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By David Freedlander 8/15/12 4:17pm

Analysis

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2013 Campaigns Spin Latest Q-Poll

The latest poll out from the Quinnipiac Polling Institute out today had some good news for Christine Quinn: it showed that the Council Speaker had nearly three times the support of her rivals in the 2013 mayor’s race.

“Wow, that is getting up there,” said one local political consultant after being told about the poll (he had not seen it yet this morning.) “I am surprised by that number.”

The 29 percent who say they plan to vote for Ms. Quinn was a few ticks higher than the 26 percent she garnered in an earlier poll in May, and rivals Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, City Comptroller John Liu and former City Comptroller Bill Thompson remain bunched up in the race for second place, with each grabbing around ten percent. Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer holds steady at four percent.

The Politicker  reached out to campaign consultants and aides to the four non-Quinn contenders to get a sense of how they were reading the latest poll. We granted them each anonymity, since they were not authorized by their bosses or their clients to speak publicly about the race. Read More

By David Freedlander 8/09/12 5:54pm

Analysis

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Does It Have To Be Paul Ryan Now?

When questions remain unanswered, they invite others, with less of a stake or of any agenda, to supply responses. If six friends can’t decide where to go to dinner, but one really wants to go to a movie, there is a good chance the gang will end up at a prime time showing of “Ted.”

Such appears to be the case with Mitt Romney’s long anticipated announcement of a vice-presidential pick. For months the pundits have ping-ponged between Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Tim Pawlenty and Rob Portman. At various times, a decision seemed imminent, only for Mr. Romney to escape to Europe, or on a bus tour or somehow push the story off for another day. Read More

By David Freedlander 5/30/12 12:37pm

Analysis

Protestors Gather Outside UN As Ahmadinejad Addresses Nuclear Conf.

In New Poll, Gillibrand Reaches Schumer-Like Levels Of Popularity

A new poll out today from Quinnipiac has some good news for US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: she leads Bob Turner, her nearest Republican rival, by 30 points. With the general election now a little over five months away, Mr. Turner’s opponents for the GOP nod fare even worse, with Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos trailing by 33 points and Manhattan attorney Wendy Long down by 34.

But with a little historical context, the poll reveals just how far Ms. Gillibrand has risen since she was named to the Senate  by Gov. David Paterson in 2009.  Them, filling in the gargantuan shoes of Hillary Clinton,  she seemed vulnerable to a serious challenge from either a Republican or a Democrat. Then, Read More

By David Freedlander 5/29/12 5:59pm

Analysis

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Obama Campaign Plays Offense By Taking Offense

As political adages go, “the best defense is a good offense” never made much sense to begin with, and taken literally, would be hard to carry out. Avoid talking about your record by talking about other guys? Fend off damaging stories by planting damaging ones? Toilet paper his campaign office?

But the Obama campaign has been elevating the dictum to an art form, although they are tweaking it a bit. In the Obama telling, a good offense is taking offense. Read More

By David Freedlander 5/11/12 9:45pm

Analysis

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Is ‘Meh’ The Best The White House Can Hope For Over Marriage Announcement?

Only a few hours after Barack Obama told Robin Roberts that he supported the right of same-sex couple to marry, than the Obama administration sent an email out to supporters touting his statement. “Marriage,” it said. The emails have continued for the next several days, and the top of Mr. Obama’s campaign website has been devoted to an announcement that he was by all accounts dragged into making.

But the odd thing about the hyping of the marriage announcement is that same-sex marriage is, by any metric, an electoral loser. As Greg Lewis, a professor of public management and policy  at Georgia State University told Ezra Klein yesterday, there is majority support for same-sex marriage in 16 only states, all of which are safe states for Mr. Obama. He speculates that there may majority support in a few more since most recent polls, including super-safe Maryland and Illinois, lean-blue Wisconsin and Minnesota, and lean-red Arizona. The rest then, including every single swing state no matter wide or narrow the gap is against same-sex marriage or at the very best neutral. Read More

By Hunter Walker 5/02/12 5:21pm

Analysis

An Occupy Wall Street demonstrator wearing a Guy Fawkes mask in Zuccotti Park last year. (Getty)

Why Occupy Wall Street Isn’t Working

Throughout its nearly eight month existence, Occupy Wall Street has been fueled by the youthful enthusiasm and social media savvy of today’s digitally connected twentysomethings. But the generation that birthed Occupy may also prove to be the movement’s undoing. Read More

By David Freedlander 2/22/12 4:08pm

Analysis

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Andrew Cuomo’s Redistricting Bind: Reform Now or Reform Later

The very first question Andrew Cuomo was asked at his Cabinet meeting this afternoon was in reference to an interview he gave with the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in which he sounded like he was backing down from his threat to veto any lines drawn by lawmakers in the once-a-decade redistricting process.

“My position has been clear I think from day one,” the governor said, his ash from Ash Wednesday smeared across his forehead. “If they send me these lines I am going to veto these lines. I want a better product and I want a better process. I want an independent process, I want fairer lines. I want this to stop so that this is the last time this happens.”

Mr. Cuomo however is stuck between those two polarities: process, and product. Read More

By David Freedlander 11/08/11 5:44pm

Analysis

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Bloomberg Tries To Cast A Pox On Both Houses–But Mostly Democrats–On Deficit Matters

Mayor Mike Bloomberg traveled to Washington D.C. this morning to outline a proposal to balance the federal budget deficit in ten years.

The speech was vintage Bloomberg: He spoke in detail about fiscal matters; he proposed solutions to matters of national import; and he tried to rise above partisan bickering and urge politicians to rise above partisan concerns and focus on the greater good. Read More