Michael Goodwin's column in the Post today.

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg fiercely condemned The New York Times for its lackluster coverage of the shooting death of 17-year-old Alphonza Bryant and its editorials critical of the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy. "Do you think that if a white, 17-year-old prep student from Manhattan had been murdered, The Times would have ignored it?" Mr. Bloomberg sarcastically asked himself. "Me neither."

Several of The Times competitors took notice.

"Take that, New York Times!" New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin declared in an op-ed piece prominently featuring The Times' logo. "And thank you, Bloomy."

Both the Post and the Daily News also noted that they, unlike The Times, had covered Bryant's death in full.

"The Bryant killing was covered by several New York media outlets, including The Post," read the Post's separate story on Mr. Bloomberg's speech. And, in its print and its online reports today, the News reprinted an image screenshot of the paper's original story.

Furthermore, both tabloids boosted Mr. Bloomberg in editorials.

"This is a mayor who is properly fed up," the News argued. The Post advised, "New Yorkers had best take note of Mayor Bloomberg’s strong words yesterday."

For its part, The Times strongly defended itself against Mr. Bloomberg's broadsides yesterday. “The Times aggressively covers violence in the city’s neighborhoods, and to select one murder as evidence to the contrary is disingenuous,” company spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement. “His claim of racial bias is absurd.”

Not everyone is buying that argument, however. Mr. Goodwin suggested the billionaire mayor buy the paper himself, as he reportedly once speculated about doing. That way, he said, Mr. Bloomberg could reshape The Gray Lady's editorial board to be more in line with his law-and-order beliefs.

"Well, there is also another thing he could do. Bloomy might reach into his vault and buy The New York Times," Mr. Goodwin wrote. "If nothing else, he could give it an editorial page worth reading and worthy of New York."

(Photo: Newseum.org)

After former Congressman Anthony Weiner revealed his possible return to electoral politics yesterday, one could not help but wonder what pun-filled direction the New York Post would take. After all, during Mr. Weiner's 2011 scandal, the tabloid simply wallowed in its own innuendos.

Today's paper didn't disappoint.

The Post's full coverage of Mr. Weiner's potential mayoral candidacy starts with the cover, which blares "WEINER'S SECOND COMING!" and "Anthony: Erect me Mr. Mayor," along with one of the sexual pictures that helped force his resignation.

But for pun enthusiasts, it doesn't stop there--not even close. In a 4-page "SECOND COMING" spread, the Post re-ran several of its best innuendo-laced covers and provided: a 2,000 word re-write--headlined "WEINER'S LONG HARD ROAD BACK"--of the New York Times Magazine profile that broke the news yesterday, a story evaluating his odds headlined "Weiner stiff competition for Dem foes," some woman-on-the-street interviews on the subject and an Andrea Peyser column slamming him.

Deeper in today's issue, Cindy Adams' Page Six column featured Mr. Weiner and the publication editorialized against him, criticizing the "dreary, teary puff piece in the New York Times" while asking itself, "Why why why why why?”

For its part, the Post's rival publication, the New York Daily News, passed on the pun-filled joy of Mr. Weiner's return and focused instead on the national gun control issue.

Mario Zucca

“I’m not particularly fond of getting the shit kicked out of me by the media all the time,” John Liu told The Observer last week. “But that doesn’t alter the reality.”

The reality, the city’s comptroller said, is not necessarily found in the headlines every morning. For example, he disputes a New York Daily News report that “debunked” his claims of childhood sweatshop work. The New York Post said he “needs to just go away.” And Mr. Liu feels it’s “plainly obvious” that federal prosecutors are driving negative New York Times coverage as they investigate his mayoral campaign for fund-raising improprieties.

“You’re not supposed to fuck with the Fourth Estate,” Mr. Liu explained while sitting on a bench after a Harlem event, displaying two of his signature traits in one quick sentence—a penchant for direct talk and an increased interest in how the media portrays him. “You’re not supposed to. The golden rule is don’t mess with people who buy ink in bulk quantities or have really huge antennas. Of course, now the Internet version is big bandwidth. But, at some point, it gets a little absurd—especially nowadays. At some point, the Fourth Estate is supposed to be the arbiter of truth, not the echo chamber for rumors and innuendos. So when that happens, at some point, somebody’s got to keep an eye on the Fourth Estate.”

