod and Jef Pollock are joining his team (something this site anticipated earlier).

I've spent this morning at the New School, where two panels of senior aides to the five major Mayoral candidates went back over campaign decisions, first the primary and then the general election, steered by ABC News's Mark Halperin.

The event featured a little news: Bloomberg aide Bill Cunningham says of Mike's spending, "Inflation adjusted, we might actually be spending less money [than in 2001]."

He also blew a little kiss to Shelly: "We sent flowers to Shelly Silver," after he killed the stadium, he said. "Big red roses."

Ferrer's aides, mostly excepting Roberto, meanwhile, mostly conceded that their candidate is not a great communicator -- "at a certain point, people don't change," said Ferrer campaign manager Nick Baldick -- and that the campaign mishhandled the Diallo episode.

"The politically convenient way would have been to apologize and to say it was a crime," Jef Pollock said. "[Freddy] and others rejected it...as it dragged on the performance got angrier and that didn't really help."

Andrew Kirtzman, meanwhile, defended the endless coverage of the story: "You crafted this incredibly lawyerly, vague answer that neither defended it or apologized....You guys kept it alive by evading the central question."

The conversation detoured briefly into Virginia's flyer flap. Henry Stern offered that the flap was "a substitute" for "people who had a low regard for Ms. Fields' abilities."

Fields campaign manager Chung Seto pointed the finger at consultant Joe Mercurio, who responded in kind:

"London ws bombed by terrorists the same day and they managed to continue the story."

Jim Margolis marvelled a bit at the endlessness of the flap, and pointed out that the use of stock footage is common in television spots.

There was also some debunking Primary night mythology. Anthony and Freddy didn't speak, and there wasn't really any pressure brought to bear on Anthony to drop out.

"The last thing we wish to have in the campaign is affirmative action," Roberto Ramirez said.

(Margolis said he and Pollock did talk that night: "Jef was less than enthusistic.")

Concluded Mark Mellman: "The single most brilliant act by a campaign was to turn... a landslide defeat into a moral victory."

More to come...  read more »

In the restatement today of its position on this primary -- "the Daily News is rooting for a run-off" -- the tabloid's editorial board does all it can to ensure the opposite result -- that there won't be another round.

"Waste not your votes on Miller and Fields," the News advises. (No links today, as I'm blogging remotely, at present from Joe's Place in Parkchester.)

That, of course, is how you ensure that someone, probably Freddy, breaks 40% with support from Gifford's and Virginia's former backers.

Somewhere, Ferrer pollster Jef Pollock is smiling.  read more »