Bill Thompson’s mayoral campaign has watched rival after rival host high-profile campaign kick-offs with an entourage of press at every rinky-dink stop along the way. But Mr. Thompson, who announced his electoral plans over two years ago in a New York Times interview, couldn’t really do the same.

Yesterday, however, his campaign chose the next-best option: launching a carefully-scripted, five-borough tour that had the look and feel of an official kick-off.

And Mr. Thompson, a former city comptroller who nearly unseated Mayor Michael Bloomberg four years ago, insisted that this is his year.

“No matter what you did in ’09, it was hard to get a message out,” he told Politicker on a 3 train between events. “This is a more level playing field in 2013, so it is easier to be able to get a message out and that shows up some place, that somebody pays attention to. That is one huge difference–and it’s a good difference, a very good difference.”

Admitting he now wakes up earlier than he did four years ago and has little time for reading books or watching television, Mr. Thompson has tried to dispel the image of the passive, listless campaigner he acquired during his last Gracie Mansion bid. Former Mayor David Dinkins accordingly touted Mr. Thompson’s presence on the trail at one of yesterday’s stops.

“People would ask me my candidate and I would say, ‘Bill Thompson,’ and this is going back several months, and they would say, ‘Oh is he running?’” Mr. Dinkins said. “Nobody asks that question anymore. He’s definitely running.”

(Source: Politicker)