That point has definitively arrived for Mr. Liu. Even this publication—which editorialized that he “should be preparing to leave public service, not asking for promotion to the city’s highest elective office”—has found itself the subject of Mr. Liu’s derision.

“I certainly am here in spite of our sponsor’s editorial board, who has already continued to foment insinuations and innuendos against me,” Mr. Liu proclaimed at a recent Observer-sponsored mayoral forum. “They have tried and convicted me of charges that are nonexistent. Nonetheless, I am here out of respect for all of you who have attended.”

It’s not just editorial boards that are generating headwinds for Mr. Liu. When he stood on the steps of City Hall to announce his mayoral campaign last month, the journalists there were mostly interested in one line of questioning: Should you really be running for mayor while your former donor, Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, and your former treasurer, Jia “Jenny” Hou, stand trial for allegedly orchestrating a straw-donor scheme on your behalf? Is the federal investigation over? Is it affecting your fund-raising?

“This so-called ‘investigation’ has been going on for four years now,” a defiant Mr. Liu shot back. “They’ve interrogated thousands of my supporters, reviewed a million documents, even wire-tapped my cellphone for a year and a half. When is this going to end? It’s time to put up or shut up! That’s what it is. We’ve got a campaign to run and an election to win.”

Would your electoral plans change if Mr. Pan and Ms. Hou are found guilty?

“People have said there’s a witch hunt. The problem is there is no witch!” he exclaimed. “So we’re going full steam ahead. We’re going to win this election.”

Few would dispute that Mr. Liu’s campaign is indeed plowing ahead at full speed. Supporters and detractors alike describe him as a man on a mission, confident and relentless in the pursuit of his goals.

“John Liu is incredibly smart, incredibly hardworking, and incredibly driven; those three traits have gotten him to where he is now,” a longtime friend of Mr. Liu’s told The Observer. “He doesn’t see himself as being capable of failing, and sometimes he doesn’t see people around him as being capable of failing. That’s probably why he has a different perspective on the mayoral race than other folks ... and why he places his trust in people the federal government says he shouldn’t.”

A college acquaintance said he “was not surprised at all” when Mr. Liu—the former executive vice president of Binghamton University’s student body—ran for a Flushing-based City Council seat in 2001. The acquaintance said he was equally unsurprised that Mr. Liu, now 46 years old, ran citywide for comptroller in 2009 and won, and that he is currently campaigning for mayor. Mr. Liu himself wasn’t shy about admitting that the city’s top job has been on his mind for some time.

“Probably from the moment I got elected comptroller,” he said as to when he first contemplated gunning for Gracie Mansion. “I’m going to be quoted for that. ... Maybe I need to hold my tongue more. I mean, I just said, ‘from the moment I got elected comptroller.’ How many other comptrollers or public advocates or borough presidents are going to admit that? That they’re thinking about running for mayor from the second they got elected to their positions?”

On the day he announced his campaign, Mr. Liu scheduled a whirlwind 14-hour tour of the city’s five boroughs and invited the press along for the ride—or run, as the day occasionally demanded. But it was not an unusually lengthy amount of time on the trail for Mr. Liu, who wakes up early and typically tries to get home before his 12-year-old son Joey goes to sleep, around 10:30 p.m. He said late-night campaign events sometimes get in the way of that particular goal.

Reporters aside, Mr. Liu was well received everywhere he went on launch day. Bedford-Stuyvesant churchgoers welcomed him with open arms in the morning. The Hakka Association of New York erupted in applause when he entered its ballroom in the afternoon. His crowd of supporters at City Hall was so massive that he had to give a second speech to the overflow section. Along the St. Patrick’s Day Parade route in Staten Island, it seemed like every 10th person knew who he was. And not a soul asked about the federal investigation.

“I rely on my own barometer of what’s going on,” Mr. Liu told us in Harlem, pausing to answer a passerby who approached him. “Good to see you.”

“The bad P.R. really upsets the family and friends much more,” he continued when asked about those closest to him. “I’m always trying to calm them down, like, ‘Don’t worry too much about—’”

He was interrupted by another passerby, this one asking for a photo. The enthusiastic man removed his coat so his dress shirt would better match Mr. Liu’s suit.

“Okay, I did not pay that guy,” Mr. Liu joked. “Alright?”

