Wasup fam.

Here's the deal. There are a handful of key elections across the nation today. One of them happens to be in my new but beloved home of NYC where incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg seeks a shady third term and faces a challenge from Democrat Bill Thompson.

I've been less than completely engaged in this election. I've generally thought of Blooomberg as a pretty good mayor. He's "pro-environment" and "knows business" and isn't one of those anti-science, all-up-in-my-bedroom scary "Republicans." He's a reasonable man right? Well, not quite. The more I've dug, the less I like. What emerges upon closer inspection of my mayor is a pro-developer, egomaniac who is really really good at public relations and wins by throwing his considerable money around. That "green" image of his: bought and paid for despite some hideous, decidedly un-green policies.

That's not to say I'm in love with City Comptroller Bill Thompson. I don't know much about him, and I'm horrified by his seemingly idiotic opposition to improved bus service. I mean, who stands against better bus service in a city??? Still, it may be worth it to send Mr. Bloomberg a strong message that we're actually paying attention to what he does.

Below, you'll find what I think is a pretty strong case for a) this race is still open and b) it may be time to send Bloomberg packing. It's not a strong Thompson endorsement, but hopefully it helps some of you New Yorkers make your decisions.

First, from AroundHarlem.com an update on how close this race is with a very large percentage of undecided voters and a massive proportion of those who are blacks and latinos.

Polling completed last week by the Garin Heart Yang Research Group showed that there has been a significant shift in the NYC mayoral race and that New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson is gaining on incumbent, two-term Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In a survey of 614 New Yorkers who are likely to vote in Tuesday’s election for mayor, the vote overall is Bloomberg 46%, Thompson 38%, with 17% undecided. Among those who say they are certain to vote (305 in total in the sample), Thompson trails by just three points (Bloomberg 44%, Thompson 41%) with 15% undecided. The race has tightened in all five boroughs.

The Working Families Party, a party I deeply respect, has endorsed Thompson

Our current mayor has his own ideas about how New York City should work, but it has become increasingly clear that many New Yorkers are left out of his vision.

After eight years under Mayor Bloomberg, we are concerned that homelessness in the City is actually on the rise, the achievement gap for black and Latino kids hasn't closed, and many development projects have become boondoggles that drain tax dollars and divide communities instead of creating new jobs and affordable homes.

The Mayor says he just needs more time to deliver -- but the way he has tried to get that time offends our basic democratic values.

First the Mayor ignored New York City voters and extended his own term limits. Then, when he realized the backlash from that move might still cost him the election, he began burning through unheard-of amounts of campaign cash -- spending in just three hours what the average New Yorker makes in a year.

Finally, a surprisingly fierce anti-Bloomberg endorsment from Gawker:

His record on housing, like his record on nearly everything having to do with the outer boroughs and poverty and human beings who make less than $100,000 a year, has been a ridiculous disgrace. His entire philosophy of development solving everything turned out to be precisely, 100% wrong, and suddenly the city itself was driving the real estate boom, driving up land prices to absurd levels across the boroughs and tearing down neighborhoods only to replace them with vacant lots and half-filled cheaply built hideous high-rises once the bottom fell out of the City Hall-inflated market. But hey, we got the High Line and 311! So you can sleep in that fancy park while you call 311 asking if there is room in a shelter because you can no longer afford your home.

<snip>

Let's talk about the cops, for a second: they are still operating under Giuliani levels of complete disregard for the law. They are getting drunk and running people over and shooting unarmed black people and sodomizing people in subway stations. The Civilian Complaint Review Board has become a joke, unless your case gets a lot of publicity. There's obviously no accountability, whatsoever, and no attempt to recruit and train more cops from the communities they actually police. The NYPD remains, primarily, the home of roided-out white people from outside the city with a great deal of contempt for civil liberties. The Mayor always sounds properly upset when some of them rape someone, but he's never done a damn thing to rein them in or change the culture.

Happy voting yall!

Posted via email from baratunde's internet scratch pad