Bill de Blasio’s attempt to lump his opponent with the extreme wing of the national Republican Party and define his character by that measure has fallen flat. Despite wasting a substantial amount of the 36 minutes given to him at the recent televised debate, Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota has established himself as a more liberal Republican with executive experience, yet in the wrong climate.
“A moderate Republican with a libertarian bent, Mr. Lhota has a résumé tailor-made for the job,” writes Crains New York in its endorsement of Joe Lhota. “New Yorkers should choose the candidate most capable of fulfilling [their] ambitions in an unusually challenging fiscal environment, judging by the latest battle in Washington. That depends not on ideology or charisma, but on management skill and familiarity with government. It also demands an understanding of the private sector’s role in supporting the many public services that help make New York a global center of corporate might and entrepreneurial moxie. On all those counts, Mr. Lhota is the superior choice.”
Crains also notes Bill de Blasio’s vulnerability, less discussed in the mayoral race.”The Democrat’s management experience is thin, and he has not made a case for himself as chief executive,” the editorial reads.
Councilman David Greenfield, who earlier this week endorsed Mr. de Blasio for mayor, also dismissed the argument that Mr. Lhota is a typical Republican in sheeps clothing.
“I don’t think that Joe Lhota is a Tea Party Republican. In fact, ironically, Joe Lhota is a very liberal Republican,” said Mr. Greenfield on his weekly radio show on 620AM.
(Jacob Kornbluh -YWN)
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3 Responses
I think Lhota’s biggest problem is that voters are sick of having a manager as mayor.
1. Charlatan you certainly jest! Deblasio, or deblabla as sone call him, already said he agrees with many of herr bloombergs nanny state liberal edicts. In simple english this means delasio will be the one to manage peoples lives. Keep lying Charlotte.
And, yes, Lhota IS a left leaning republican, quite a bit left.
Mayors do not have to be managers, but they need a manager to perform the managerial portions of the job. The winning candidate will surely be able to hire suitable managers, and so picking the best “manager” is not a dignificant criterion for casting a sensible vote.
Mayors need vision above all else. They need to know which neighborhoods would benefit from development, and which would benefit from protection of the status quo. So far, neither candidate has fleshed out his vision for the various neighborhoods of New York City.
In many ways, the “Tea Party” limited government argument is meaningless at the local level (not that it is so good at the federal level, either). The great debate among the founding fathers was about the role of the federal government, not local government, and the Tea Party nonsense becomes more nonsensical when applied to local political issues.
And speaking of managers – if that is what you want to speak about – I understand that Mr. de Blasio was the “manager” of Hillary Clinton’s first campaign for elective office, i.e., her run for US Senator for New York in 2000. That went well, managerially speaking. So maybe Mr. de Blasio does in fact have whatever managerial qualifications one needs in a mayor.