Despite his apparent popularity on the streets, Mr. Liu’s support has not made much of a dent in the public polls, which place him fourth in the Democratic primary—distantly trailing Council Speaker Christine Quinn and narrowly behind Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former Comptroller Bill Thompson. But Mr. Liu, who has noted that his support has stayed around 9 percent even with the bad-headline barrage, says the surveys aren’t capturing the true electorate.

“I’m sure you guys all thought about it, you just never wrote about it, right?” he asked the press corps following him on his announcement day. “Look, if you want to talk about voters who are undercounted or absent from the count, you understand pollsters are people—live people—on the end of the phone asking questions. But they have to have a phone number to ask a question ... Nowadays, people don’t like to list their phone numbers. You also think, ‘Do the people who are making those phone calls know how to ask questions in Chinese? Or Bengali? Or Korean? Or Urdu?’ I don’t know for a fact; my guess is no.”

The Taiwanese-born Mr. Liu says the historical nature of his candidacy—he was the first Asian-American to serve on the City Council and will be the community’s first mayor if his current mission succeeds—will drive Asian voters to the polls en masse. Mr. Thompson, who is black, would not enjoy the same level of passion in the African-American community, Mr. Liu further contended.

“The Asian community is no different from any other,” he said. “The first time around there’s a credible candidate, it’s the first time. In Bill’s case—Thompson’s case—it’s not the first time. The governor’s been African-American, the president is African-American. So it’s not as big of a deal as it is in the Asian community ... When David Dinkins ran, there was a huge amount of excitement. I don’t think that’s going to be that different with the Asian community this time around.”

Although the city’s Asian population is skyrocketing, Asian people only constitute about 13 percent of all New Yorkers, according the U.S. Census, and new immigrant communities have relatively low civic participation rates. But Mr. Liu’s campaign isn’t just banking on the Asian vote. Rather, it is hoping his unabashedly left-wing approach to economic and policing policies—a perpetual pet peeve of conservative-leaning editorial boards, which accuse him of blatant pandering—will endear him to other communities across the city. Indeed, his first ads were released in four languages: Spanish, Russian, Creole and English—and the last was labeled “African American” on his campaign website.

“The Black vote cannot be taken for granted by anyone,” wrote Councilman Charles Barron in an Amsterdam News op-ed last week. The former Black Panther touted Mr. Liu’s opposition to the police department’s controversial stop and frisk tactic, support for reparations and outspokenness after the NYPD shot and killed 16-year-old Kimani Gray three weeks ago. “Liu will deliver more for our communities than any other candidate in the race for mayor in 2013. Let’s do the right thing for our people.”

For his part, Mr. Liu said, the winner of September’s Democratic primary will be determined by “operation,” not policy contrasts with his competitors.

“This is where you ask me these kinds of questions and I tend to answer with responses that I regret later. But I can’t help myself,” Mr. Liu said when pressed on the subject. “There’s not going to be that much contrast! We’re all liberal Democrats. There’s a couple of issues I think we’re very different on ... But [for] big issues, we’re not going to be all that different on housing, on education. There might be some slight nuances here and there. Are voters really going to get all the different nuances?”

Of course, the case against Mr. Liu’s electoral chances—described last Wednesday as “Powerball size” in the Daily News—pretty much writes itself. Although the judicial system has a presumption of innocence and Mr. Liu himself has not been accused of any crimes, the political world is under no such obligation to give him a fair shake. Stuart Appelbaum, the head of the retail workers’ union, who endorsed Ms. Quinn, had nothing but kind words for Mr. Liu, but he suggested the comptroller should simply adjust his reality.

“I don’t think that it is fair the way he seems to have been indicted by the media even though there are no charges brought against him,” Mr. Appelbaum said, before reflecting on the damage that has already been done. “I didn’t think that—given everything that has been going on, and perhaps in part because of the media—that this was the right race for him this year.”

As Mr. Liu rode in the press van between events on his big announcement day, The Observer asked the candidate how he viewed his own odds, given the political consensus that tends to label his quest as quixotic.

“I wouldn’t be running—it’s way too much time and money to throw down the drain—if there was not a clear shot to victory. I think we have a very clear path to victory,” insisted Mr. Liu. And then, unsheathing the toughness that has helped him overcome long odds before, the combative comptroller couldn’t resist a final shot. “In the coming months, I’m sure you political geniuses will decide for it for yourselves.”

ccampbell@observer.com

Chuck Schumer, Michael Bloomberg, Kirsten Gillibrand and Hunter Walker at the U.S. Capitol Building. (Photo: NycMayorsOffice on Flickr)

Today is this reporter's last day here at the good ship Politicker. We hoped our last post on the site would be a final journey into the "Vallone Zone," but, as of this writing, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. did not respond to our email sent late this afternoon. As a result, we have no option other than to print a series of thank yous and farewells with a few juicy bits of gossip thrown in to, hopefully, help you forgive us for publishing something so utterly self-indulgent.

