Percy Sutton

Eliot Spitzer's choice of a Harlem favorite son as his candidate for Lieutenant Governor might have been expected to put the Harlem establishment firmly in his camp.

Instead, they're furious.

A displeased Charlie Rangel told a group of women -- at an event for Lieutenant Governor candidate Leecia Eve this morning -- that Paterson had told him he wouldn't run against Eve, and that David had never discussed it with him, Percy Sutton, or David Dinkins.

"I'm hurt," Hazel Dukes, head of the New York State NAACP -- a representative (but on record) voice, who was also at the breakfast, told The Politicker. "He has every right [to run], but he knows that Leecia Eve has been to the community for the last five months talking to people, getting commitments to support her."  read more »

Sources around Eliot insist it's a done deal, but Harlemites still aren't sure David won't be talked out of it. They also note that when he ran for Public Advocate, he did so without support from Rangel -- or his father.

David Dinkins endorsed Freddy at City Hall this morning, though you had to pay close attention to figure out that that's what he was doing.

The former Mayor read, word for word, a short statement, blandly passed word that Percy Sutton also backs Freddy, and proceeded to refuse to criticize Mayor Bloomberg in any way.

"I very carefully crafted the statement I want to make," Dinkins told reporters, in case that wasn't clear.

Will Freddy be a better Mayor than Mike?

"We'll see."

The endorsement, he said, is only proper after his own years of support from fellow Democrats, including those, like Freddy, with whom his relationship was sometimes rocky.

"I'm a Democrat," Dinkins said, and alluded to Democratic officials who back Bloomberg. "It's a little difficult for me to understand those who have drunk from the well, as it were, and now might be seen as poisoning the well."

Who are we talking about here?  read more »

"Ed Koch is an excellent example."

But the oddity of the event doesn't diminish the importance of the endorsement. Just as polls always show that Sharpton's impact, even among black voters, is mixed, they find that a Dinkins endorsement is hugely valuable in seeking African-American votes. And an endorsement is an endorsement.

A proposed deal between Time Warner Inc.  read more »