A year-and-change ago this reporter was trapped in Hollywood. First and foremost, we are eternally grateful to Aaron Gell and Elizabeth Spiers for rescuing us from Tinseltown and giving us a shot to cover the city and subject we love most. Of course, none of this would have been as much fun without Colin Campbell, who made it all much more awesome by sharing our odd obsession with municipal politics and just generally kicking ass. Credit is also due to Ken Kurson for being a kind and talented editor who threw one of the craziest parties we have ever seen.

In addition to all of our other colleagues and forebears who made the New York Observer such a wonderful place to work, we also want to express gratitude to the people we have covered who have made the politics beat so wonderful. Mayor Michael Bloomberg deserves credit for submitting himself to daily briefings where he takes questions from even those reporters who clearly piss him off from time to time and, most importantly, sometimes provides truly memorable answers. Though the politicians in Albany may not always be similarly transparent, they have provided us with endless entertainment with their alleged corruption and drug use, unique decorating sensibilities and occasional chicken costumes. We also very much appreciate the current crop of mayoral candidates, even the one who had an aide tell this reporter we are "the reason good people don't get into politics" after we published a less-than-flattering story.

Though the players on the political stage have earned most of our attention, we also owe a debt of gratitude to the staffers who work behind-the-scenes, especially the gentlemen we called on the phone in the very wee hours one morning as a bit of news broke. Even the possibly corrupt and obviously inept prominent consultancy and the press person who once screamed and cursed at us for over an hour earned our respect.

There were several stories we were unable to break during our time here. Specifically, a kinky borough boss, the notable congressman with a love child,  a Hollywood editrix who made a horrified intern deal with their very personal medical problem, the "good wife" who puts another lady first, a Council candidate with completely cooked books, the pay-for-play newspaper, an operative who's much more of a swinger than anyone realized, the gangster mayoral donor, a scandal-scarred politician working on a comeback and the (non-Green Party) presidential campaign that didn't pay their staffers. We'll keep trying to bring these stories to light and look forward to reading the pages of Politicker every day as the team here does the same. Chag Kasher v'Sameach, homies.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Photo: Getty)

At his press conference this afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was asked about his thoughts on the "Twitter universe" in light of a recent scandal involving an EMS lieutenant who was suspended after the New York Post revealed a series of racist statements he made on the social media site. Mayor Bloomberg described it as evidence people need to be far more careful about what they post online and suggested he'd even warned one of his fellow media moguls, Rupert Murdoch, to stay away from Twitter.

"Everything you send out is going to be retweeted, re-Facebooked, re this, re that and ... if you write it down, some day somebody's going to FOIL it or get it based on a judge's order," said Mayor Bloomberg. "You should write down, number one, only things you believe and, number two, then think about how it would look if somebody else sees it."

Mayor Bloomberg went on to say parents should explain the need to be discrete on social media to their children.

"There are just a lot of young kids who are doing things on their Twitter account, their Facebook account that later on is going to come back and bite them," Mayor Bloomberg said. "I know you want to share information and I know it's nice to be able to express yourself but you just have to have the maturity to understand."

Though the mayor, who has a robust social media presence, said he expects children will make mistakes on Twitter, he expressed surprise the EMS lieutenant who got in hot water and other adults still don't realize the site has a public audience.

"It's kind of hard to understand how anybody like that would not think that some day somebody's going to take a look at what they do," said the mayor. "The bottom line is, it's very addictive, it's easy, you hit a button and nobody thinks that the rest of the world is looking."

The questions on the Twitter scandal came from New York Post reporter David Seifman. After getting the mayor's initial thoughts on the situation and the site in general, Mr. Seifman asked the mayor if he would ever enact a policy to prevent public employees from using social media inappropriately or would just leave it up to "common sense." Mayor Bloomberg said it would be difficult to institute any specific policy.

"There are all sorts of First Amendment issues. I've looked into it," Mayor Bloomberg said. "Companies face this all the time, just like governments do. It's embarrassing to a company to have somebody go out and insult or worse."

To demonstrate just how dangerous he believes Twitter can be for businesses, Mayor Bloomberg told Mr. Seifman he had warned his "boss" to stay off the site. Mayor Bloomberg's comment seemed to be an obvious allusion to Post owner Rupert Murdoch, whose frequent tweeting has not come without controversy.

"I've told your boss I think he should stop twittering," Mayor Bloomberg said to Mr. Seifman. "It's dangerous because people can take things out of--you know, 140 odd characters doesn't give you a chance to explain what you really mean. It's just a phrase that gets taken out of context."

Mayor Bloomberg was coy when another reporter followed up by asking him to confirm he was referring to Mr. Murdoch.

"I don't know who that would be," he said with a laugh.

Joe Lhota (Photo: NY1.com)

Prior to launching his mayoral bid, Republican former MTA chairman Joe Lhota was an extremely prolific Twitter user. Since hitting the campaign trail, Mr. Lhota has made far fewer posts on the social media site and stopped tweeting the witticisms he was previously known for. When Politicker saw Mr. Lhota at lunch yesterday, we asked him why he reduced his Twitter presence. Mr. Lhota attributed his lower Twitter profile to instructions from his campaign press team, specifically, his spokeswoman Susan Del Percio.

"I eventually will get back. You know I get handled by my press people," said Mr. Lhota. "Susan, she threatened me, so I have to be careful."

After we brought up Twitter, Mr. Lhota began gushing about one of his favorite pages on the site.

"Drunk Hulk, have you followed Drunk Hulk?" Mr. Lhota asked. "I love Drunk Hulk. I got to meet this guy who does this."

Mr. Lhota's love for the superhero parody account, which he frequently re-tweeted prior to starting his mayoral campaign, was previously chronicled in a New York Times story about Mr. Lhota's Twitter use last September. That article provoked a response from Drunk Hulk himself. Mr. Lhota told us he, quite literally, treasured the response he received from his favorite parody Twitter.

"When the New York Times did the story about me tweeting ... and the Hulk tweeted, 'Now I'm responsible for Lhota too?' That's when I said, 'I got to meet this guy,'" explained Mr. Lhota. "I actually saved it, somebody framed the tweet for me."

Drunk Hulk is the work of Christian Dumais, an American writer who lives in Poland. We emailed Mr. Dumais and asked when he'll be in New York and if he'd like to meet Mr. Lhota.

"While I'm not sure when I'll be back in the States, the idea of meeting with Mr. Lhota sounds like a lot of fun," said Mr. Dumais. "I only have a peripheral awareness of the political scene in New York, but I'm honored to have anyone appreciate my work as Drunk Hulk. And the idea that he framed the tweet brings me endless joy."

Tom Allon (Photo: Facebook)

A little over five months after he announced a "fusion candidacy" for mayor on the Liberal and Republican party lines, Tom Allon, CEO of the local newspaper chain Manhattan Media, is ending his bid for City Hall. Mr. Allon announced his decision in a statement that attributed the decision to his direct acquisition of Manhattan Media's political news organization, City and State Media.

"When I decided to enter the mayoral race in July, 2011, I had a deep desire to lead this wonderful and unique city and to finally fix our crumbling public education system, the single greatest cause of New York City’s jobs crisis and increasing inequality in the five boroughs," Mr. Allon said.

Mr. Allon's candidacy was widely considered a long shot, but he initially maintained he would use his position as the Liberal Party candidate to guarantee a spot in the general election even if he was unable to defeat his better-known and funded rivals in September's Republican primary--former MTA Commissioner Joe Lhota, billionaire John Catsimatidis and former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. He focused his campaign on his experience as a former public school teacher and his idea's for the city's educational system.

"While no longer a candidate, I will continue to passionately and relentlessly pursue a reform agenda as an education activist, a columnist and blogger, and parent of three teenagers," said Mr. Allon.

Mr. Allon did not respond to multiple requests for comment about his pending decision this morning. As of this writing, it is unclear whether Mr. Allon will endorse any of the other mayoral candidates. Prior to Mr. Allon's announcement, Mr. Catsimatidis, who describes Mr. Allon as a close friend, said he was unaware of Mr. Allon's plans, but would gladly give him a position in a hypothetical Catsimatidis administration.

"Tom Allon is a friend of mine for 25 years and whatever he does, he has to do his own soul searching, you know, I always support my friends," Mr. Catsimatidis said. "Under a Catsimatidis administration, I'd love to have him in our education system running things."

(Updated 10:39 a.m.) 

Councilwoman Tish James (Photo: Facebook)

Councilwoman Tish James, who's currently running for public advocate, will be doing some cable news punditry this weekend. Tomorrow morning, Ms. James will appear on MSNBC's Up With Chris Hayes to discuss her agenda and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's soda ban.

"I’ve been proud to champion progressive causes in the New York City Council, fighting for good jobs, affordable housing, improving our schools and making sure every single New Yorker has a voice in government," Ms. James said in a statement announcing her appearance. "I will never pass up an opportunity to advocate for social and economic justice in our city and beyond."

Ms. James' apparent ability to reach a national media audience may help her make up for the fact that in previous financial filing periods, she has lagged behind her main rivals, Reshma Saujani and State Senator Daniel Squadron, in terms of fundraising. She also secured a union boost this week from 32BJ SEIU's endorsement.

Abong'o Malik Obama (Photo: Facebook)

Abong'o Malik Obama wants to have a career in politics like his half-brother, President Barack Obama. However, hours after the polls closed in Kenya's elections last night, Mr. Obama said he wasn't sure whether his bid to be governor of Siaya County was a success and he is concerned the election results may have been tampered with. He's also extremely angry about tabloid coverage of his campaign.

"It's impossible to tell at this time, the whole system crashed," Mr. Obama told Politicker when we called him Tuesday morning to inquire about the election. "We have no idea, it's still hanging out there, and I myself am extremely disappointed and there is a high risk that the results may be manipulated." 

Yesterday's elections are the first under the 2010 Constitution of Kenya, which was ratified after the 2007 election ended with widespread violence and a disputed result. Though the voting yesterday proceeded largely without violence, there were reports of technical problems at many polling places. Mr. Obama said he stayed up late into the night and was given no information about the election result from officials.

"I was sitting out there at the tallying center for the county up until almost 1 o'clock last night and there's a complete blackout," he explained.

The new constitution divided Kenya into 47 counties including Siaya, which contains more than 800,000 residents and the hometown of the president's father, Barack Obama Sr. Mr. Obama is the first child of the elder Barack Obama. He was born three years prior to his presidential sibling, who has a different mother. Mr. Obama operates a charity called the Barack H. Obama Foundation, which, according to its website, "is entirely the idea of Abon'go Malik Obama, in memory of their father, and is not dependent on the endorsement of his brother, President Barack Obama."

As of this writing, the website of Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which is overseeing the election, shows Uhuru Kenyatta with a lead in Kenya's presidential race. Mr. Kenyatta and his running mate are two of the four people who have been charged by the International Criminal Court with "crimes against humanity" for allegedly orchestrating the violence after the last elections that left over 1,000 people dead. The United States and other Western nations have promised unspecified "consequences" if Mr. Kenyatta emerges victorious.

Though the IEBC site is showing results for the presidential election, it does not display results for other local offices including Mr. Obama's governor's race in Siaya. The IEBC did not pick up their "election hotline" when we called to inquire about the results. Mr. Obama is running as an independent candidate, a situation he said has left him with a tougher path to victory.

"I'm disadvantaged somewhat because of the resources that I have," said Mr. Obama. "I feel that I've done my best and so I just leave the rest to God."

Mr. Obama and the President served as the best man at each other's weddings. However, Mr. Obama said he hasn't discussed his political aspirations with his brother. According to Mr. Obama they last spoke in mid-November, when he congratulated President Obama on winning a second term. The White House did not respond to multiple requests to discuss Mr. Obama's campaign.

Along with his worries about the election result, Mr. Obama is concerned about an article in the British tabloid Daily Mail that alleged he mistreats his multiple wives. The story, which was written by reporter Andrew Malone, accused Mr. Obama of beating his wives and engaging in "secret trysts" to maintain an "estimated" 12 wives, which exceeds the four wives allowed by Islamic law.

"I also would like to, you know, comment on something that's going around on the net about me and my family and trying to malign and say a lot of bad things about me," Mr. Obama told us before we finished our conversation. "This gentleman who's from the Daily Mail ... he came down here and showed up, you know, just from the blue. ... He put out an article about me and how I'm philandering and how I'm beating up my wives and, you know, a lot of really bad things. And I really find that distasteful and it's a whole bunch of nonsense."

In the story, Mr. Maloney described Mr. Obama meeting prospective voters on the campaign trail including a "witch doctor ... with green and pink parrot feathers in his hair." Mr. Obama incorrectly claimed the reporter portrayed him as the one wearing feathers and said the article overall "sounds extremely racist and bigoted."

"He's talking about me wearing feathers and, you know, running around half naked," said Mr. Obama. "I really detest that kind of thing, especially in this day and this era, just because I'm related to the President of the United States, who happens to be a black man."

Mr. Obama also took issue with the story's claim two of his wives ran away from him and view him negatively.

"I don't understand why people go to those lengths just to be mean and nasty, because my wives and I--well, in fact, to tell you the truth, they voted for me yesterday," Mr. Obama said. "We were at the polling station and talking about my wives not wanting to vote for me and things like that is a whole bunch of fabrications and a whole bunch of lies."

As of this writing, we have been unable to reach Mr. Maloney to give him a chance to respond to Mr. Obama's claims. When we called the Daily Mail's headquarters in England an operator informed us Mr. Malone was "probably" a freelancer and told us to call back later today when the features editors are available.

In addition to racism, Mr. Obama blames the negative coverage he received on animosity people have towards his brother.

"You know, I didn't choose to be Obama. I didn't choose to be Obama's brother, you know, it just so happened. And now, everybody's going after me just because of my brother, so it's really unfair," said Mr. Obama. "Just because they hate my brother and so forth why do they have to attack me? I'm just trying to do the best I can with what I have, make a contribution. My brother's doing what he's doing over there, I'm doing what I'm doing over here. At the end of the day, we're just working to make this world a better place."

The photo that illustrated the Breitbart.com story on Herman Cain.

The news that former presidential candidate Herman Cain joined Fox News as a contributor last month got some negative reviews from media pundits and one Breitbart.com writer believes the criticism of Mr. Cain is racist and comparable to the violence inflicted on African-American protesters during the Civil Rights movement. In an article that appeared Friday on "Big Journalism," the media section of the conservative web network started by the late Andrew Breitbart, writer John Nolte compared members of the "media establishment" who have criticized Mr. Cain to infamous Alabama lawman Eugene "Bull" Connor, who notoriously ordered fire hoses and police dogs to be used against anti-Jim Crow protesters.

"No one is claiming Herman Cain is perfect, but there is no question he is currently being singled out as the sexualized clownish idiot based solely on the color of his skin. This is what the left and elite media always do to those who 'don't know their place,'" Mr. Nolte wrote. "In the segregated South, racist whites (almost all of them Democrats) used the exact same tactics to keep blacks from obtaining political power. The only difference is that today "Bull" Connor (another Democrat) is the media establishment, the dogs are the likes of Chuck Todd, Joe Scarborough, and Howard Kurtz, and the fire hose is The Narrative."

To hammer Mr. Nolte's point home, an accompanying photo showed a dramatic, vintage image of African-Americans being battered with a high-pressure hose.

Mr. Nolte based his argument on several reports that referenced the series of sex scandals that ultimately derailed Mr. Cain and a Baltimore Sun article that described Mr. Cain as lacking "mental dexterity and nimbleness." He also highlighted a Tweet from comedian and television host Bill Maher mocking the scandals by joking that Mr. Cain, "likes working with Fox team, particularly some of them fine-ass white women they got there." According to Mr. Nolte, this reception was clear indication of a pattern where "the left and the media" attempt to engage in a campaign of "othering" Mr. Cain by questioning his intelligence or characterizing him as "an over-sexualized black predator." Mr. Nolte contrasts this with the treatment of scandal-scarred liberal pundits including ex-CNN and Current TV host Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as governor in New York due to a prostitution flap.

"This is the same media that have  embraced a number of controversial figures tainted by scandal," wrote Mr. Nolte.

Of course, when Mr. Spitzer landed his media jobs, there was no shortage of media coverage that focused on and even mocked his scandalous past.

Mr. Cain certainly has taken some hits in the media media, but he most certainly hasn't faced any violence. Politicker reached out to Mr. Nolte and Breitbart.com Editor-in-Chief Joel Pollak to see whether they thought comparing the treatment of Mr. Cain to Jim Crow atrocities could be seen as trivializing the violence of that era. As of this writing, we have yet to receive a response.